The Superchain is on a path to full horizontal scalability
Optimism Weekly Overview - January 14, 2025
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Superchain Ecosystem Numbers
DeFi total value locked (TVL) across Superchain: $4.4B (-8.33%)
Assets onchain: $21.1B (-9.83%)
Daily average transaction volume: 14.3M (-2.72%)
Base 11.5M (-4.16%)
OP Mainnet 790.3K (+4.87%)
World Chain 643.4K (+6.20%)
Lisk 496.8K (+1.62%)
Mint 310K (-6.12%)
Revenue-generating deployers on:
OP Mainnet: 1,235 (+0.32%)
Zora: 125 (+2.45%)
Superchain transaction fee total savings vs L1s:
OP Mainnet: 13,621 ETH
Base: 81,153 ETH
Zora: 840 ETH
Compared to Ethereum, L2 Superchain users saved a total of 96K ETH, or $307M on txn fees this week.
The percentages and metrics are pulled from the Superchain Health Dashboard and are calculated from its change over a 7-day time frame, unless noted otherwise.
Spotlight on Optimism’s Superchain
Highlighting some of the biggest updates on Optimism’s Superchain this week.
⚡What’s happening: The broader Ethereum ecosystem and L2 landscape is due for an upgrade. These chains need better interoperability, throughput and more. And the Superchain thinks it has the solution, OP Labs Head of Product Sam McIngvale shared during Optimism's quarterly webinar with Token Relations. “[The] Superchain’s vision is to enable Ethereum via horizontal scalability,” he added.
⚡Why it matters: Many L2 chains currently operate in silos, forcing devs and users to choose a chain based on trade offs like user base, fees, and liquidity. The Superchain seeks to solve this problem in 2025 with its unified ecosystem and “seamless” cross-chain interactions through its native OP Stack Interoperability, McIngvale said during the webinar.
Superchain’s native Interop is a key advantage for developers because the core code for blockchain messaging and communication across different chains is integrated or “lives inside” the OP Stack, McIngvale explained. When launched, this native Interoperability will improve users' onchain experience by lowering transaction cost, increasing speed and providing access to many different chains across the Superchain. Devs building protocols using the OP Stack technology will benefit from this unified ecosystem, combining the benefits of many different protocols and chains within the Superchain.
In 2024, Superchain had major advancements as some chains transitioned to "Stage 1." This phase was coined by Ethereum Co-founder Vitalik Buterin and describes when a blockchain operates with "limited training wheels" in place and is migrating toward full decentralization.
OP mainnet has already achieved Stage 1 decentralization with the implementation of permissionless fault proofs for enhanced security. Networks such as Base, Ink, Unichain, World, and other chains within the Superchain are actively working toward adopting this technology and becoming more decentralized.
Secondly, the implementation of SuperchainERC20 is set to enhance its ecosystem further by providing dApps with a uniform way to manage tokens across multiple chains. This means tokens can move easily across the Superchain, eliminating the need for coin wrappers and complex bridging solutions. This new token standard simplifies cross-chain transactions for both developers and users.
Furthermore, the discussion also highlighted the impact of the upcoming Ethereum Pectra upgrade, which aims to reduce costs and improve scalability across Ethereum L2s. This upgrade will allow for OP Stack chains to have better speed and efficiency through account abstraction and improved data availability, McIngvale said. Additionally, this upgrade introduces the necessity for blob limits to increase in order for the majority of L2s to scale further.
The impact blobs have on scaling L2s can be profound, as raising the blob limit can potentially increase throughput by two times, improving scalability and reducing congestion, McIngvale said.
As more developments push the boundaries of what’s possible within the Superchain, more activations and opportunities can come onchain.
⚡What it means for the broader ecosystem: The primary goal for the Superchain is to improve L2s interoperability and scaling, while aligning with Ethereum, McIngvale explained.
Within the next few years, OP Labs wants to reach “full horizontal scalability,” so developers no longer need to choose a single chain for liquidity and users, he noted. By lowering transaction costs, speeding up block times, and unifying cross-chain operations, the Superchain plans to position itself to become a key ecosystem for interoperability across DeFi, AI, NFTs, gaming, and beyond.
Missed the livestream? Listen to it on the Talking Tokens podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts or YouTube.
What’s poppin’ on the Superchain
Total number of weekly active addresses by chain:
Base: 5.88M
OP Mainnet: 399.92K
Zora: 76.1K
Mode Network: 18.58K
World hit 10 million ‘verified humans’ on its network
Soneium released its mainnet for a ‘creator-first blockchain’
Kraken’s L2 Ink, built on the OP Stack, added ETH transfers via Layerswap
Unichain Sepolia successfully integrated permissionless fault proofs
Mode Network’s token has been moved to the ‘DeFAI’ section on CoinMarketCap
From the Optimism Collective
Highlighting the companies, communities and citizens bound to the Optimism Collective.
Read about the OP Stack’s 2024 developments and milestones here
Too busy? These stats stood out to us:
EIP-4844 lowered gas fees by 10 times
Span batches reduced the overhead for running an OP Chain by 90%
The Head of Base, Jesse Pollak, shared a 2025 kickoff video diving into strategy and mission for “Based Builders’’
Learn about Mode’s ‘DeFAI Full Stack’ and its plans for building an autonomous onchain economy in 2025
Tune into NBA star Fred VanVleet’s new onchain podcast on Base’s ‘Pods’ platform
For more Optimism Collective weekly updates, look here.
Get into the OP Stack
Want to dive into the ecosystem full-time? Find the latest job postings here or get involved at an event below.
Check out the updated interface of Superchain Dev Console for building and launching an app
Go see the results of Optimism’s Governance Season 7, voting that ends this afternoon
Go listen to the ‘Optimism Office Hours’ this Wednesday at 6am EST on Discord
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This product was built by Token Relations.
This information is for entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial advice, nor should it be used to make investment decisions. Cryptocurrencies are high risk and you should consult a financial professional before making any financial decisions. Make sure you do your own research.