Polygon Supernets vs Optimism Superchain vs Arbitrum Orbit: Ethereum’s App-Chain Vision (Part 2 of 2)

If you missed the previous post explaining Ethereum’s transition to a data availability layer supporting app chains, read it here!

Ethereum is transitioning away from being a decentralized compute engine and towards a data availability layer that will support a rich ecosystem of app-chain and Layer 2s. Like any exciting opportunity, several projects are working on competing solutions and hoping to find product market fit once the dust settles and the Ethereum Layer 2 landscape becomes more mature. The three main live app-chain frameworks are Polygon Supernets, Optimism Superchain, and Arbitrum Orbit; each has pros and cons, partners, and design. In this article, we’ll analyze each of these solutions, as well as future competitors, to determine which will see the greatest adoption in the long term.

To address Ethereum’s transaction fee and scaling problems, Layer 2s bundle transactions, execute them in a cheaper off-chain environment and post the proof of that transaction data to mainnet Ethereum. To date, scaling solutions like Optimism and Arbitrum One have amassed billions of dollars in total value locked and have succeeded in bringing an Ethereum-like experience with lower fees and high security. However, these general-purpose rollups are not the end goal. Ultimately, each solution hopes to build an entire interoperable ecosystem around their chosen framework to create a Cosmos-like environment of high security, app-level sovereignty, and a seamless user experience.

Optimism was the first of the three solutions live today to announce their vision of the Optimism Superchain. The Superchain is “a horizontally scalable network of chains that share security, a communication layer, and an open source development stack.” The Optimism team developed the modular and open-source OP Stack, which is the toolkit currently being used to build new chains. The Superchain, which is not out yet, will merge all OP Stack chains into a unified network of “chains within the Superchain,” meaning the experience will feel much closer to using one blockchain than several.

Optimism has some of the most prominent partners of the three solutions. Their biggest is Coinbase, which uses the OP Stack to build their Base Layer 2, which will likely be the main way their one hundred million users access the blockchain from their platform. Other chains building using the OP Stack include NFT marketplace Zora, development company Lattice, and decentralized options exchange Lyra. Additionally, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz has committed to building Magi, a consensus client aimed at supporting the decentralization of the OP Stack. Given Optimism’s reputation as one of the original roll-up solutions, there are likely to be many more partnerships announced with big names as the Superchain launch draws closer.

Arbitrum Orbit is a slightly different model that allows anyone to create customizable Layer 3s that settle to the Arbitrum L2. The benefit of creating an L3 network is the incredibly low fees but comes at the tradeoff of slightly less security than a Layer 2. That said, Orbit provides extreme flexibility and functionality, including different architectures, fee structures, and governance. This plethora of options means that any chain can be tailor-fit to their needs - gaming or social app chains can rely on high speed with more centralization, while DeFi activity can be done in a more secure, possibly higher-fee or slower environment. Two projects currently building L3s include “decentralized game console” XAI and decentralized options exchange Syndr.

Chains that want to join the Arbitrum ecosystem yet settle directly on Ethereum can do so by passing an Arbitrum DAO vote. While there does not seem to be a vision for a Superchain-esque architecture at the moment, it is certainly possible that one will be introduced. 

Polygon, one of the oldest Ethereum scaling solutions that started as a sidechain, recently announced its plans for Polygon 2.0. The expansive changes covered many areas, including new tokenomics and upgrading the sidechain to a zkEVM validium. Unlike a rollup, which stores data on Ethereum, a validium stores data with a data availability committee off-chain, which is much cheaper but less secure. However, Polygon is using its existing validator network of over 100 members and $2 billion in value to secure this data, which will provide solid guarantees about its availability. Their Supernet vision is a mix between Optimism and Arbitrum’s approaches, where app chains can be created using their tooling and be interoperable with one another, yet exist as L3s and are secured by the Polygon validator set. Since this vision was announced within the past few weeks, not all details have been revealed yet.

Polygon has one of the best, if not the best, business development teams in the blockchain space and has been able to foster partnerships with big names like Starbucks, Disney, Nike, and Warner Music Group. So far, they’ve announced that Palm Network, a Consensys-backed NFT sidechain that boasts partnerships with Netflix, will be migrating to a Supernet. Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal mentioned that Palm was the fourth chain to migrate to Supernets, but it is unclear what the other three are.

Though these are the main solutions currently pursuing adoption, other Layer 2s are not far behind their own solutions. For example, ZkSync is building a Hyperchain network with similar goals of interoperability and sovereignty that will be built using their ZK Stack. StarkWare, the company behind the StarkNet L2, has a head start thanks to their StarkEx product, which has built scalability engines for Sorare, Immutable X, dYdX, and others. They will likely incorporate these protocols into a multichain vision in the future.

There are several competing designs in the space and no clear winner. Ultimately, partnerships and functionality will likely determine which architecture becomes the most adopted. However, there is plenty of space for opposing multichains in the blockchain industry, and the threat of competition will keep every project continually innovating and bringing the latest and greatest technology to their products.

By Lincoln Murr

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