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Within three years of its mainnet deployment in August 2021, Arbitrum One, a Layer 2 optimistic roll-up for Ethereum, has crossed 1 billion transactions, therefore accomplishing this milestone. Blockscan data shows that OP Mainnet has reached 347 million transactions, while its rival Base has only recorded 755 million thus far.
Right now, Base, under Coinbase’s incubation, leads in daily transactions; Arbitrum comes second. With Arbitrum’s total value locked (TVL) still the largest among Layer 2 solutions—at $2.5 billion—DeFiLlama data shows Base’s $2.2 billion follows second.
Arbitrum’s Working Mechanism
Designed by Offchain Labs, Arbitrum is a Layer 2 solution leveraging optimistic roll-up technology. While preserving security from the Ethereum blockchain, it generates an off-chain compute network, allowing faster and less expensive transactions.
The “optimistic” element assumes transactions are legitimate by default, hence validating them only should they be contested. Faster transaction processing and cheaper fees follow from less computational strain on the main Ethereum chain resulting from this.
Arbitrum One has a security mechanism enabling transaction challenges and active fraud-proof systems. Still in its stage one phase, it has not yet evolved to a completely permissionless condition. Operating several Layer 2 networks on Ethereum, Offchain Labs runs each with an ecosystem. Arbitrum One is its flagship chain out of all the networks.
Arbitrum Nova, the second Layer 2 chain, takes advantage of the AnyTrust protocol. Scaling apps and storing transaction data, this network serves as an off-chain data availability layer.
In October 2023, Offchain Labs published tooling for developers launching their Layer 3 blockchains with the Orbit software stack. Orbit lets developers settle on either Arbitrum One or Nova to build their own chain.