The Protocol: How Optimism Filled in Its Missing Tooth

The
Ethereum
layer-2
project
Optimism
has
been
all
smiles
since
its
launch
in
late
2021
–
but
with
a
missing
tooth.
Namely,
it
lacked
the
“fault
proofs”
critical
to
making
the
project
an
“optimistic”
rollup;
these
are
critical
for
challenging
malicious
transactions.
As
of
this
week,
the
gap
has
finally
been
filled
in.
Read
on.

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MISSING
TOOTH
FILLED
IN:
Optimism,
the
Ethereum

layer-2
project,
provides
the
technological
foundation
for
some
of
the
biggest
names
in
blockchain,
including
the
Coinbase
exchange’s
popular
Base
blockchain
and
Worldcoin’s
World
Chain,
from
OpenAI
founder
Sam
Altman.
But
for
years,
blockchains
that
used
Optimism’s
technology
were
built
according
to
a
false
underlying
premise:
that
they
“borrowed”
Ethereum’s
security
apparatus.
In
reality,
it
wasn’t
the
case,
because
they
lacked
a
crucial
piece
of
functionality
known
as
“fault
proofs”
–
used
to
challenge
actors
suspected
of
malicious
behavior.
On
Monday,
that
long-promised
tech
finally
came
to
Optimism’s
mainnet,
CoinDesk’s
Margaux
Nijkerk

reported
Tuesday.
“We
literally
deleted
the
entire
system
essentially,
re-architected
it,
and
rewrote
the
entire
thing,”
Karl
Floersch,
CEO
of
OP
Labs,
said
in
an
interview
with
CoinDesk.
“That
was
brutal,
but
absolutely
the
correct
decision.”
The
achievement
might
blunt
some
of
the
project’s
most
truculent
criticism;
similar
“proof”
technology
is
used
by
all
layer-2
rollup
networks,
including
Optimism
competitors
like
Arbitrum.
Without
fault
proofs,
users
who
deposited
funds
into
Optimism
needed
to
trust
the
rollup’s

“security
council”
to
return
their
funds
–
a
system

vulnerable
to
potential
human
error
or
bias.
With
fault
proofs,
users
should
only
need
to
trust
Ethereum’s
security.
For
now,
though,
the
Security
Council
will
remain
intact
and
could
still
intervene
in
the
event
that
the
fault-proof
system
goes
down.

BACK
FOR
MORE?
The
crypto
lending
sector
is
recovering
from
the
crypto
winter,
which
blew
up
several
large
players,
thanks
to
spot
bitcoin

(BTC)
exchange-traded
funds
(ETFs)
and
creditors
getting
some
of
their
assets
back
from
bankrupt
companies,
CoinDesk’s
Aoyon
Ashraf

reports.
The
sector
spectacularly
imploded
in
2022
as
crypto
prices
dove,
with
firms
including
Celsius,
BlockFi
and
Genesis
filing
for
bankruptcy.
Since
then,
digital-asset
prices
have
soared,
with
the

CoinDesk
20
Index
up
more
than
200%
since
the
end
of
2022.
“What
I’m
seeing
is
that
this
market
has
come
back
roaring,”
Mauricio
Di
Bartolomeo,
co-founder
of
crypto
lending
firm
Ledn,
told
CoinDesk
during
a
recent
interview
at
the
Consensus
2024
conference
in
Austin,
Texas.

Top
picks
of
the
past
week
from


our
Protocol
Village

column,
highlighting
key
blockchain
tech
upgrades
and
news.

Schematic
of
Biconomy’s
‘Delegated
Authorization
Network’
(Biconomy)

1.
Biconomy,
a
Web3
infrastructure
company,
launched
a
new
“Delegated
Authorization
Network,”
or
DAN,
“enabling
the
safe
delegation
of
on-chain
activities
to
AI
agents,”
according
to
the
team.
A
press
release
added:
“Biconomy
DAN
operates
by
granting
AI
projects
approved
access
to
user’s
‘Delegated
Auth’
keys
stored
on
an
EigenLayer
AVS
(Actively
Validated
Services),
ensuring
true
autonomy
without
compromising
on
security.”
A
blog
post
is

here.

2.
Ripple
Labs,
the
primary
developer
behind
the
XRP
Ledger,
announced
Wednesday
that
its
previously
announced
XRPL
EVM
Sidechain
has
launched,
including
an
integration
with
the
interoperability
project
Axelar.
According
to
the
team:
“The
XRPL
EVM
Sidechain
brings
Ethereum
compatibility
to
XRP
Ledger,
unlocking
DeFi
and
RWA
tokenization
opportunities.
The
Axelar
Bridge
will
ensure
seamless
asset
transfers
between
XRPL
and
EVM
Sidechain,
with
wXRP
as
the
native
asset.”

3.
A
new
initiative
from

Lido
DAO
will
see
Lido’s

partnering
with
Mellow
Finance,
a
platform
that
lets
users
generate
yield
by
depositing
into
restaking
“vaults,”
and

Symbiotic,
a
permissionless
restaking
protocol.
Mellow
curators
Steakhouse,
P2P
Validator,
Re7
Labs
and
MEV
Capital
are
each
introducing
vaults
that
accept
stETH
in
tandem
with
Tuesday’s
announcement.

4.
Covalent,
provider
of
a

decentralized
network
for
indexing
blockchain
data,
announced
that
BitMEX
founder
Arthur
Hayes
has
been

named
as
a
new
strategic
advisor.
Hayes,
who
currently
serves
as
chief
investment
officer
of
Maelstrom,
“will
be
leading
the
development
of
the
Ethereum
Wayback
Machine,
ensuring
that
all
Ethereum
and
EVM
rollup
data
will
shape
AI
with
a
preformat
and
verifiably
secure
pipeline,”
according
to
the
team.

5.
The

Cardano
network
is
set
to
move
into
the
final
phase
of
a
multiyear
program
to
become
a
wholly
decentralized
blockchain
ecosystem
later
this
month,

co-founder
Charles
Hoskinson
said
in
an
X
post
Monday.

(Danny
Nelson)

A
group
of
Solana

(SOL)
validators
are
facing
financial
penalties
for
allegedly
facilitating
economic
attacks
against
crypto
traders.

Over
30
validator
operators
were
kicked
off
the
Solana
Foundation
Delegation
Program
over
the
weekend,
a
source
familiar
with
the
matter
said.
While
they
remain
validators
on
the
network,
they’re
no
longer
eligible
to
receive
what
amounted
to
payout
boosters
for
validating
transactions
on
the
Solana
blockchain.
Many
of
the
operators
were
Russians,
another
source
said.

The
purge
escalates
a
months-long
shadow
war
between
heavyweights
of
the
Solana
validator
ecosystem
and
an
underground
economy
of
validators
believed
to
be
exploiting
traders
for
profit
through
what’s
known
as
a
“sandwich
attack,”
whereby
bots
frontrun
and
backfill
trades
that
haven’t
yet
been
executed.

“Enforcement
actions
are
on
going
as
we
detect
operators
participating
in
mempools
which
allow
sandwich
attacks,”
a
representative
for
the
Solana
Foundation
said
Sunday.

Read
the
full
story
by
CoinDesk’s
Danny
Nelson

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