On June 19, BNB Chain announced the launch of the opBNB testnet, a Layer2 network based on OP Stack, which is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) while maintaining a similar security level to L1.
In this context, how is opBNB different from the previous Binance Smart Chain (BSC), and how will it start a new stage of layout for BNB Chain, thus ushering in a new narrative and valuation space?
opBNB: OP Stack L2 network combined with BSC
First, introduce the basic architecture and features of opBNB: enhanced scalability, lower gas fees, and EVM compatibility, and compare and highlight its different positioning and performance advantages compared to BSC.
In fact, as one of BNB Chain’s initiatives to deal with L2, BNB Chain launched the zkBNB testnet in September last year as a layout in the ZK Rollup direction of the L2 track.
However, BNB Chain senior solution architect Arnaud Bauer said in an interview: The reason for launching opBNB is that zkBNB is not compatible with EVM, and EVM compatibility is very important, which is conducive to the further expansion of the ecosystem and facilitates developers to deploy applications.
Perhaps for this reason, opBNB combines BSC, which was originally compatible with EVM, with opBNB’s dedicated new features. The underlying innovative combination includes optimizing data accessibility, caching layer, and adjusting the submission process algorithm to allow more parallel operations, making opBNB compatible with EVM while also being able to reach a Gas Limit of up to 100 million.
This is even far higher than Optimism’s own 30 million Gas Limit, based on which developers expect the opBNB testnet to reach a speed of 4,000 transactions per second with a target cost of $0.005 per transaction.
According to L2 Fees data, the current transfer fee of the Optimism mainnet is US$0.03, which is 6 times the theoretical value of opBNB - this is the data after Optimism completed the Bedrock upgrade not long ago and saved a lot of gas.
Looking at the entire L2 track, opBNB's theoretical transfer fee of $0.005 is also an order of magnitude ahead, and it performs outstandingly among OP Rollup and ZK Rollup.
In short, as an EVM-compatible L2, the opBNB solution is based on Optimism’s OP Stack to further enhance the scalability of BSC while maintaining loadability and security.
At present, opBNB's ecological positioning seems to be more inclined to build a truly high-performance and available on-chain infrastructure (integration of Particle, etc.) for Web3 games and social networking, providing more infrastructure conveniences for chain games and Web3 social developers.
Of course, the previous BNB application sidechain and even zkBNB also carried BNB Chain’s ambition to expand large-scale applications in GameFi, SocialFi, and the metaverse, which also proves BNB Chain’s continued optimism about these tracks.
BNB Chain’s new narrative is “in full bloom”
In fact, if we look back and sort it out carefully, we will find that the context of BNB Chain's series of layouts is still very clear:
Since the launch of Binance Chain on April 18, 2019, BNB Chain has ushered in its own public chain era. The launch of the EVM-compatible Binance Smart Chain (BSC) in 2020 has won Binance a key ticket in the last wave of competitive public chains.
In the more than three years since then, BSC has attracted sufficient ecological scale and market traffic for BNB Chain, but the competition in the public chain has always been fierce. For BNB Chain, the accelerated rise of L2 in 2023 means that the three-year narrative dividend of BSC, which was originally based on EVM compatibility, is about to expire.
Therefore, the multi-point layout of the new narrative has become the key lifeline for BNB Chain to survive and maintain its leading position in the public chain competition, and to continuously tap the potential of BNB Chain.
In fact, from the perspective of the track, BNB Chain’s layout can be described as “all-round”, even more comprehensive than Polygon’s layout:
From the initial Layer1 chain BSC, BSC application sidechain, to the storage chain BNB Greenfield that focuses on the storage track this year, the Layer2 chain zkBNB targeting ZK Rollup, and this time opBNB targeting OP Rollup.
Almost every possible future narrative has been preemptively laid out. To some extent, only a very small number of leading projects like BNB Chain have the funds and strength to bet on the possible directions of all tracks. "Only children make choices, I want them all."
Of course, this is not just a comprehensive bet on different narratives. From the initial BSC to the gradually enriched BNB Greenfield, zkBNB, opBNB and other ecosystems, the functions of each chain in the BNB Chain are also combinable:
It covers storage, ZK, OP and other technology stacks, each of which is responsible for the underlying data storage and processing, asset security and interaction based on zero-knowledge proof, high-performance games and social networking, and other unique positioning, building the internal circulation self-consistent ecology of BNB Chain.
The new "multi-chain era" behind the Optimism ecosystem
However, the first thing that L2/public chain needs to do is to establish its own ecosystem. Whether there are projects, capital, and communities of sufficient scale to continue to invest in them is the key to whether this L2/public chain can continue in the long run.
For Optimism, it has undoubtedly made a good start: Coinbase's BASE was the first to try it out, and now BNB Chain's opBNB has joined the game. The support of the two major exchanges means that Optimism's ambition to build a Rollup ecosystem has entered a critical stage.
The first and foremost impact is undoubtedly that it has greatly increased the market's confidence and attention to Optimism's OP Rollup ecosystem. Only one week after the launch of opBNB, cross-chain bridge zkBridge, Web3 middleware platform Particle Network, Layer2 cross-Rollup bridge Orbiter Finance, etc. have announced their integrated support.
This may be a win-win choice for both Optimism and BNB Chain. After all, with so many previous examples, the underlying performance is no longer a mainstream narrative point of public concern in the Ethereum L2 ecosystem:
Compared with improvements in scalability and performance, how to attract more and more developers, project parties, communities and markets, and create a prosperous ecosystem with explosive use cases in DeFi applications, NFT, GameFi, etc. is the key to avoiding the embarrassing situation of "high valuation" but stagnant public chain construction.
OP Stack has taken the first step in this regard and is becoming the "Cosmos universe based on Ethereum", trying to build its own "application chain narrative", among which the projects, traffic and community accumulated by BNB Chain itself are naturally the biggest help.
Of course, opBN is currently in a very early stage, and the core team is still focusing on the development and improvement of the underlying infrastructure. However, with the re-entry of BNB Chain and the Layer2 moves of crypto giants such as Coinbase and ConsenSys, the new "multi-chain era" in the future may have begun.
Everything in the past is just a prologue. From a macro perspective, if everything goes well, whether it is the launch of opBNB or the launch of BASE and Linea, it will lay the foundation for a new wave of DApps, new users and ultimately the growth of TVL in the Ethereum ecosystem, which may be completely different from the previous wave of L2/public chain craze.