Cryptocurrency exchange OKX finally opened its Ethereum layer-2 network X-layer mainnet to the general public on April 15th.
The scaling solution’s testnet was launched in November 2023 to rave reviews and was built with Polygon’s Chain Development Kit (CDK). This toolkit helps developers construct chains using zero-knowledge techniques.
Haider Rafique, OKX’s chief marketing officer, explained that the company built a layer 2 network because it believes “the best way to achieve mainstream adoption is to help scale Ethereum, the largest existing Web3 community, instead of competing with it.” .
As a result, the company wants to leverage the Polygon and Ethereum communities to bring 50 million users on-chain.
X layer
X Layer is a high-performance and secure Ethereum-based Zero Knowledge (ZK) Layer-2 network.
The platform is already seeing some level of adoption, with over 200 decentralized applications including popular names like Etherfi, Chainlink, Curve Finance, Eigen Layer, and Renzo Protocol.
Rafique added:
“Now that the X LAYER public mainnet is live, our focus is onboarding as many developers and users as possible. Our goal is to add value by providing a seamless and efficient experience on-chain and encourage and foster new innovations based on L2 and ZK technologies.”
Additionally, the exchange’s native OKB token is used for gas payments on layer 2 networks. This mainnet launch sparked a positive surge in OKB’s value, rising 5% despite the overall market downturn affecting large digital assets.
There was controversy over the branding of the chain, which was initially promoted as X1. Another platform built by XEN developers, originally known as XONE (now known as X1), has raised concerns that users could potentially confuse the two chains. OKX finally chose X Layer to avoid branding issues following the XEN developer’s lawsuit.
layer 2 network
The layer 2 blockchain network is designed to enhance the scalability of Ethereum, which is rapidly gaining popularity and integration within the cryptocurrency space.
According to data from L2Beat, these networks collectively facilitate 117 transactions per second, representing a significant leap of 9.67x over the Ethereum mainchain.
Moreover, the total value of assets secured in these networks fell slightly to $37 billion at the time of reporting, before soaring to an unprecedented $45 billion.