Crypto Exchange OKEx to Integrate Ethereum Layer-2 Scaling Solution Arbitrum

Leading crypto exchange OKEx is ready to integrate Layer-2 Ethereum scaling solution Arbitrum.

OKEx to Support Arbitrum Deposits and Withdrawals

In an announcement made on May 2, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges by reported trading volume, OKEx stated it is collaborating with Arbitrum – a market-leading Optimistic Rollup scaling solution geared toward making the Ethereum network feasible for all users.

According to the announcement, OKEx will enable the functionality for all its users to directly deposit onto the Arbitrum mainnet without any need to interact with the Ethereum base layer. Notably, this would make OKEx the first major centralized cryptocurrency exchange to enable direct access to an Ethereum Layer-2 protocol.

For the uninitiated, major DeFi protocol Aave (AAVE) recently announced its plans to further extend the protocol to Layer-2 scaling solution Polygon (MATIC).

Coming back to OKEx, the official announcement reads in part:

“With the Mainnet Release Candidate live on Kovan testnet, and the Arbitrum community continuing to flourish and grow, we are excited to make onboarding to Arbitrum seamless for OKEx users. This will ensure that they can interact with DeFi protocols and any other DApps built on top of Arbitrum without having to pay Ethereum gas fees. This will reduce friction for our users while also relieving congestion in the Ethereum ecosystem and accelerating Ethereum’s rollup-focused development plans.”

The Start of Layer-2 Induced DeFi Summer?

Close followers of the cryptocurrency industry would remember the famous “DeFi Summer” of 2020 which witnessed the astronomical rise in price of several DeFi tokens on the heels of high consumer demand. However, things have since simmered down a little – at least for Ethereum-based DeFi protocols – on account of high gas fees associated with transactions.

However, with the launch of Ethereum Layer-2 solutions imminent, a repeat of another DeFi summer (presumably bigger) cannot be ruled out.

BTCManager recently reported that Ethereum Layer-2 scaling solution is slated to launch its highly-anticipated mainnet in July this year.

In similar news, BTCManager reported in February that leading DeFi protocol Bancor (BNT) is readying itself for launch on the Arbitrum mainnet. Notably, Bancor contracts are already live on Arbitrum’s public testnet.