BNB Chain Launches Testnet For Layer 2 Network

BNB Chain, Binance’s Ethereum-compatible Layer 1 blockchain, has unveiled opBNB, a Layer 2 rollup based on Optimism’s OP Stack.

The testnet launched on June 19, and the team is requesting feedback from validators and dApp developers. BNB Chain said the new network will be able to process more than 4,000 transactions per second with average transaction fees of less than half a cent.

“By harnessing the power of Optimistic Rollups, opBNB moves computation and state storage off-chain, alleviating congestion and driving down transaction costs,” BNB Chain said.

opBNB introduces improved data availability, batched transactions, and a 100M gas limit to the BNB Chain ecosystem. It also simplifies the process of migrating Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) code over to BNB Chain from Ethereum.

The blockchain’s native BNB token is relatively flat over the past 24 hours.

BNB Chain’s embrace of Layer 2 (L2) solutions positions the network to better compete with Ethereum’s growing L2 ecosystem.

While many Layer 1s, including BNB Chain and Solana, offered a low-cost smart contract environment compared to the congested Ethereum network during the 2021 bull market, average transaction fees on leading L2s Optimism and Arbitrum are now lower than on BNB Chain, according to Dune Analytics.

And although BNB Chain was firmly entrenched as the second-largest smart contract network by TVL throughout most of 2021 and 2022, the network now ranks fourth behind Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Tron.

Bedrock

Optimism launched its OP Stack as part of its Bedrock upgrade on June 6, modularizing its tech stack and allowing third-party devs to build bespoke L2s based on its code.

While OP Stack users can swap out different fraud or validity proofs to ensure the integrity of transactions, opBNB uses the optimistic fraud proofs native to Optimism. Optimistic rollups assume transactions are accurate but impose a seven-day delay on withdrawals to allow for the detection of fraud.

Validators found to submit malicious transitions are penalized by slashing assets provided as collateral.