Ethereum Is Getting a New Layer 2 Optimistic Rollup

Vishal Chawla

Aug. 19, 2021

Enya and OMG Network have collaborated on a new project in the Layer 2 rollup space.

Ethereum Is Getting a New Layer 2 Optimistic Rollup

Shutterstock cover by iurii

Key Takeaways

A new Optimistic Rollup created by Enya and OMG Network has gone live on mainnet.
Boba Network will be competing with the likes of Optimism and Arbitrum.
Unlike other rollups, Boba Network offers fast transfers to Ethereum mainnet.

Enya and OMG Network have released the mainnet beta of a new Layer 2 Optimistic Rollup called Boba Network.

Boba Network Goes Live

A new Layer 2 solution created by Enya in collaboration with OMG Network has gone live on mainnet.

Boba Network is an Optimistic Rollup solution for scaling Ethereum. Enya worked on the project in partnership with OMG Network; it was previously called OMGX.

According to Enya, Boba Network can help make DeFi and NFTs cheaper. It combines Optimistic Rollups with OMG Network’s scaling capabilities for Ethereum dApps to reduce gas gees and enhance transaction throughput. Enya says that Boba is a web-scale infrastructure.

Discussing the mainnet launch, Enya founder and CEO Alan Chiu said:

“We welcome the entire DeFi and NFT developer community to build on Boba, so that together we deliver a faster, cheaper, and more delightful experience to the next billion users of Ethereum.”

Since the so-called “DeFi Summer” of 2020, Ethereum has faced problems with high transaction fees and network congestion.

While Ethereum is expected to achieve scalability through Ethereum 2.0, the popularity of the network means there is already a great need for scaling solutions. Layer 2 rollups such as Optimism and Arbitrum are also hoping to help the network achieve scalability.

By deploying smart contracts on Layer 2, applications based on the Ethereum Virtual Machine consume low gas fees and have much higher throughput. These solutions process transactions off-chain and publish transactional data on Ethereum. As a result, they can help developers create more scalable dApps for use cases like DeFi and NFTs.

The project will compete with Optimism, Arbitrum, and other Layer 2 solutions like StarkWare. The differentiating feature for this project is fast transfers from to Ethereum mainnet to Boba. The Enya team claims that the Boba Network will reduce withdrawal times from seven days to a few minutes.

For security and decentralization, the team has confirmed that there will be no multi-sig wallet for bridge assets. The team is yet to share in-depth details on the technical architecture. The project’s governance will be overseen by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), which will suggest and vote on improvements to the network.

Discussions surrounding Optimistic Rollup solutions like Boba Network have heated up recently as some of Ethereum’s leading DeFi applications prepare to launch on Layer 2. Arbitrum is currently preparing to launch, with Ethereum staples like Balancer, Aave, and Uniswap all set to go live on the network this month.

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