• Network activity on the Optimism network trended upwards in June.
• A researcher from blockchain analytics firm Nansen compared the network activity of optimistic rollups like Optimism [OP] and Arbitrum [ARB].
• The Bedrock upgrade resulted in savings of nearly 75% on each transaction.
Optimism Outpaces Arbitrum in Layer-2 Race
Network activity on the Optimism network trended upwards in June, outperforming Arbitrum as its wallets’ activity steadily declined. This was evident when comparing the number of transactions on each of the networks; while transactions on Arbitrum trended sideways for much of June, Optimism’s trading activity registered a sharp spike.
Bedrock Upgrade Key to Savings
The recently executed Bedrock upgrade created a world of difference for Optimism users as far as network costs are concerned. The enhancement, which primarily focused on lowering L1 prices (the cost of posting L2 transactions on Ethereum), resulted in savings of nearly 75% on each transaction.
Fees Lower than Arbitrum’s
Further examination revealed that these enhancements brought Optimism’s fees well below those of Arbitrum. According to L2 Fees , it required $0.10 for token swapping on Optimism as compared to $0.19 on Arbitrum.
Interest in OP Shoots Up
At the time of writing, the governance token OP exchanged hands at $1.32, up nearly 6% in the 24-hour period, as per Santiment.
Conclusion
With its recent upgrades and lower fees than that offered by competitors such as Arbitrum, it is no surprise that interest and usage has been increasing steadily for Optimism’s Layer 2 scaling solution.