Optimism Partners with Flashbots to Enhance OP Stack Sequencing
Optimism has formed a partnership with Flashbots to optimize transaction processing across its OP Stack, enhancing the speed and customization of Ethereum’s popular layer-2 networks.
Partnership Overview
Optimism is collaborating with Flashbots to transform how transactions are handled in its OP Stack ecosystem, aimed at accelerating the functionality of some of the most renowned layer-2 networks on Ethereum.
Key Focus
The collaboration emphasizes sequencing— a critical process that governs the confirmation time of transactions, how trades are prioritized, and the fees users incur. Optimism illustrates that with Flashbots’ infrastructure, which is instrumental in producing over 90% of Ethereum’s blocks, they can now offer nearly immediate transaction confirmations and an organized transaction order across all chains within what’s termed the Superchain.
Benefits
The significance of this partnership is underscored by the claim that the OP Stack drives more than 60% of all activity on Ethereum layer-2 networks. Advanced features like rapid settlement and frontrunning protection, which were previously only accessible to affluent chains capable of developing them in-house, will now be made available to any project leveraging Optimism’s OP stack.
Flashbots is widely recognized for its contributions to MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) through its MEV-Boost tool, which has substantially influenced block production.
Implementation Plans
Several technologies offered by Flashbots are already deployed across OP Stack chains, enabling Base and Unichain to achieve block times as low as 200 milliseconds. Future developments include the integration of flashblocks and advanced sequencing capabilities to Optimism’s mainnet and other OP Stack chains, aiming to provide the flexibility for developers to craft their chains efficiently.
Quote from Leadership
“With Flashbots as a core technology partner, we’re accelerating the roadmap for fast, cheap, and customizable sequencing across the OP Stack,” says Sam McIngvale, Head of Product at OP Labs. “This is part of our broader mission: giving builders the freedom to design their chains their way, with infrastructure that’s open, flexible, and battle-tested in production.”
