The Optimism network is on the brink of a major upgrade that is set to be the largest one since its inception. This upgrade will bring about improved compatibility with Ethereum by increasing multi-chain interoperability, along with other changes.

Dubbed Bedrock, the upgrade is expected to make the Optimism ecosystem more efficient and accessible than before. In this article, we will dive into what the Optimism Bedrock upgrade means for the overall ecosystem.

What is Optimism Bedrock Upgrade?

Optimism Network announced the Bedrock upgrade in May 2022 in a move to reduce the size and complexity of the Optimism codebase. The change is expected to increase network speed and throughput, improve node performance, and reduce fees and deposit times, among other changes. Currently, the Bedrock upgrade is running on testnets but developers expect a launch as early as May 2023.

A quick reminder - Optimism is the second largest layer 2 solution on Ethereum. It utilizes a technology known as Optimistic rollups, which bundles large batches of off-chain transactions before submitting them to Ethereum, allowing for faster and cheaper transactions.

Also Read: Pancake Swap vs Uniswap — Which DEX leads in 2023

The way it works is that Optimism extracts transactional data from the mainchain and then piles them into batches which are settled off-chain. The final details of these transactions are sent back to Ethereum’s mainnet where it is validated as another added block. As per DefiLlama, Optimism’s Total Value Locked (TVL) is around $914 million as of April 28. To learn more about TVL and how it reflects a DeFi protocol’s health, click here.

Meanwhile, Bedrock aims to change the way Optimism processes transactions. This would be through “batching and compression”. In other words, transactions on Bedrock will be batched into groups called “sequencer batches”. These batches will be further put into groups called “channels”, which is the data that ultimately gets compressed and sent back to Ethereum.

Bedrock will also implement EIP 1559 which is expected to reduce the variance in transaction cost and improve user experience. Following the upgrade, deposits are expected to be confirmed in 3 minutes as opposed to the earlier time frame of 10 minutes.

Ethereum equivalence and Modularity

Another feature of the Bedrock upgrade is its 1:1 equivalence with Ethereum. EVM equivalence allows for instant copy-pasting of decentralized finance (DeFi) codes across EVM-equivalent rollups, making it easier for developers to deploy dApps on Optimistic Ethereum.

Since bedrock is open-source, developers would soon be able to deploy their own Layer 2 networks and make their experimental blockchains via OP Stack, which is a sequence of free and open-source modules that work together to power Optimism.

The OP Stack segments the layer 2 networks into three parts: the consensus layer, execution layer, and settlement layer. Each layer is described by a well-defined API and filled with modules that developers can easily select, modify, and create.

For example, developers can utilize Cosmos’ modular blockchain and run Ethereum as the execution layer if they wish. Some developers have already experimented with this by switching the entire execution layer of Optimism with a version of Minecraft called OP Craft. The entire game successfully ran on OP Stack in the backend.

Also Read: Here is how the NFT market fared in 2023 so far

Conclusion

Experts believe that the Bedrock upgrade will bring about significant changes to both Optimism and Ethereum. The changes are expected to foster more growth in the DeFi space by making it easier for developers to deploy dApps. Going forward, it will be interesting to see how the market responds once Bedrock is launched on the Optimism mainnet.