Optimism's Decentralization Roadmap Hits Snags Amid Rising TVL

The Optimism network is working towards reaching Stage 1 decentralization on the L2Beat scale, but its current status remains at Stage 0. With $8 billion in total value locked, it trails behind Arbitrum One's $13.8 billion and is still reliant on a single operator.

According to OP Labs' roadmap, building the Cannon proof system will support future zk-proof adoption and move the network beyond its current reliance on a single operator. However, critics argue that Optimistic rollups' assumption of validity by default creates vulnerabilities, citing an infinite mint bug in 2022 as an example.

OP Labs is pursuing a breadth-first approach to decentralization with a modular codebase design, allowing ecosystem engineers to develop multiple alternative proving mechanisms. A Stage 1 designation requires a trustless fault proof system and a security council that manages protocol upgrades.