Optimism Rolls Out Superchain Upgrade 16 With Interop Support, Enhanced Decentralization, And 500M Gas Limit Increase
In Brief
Optimism has launched Superchain Upgrade 16, introducing key smart contract changes to prepare for future interoperability, enhance security, increase gas limits, and improve OP Stack scalability without causing service interruptions.
Ethereum Layer 2 network Optimism (OP) announced the launch of the Superchain Upgrade 16. This upgrade introduces all necessary smart contract modifications to support the future activation of Superchain interoperability, although it does not enable interop functionality at this stage.
The integration of interoperability is a fundamental step toward realizing the Superchain vision, which aims to establish a unified network of OP Chains. The update to smart contracts is designed to support essential interoperability features, creating a technical foundation for a smoother and more secure activation process.
As stated in the official announcement, the objective is to reduce trust assumptions to the greatest extent possible in the development of the Superchain. This upgrade eliminates a permissioned role and aligns the OP Stack with L2Beat’s revised Stage 1 standards, which take effect in January 2025.
Since the OP Stack’s op-geth has been upgraded to be compatible with Go 1.23, Cannon has also been updated accordingly. In addition, Kona—an OP Stack state transition proof software development kit written in Rust—is now supported in Cannon. The presence of multiple proof systems enhances the robustness of the OP Stack. Previously, only the Go-based op-program proof system was available.
The MAX_GAS_LIMIT parameter is designed to prevent chain operators from setting excessively high block gas limits that would be incompatible with fault proofs. With the introduction of MT Cannon in Upgrade 14, this limit can now be safely increased. The expanded configurability supports OP Stack implementations that require higher gas limits while maintaining fault-proof capability.
This release involves several minor updates to the Standard Rollup Charter. Proposed changes include increasing the gas limit to 500 million, updating the OP Contracts Manager address to 0x56ebc5c4870f5367b836081610592241ad3e0734, and setting the latest release tag to op-contracts/v4.0.0-rc.8, which corresponds to commit 54c19f6acb7a6d3505f884bae601733d3d54a3a6 in the Optimism Monorepo.
Upgrade 16 also introduces a range of additional maintenance updates and enhancements to the OP Stack. The Cannon tool now supports Go 1.23, ensuring compatibility with ongoing changes in go-ethereum. Furthermore, OP Stack chains are now capable of higher scalability, as the maximum gas limit per block has been increased from 200 million to 500 million gas, following recent advancements in the OP Stack proof system and supporting infrastructure.
Optimism’s Upgrade 16 Introduces AnchorStateRegistry Changes With Mandatory Re-Proving Of Withdrawals
Optimism functions as a Layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum, designed to facilitate faster and more cost-effective transactions while maintaining the security guarantees of the Ethereum mainnet. This is accomplished through the use of optimistic rollups, a mechanism that aggregates transactions off-chain and periodically submits them to Ethereum, presuming their validity unless a challenge is raised via fraud proofs within a specified timeframe.
According to Optimism, Upgrade 16 represents a routine update to the Layer-1 smart contracts associated with the OP Stack. The upgrade is not expected to cause any service interruptions or affect network performance.
Similar to Upgrade 13, Upgrade 16 includes a one-time invalidation of all existing withdrawal proofs. This step is considered the most straightforward and secure approach for implementing changes to the AnchorStateRegistry contract. Users who have already submitted withdrawal proofs may choose to finalize their withdrawals before the activation of Upgrade 16 or will need to re-submit their proofs once the upgrade has been completed.
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About The Author
Alisa, a dedicated journalist at the MPost, specializes in cryptocurrency, zero-knowledge proofs, investments, and the expansive realm of Web3. With a keen eye for emerging trends and technologies, she delivers comprehensive coverage to inform and engage readers in the ever-evolving landscape of digital finance.
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Alisa, a dedicated journalist at the MPost, specializes in cryptocurrency, zero-knowledge proofs, investments, and the expansive realm of Web3. With a keen eye for emerging trends and technologies, she delivers comprehensive coverage to inform and engage readers in the ever-evolving landscape of digital finance.
