cLabs develops Celo as Ethereum Layer 2 on Optimism’s OP Stack
cLabs, the leading developer of the Celo blockchain, has announced plans to transition its network to an Ethereum Layer 2 solution using the OP Stack.
The decision to adopt the OP Stack, a key development platform within the Optimism ecosystem, came following a community endorsement in a governance vote last July and an extensive eight-month review of several scaling solutions, including Arbitrum Orbit, zkSync’s ZK Stack, and Polygon CDK.
OP Labs, which contributes to the Optimism ecosystem, provides the OP Stack to help developers create custom Layer 2 blockchains.
Celo’s migration to the Optimism ecosystem is intended to integrate it into the Superchain network, including chains like OP Mainnet and Base, enhancing scalability and performance.
Adopting optimistic rollups within this ecosystem aims to facilitate more efficient processing of Ethereum transactions, addressing scalability concerns by compiling transactions on a secondary layer.
The proposed enhancements for Celo include reducing block times from five seconds to two and increasing throughput by 50%. A testnet for the Celo Layer 2 is scheduled for launch in the summer of 2024, pending further community approval.
The adoption marks an important transition for Celo (CELO), initially launched as a Layer 1 blockchain compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine.
The network, which garnered $30 million in funding from major investors like a16z and Polychain Capital in 2019 and an additional $20 million in 2021, supports a variety of applications, ranging from established Ethereum dApps like Uniswap and Sushiswap to Celo-native projects such as Valora and UbeSwap.
