In its move to an Ethereum L2, Celo has opted for Optimism’s OP Stack.
The Celo blockchain’s development team, cLabs, has formally suggested using Optimism’s OP Stack to migrate from a standalone blockchain to an Ethereum-based layer 2 network, after an exhaustive eight-month review process.
The idea will be reviewed in subsequent community calls before being submitted to a vote among CELO token holders, in compliance with the norms of the chain’s governance.
Celo has decided to move to a layer 2 solution because it thinks its future is in the larger Ethereum ecosystem, not as a separate chain. Polygon CDK, OP Stack, Arbitrum Orbit, and zkSync’s ZK Stack were all considered in what CLabs co-founder and Celo Foundation president Rene Reinsberg called a “bake-off” among top layer 2 suppliers.
Alternating between a decentralized layer-1 blockchain and an Ethereum layer-2 solution is central to the Celo idea. The OP Stack, developed by Optimism, would be the foundation of this move, which would improve security, streamline liquidity sharing between Ethereum and Celo, and make development easier. The goal of the proposal is to make it easy for Celo developers to use Ethereum tools by using the OP stack to remove compatibility monitoring.
A decentralized sequencer that uses Celo’s current set of validators and off-chain data availability solutions like EigenDA are also part of the architecture.
OP Stack was the clear winner for CLabs, according to their claims, and it also has the additional bonus of perhaps being compatible with components from other layer 2 teams, including Polygon’s Type 1 prover. Reinsberg was pleased with the thoroughness of the investigation, saying, “[we] didn’t simply make a choice last year, but performed all this due diligence.”
The selection of OP Stack is not unexpected, considering its increasing appeal among blockchain initiatives. Coinbase and Worldcoin have both recently used OP Stack to create layer 2 chains; Coinbase’s name is Base, while Worldcoin’s is World Chain.
Remarking on Celo’s thorough review process, Optimism Foundation chief growth officer Ryan Wyatt said, “It’s incredibly exciting to actually have them [Celo] be focused on OP Stack, perform extensive due diligence and look at all these chains.”
Part of Celo’s goal is to address user experience issues in the cryptocurrency field, such as misunderstandings around public keys, and one way it plans to do this is by moving to an Ethereum layer 2. Celo aspires to make sending and receiving cryptocurrencies more accessible to beginners by exchanging public keys with cell phone numbers. To support use cases including remittances, savings, loans, and cross-border payments, the platform also provides a variety of solid assets, with an emphasis on developing economies.
Celo is ready to make use of Ethereum’s ecosystem as it transitions to layer 2, utilizing Optimism’s OP Stack. The project will keep its emphasis on mobile-first accessibility and reliable assets for customers in developing economies.
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