Optimism rebrands as "OP Mainnet," hard fork upgrade yields results: transaction fees reduced by over 50%

The Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution Optimism recently announced a rebrand to "OP Mainnet." In addition, the hard fork upgrade implemented at the beginning of the month has shown significant effectiveness, with analytics firms Nansen and Messari noting a sharp decrease in transaction fees.

Optimism Renamed to "OP Mainnet"

Optimism announced its renaming to OP Mainnet on June 24, stating that the new name better reflects the essence of this public chain and distinguishes the main network from its ecosystem.

Within the vision of the Superchain, it also represents the starting point for numerous L2 solutions, including Base, an L2 network developed through the open-source code OP Stack, as well as ZORA NETWORK.

Introduction to L2 solution Base: Coinbase Releases Base Development Plan! Collaborates with Optimism to Integrate L2 Network and Build "Superchain"

It’s official: the chain formerly known as Optimism is now OP Mainnet!

This distinction makes clear the delineation between the OP Mainnet blockchain and the Collective, vibe, and ethos that “Optimism” encompasses.

— Optimism (✨🔴_🔴✨) (@optimismFND) June 23, 2023

Surge in Transactions After OP Mainnet Hard Fork

OP Mainnet underwent a hard fork on June 7, primarily aimed at reducing user deposit times and fees, and enhancing the overall network security.

Data tracking firm Nansen pointed out that after the hard fork, the number of transactions on OP Mainnet surged, from under 300,000 to nearly 600,000 by June 15, with Gas fees decreasing significantly by 50%.

Nansen also listed the protocols with the highest transaction volume in a tweet:

The top 10 entities on Optimism by 7-day transactions are:@Galxe@circle USDC@StargateFinance@perpprotocol@safe@optimismFND@Uniswap@VelodromeFi@0xProject@Tether_to USDT

Source: https://t.co/Tfv9nZ0bnb pic.twitter.com/ECQduOHtsd

— Nansen 🧭 (@nansen_ai) June 26, 2023

Messari: OP Mainnet Becomes the Cheapest L2 Network

Cryptocurrency research firm Messari recently mentioned the changes following the upgrade of OP Mainnet, with overall costs reduced by approximately 47% and deposit times shortened.

Additionally, individual transaction fees decreased by about 70%. Messari stated that OP Mainnet has become the L2 network with the lowest "swap" costs, bringing the development team closer to their vision of the "Superchain."

.@optimismFND's Mainnet introduced the Bedrock upgrade, reducing fees by ~47% and decreasing deposit times.

Gas fees per transaction dropped by approximately 70%, making Optimism Mainnet the cheapest #Eth L2 for token swaps. Bedrock brings Optimism closer to the 'Superchain'. pic.twitter.com/vyiUHV9c50

— Messari (@MessariCrypto) June 24, 2023