The OVM

One notable piece of the Optimistic Rollup architecture is that it is built on top of the Optimistic Virtual Machine (OVM), a standard framework for executing L2 transactions. OVM-compatible implementations of state channels and Plasma are in production as well. But why take the time to rebuild layer 2 solutions on top of the OVM?

If a user wants to use Optimistic rollup to interact with smart contracts, and then open up a payment channel to send micropayment with another service, and then use Plasma Cash to transfer NFTs in some game, that user’s experience will be terrible. They will have to use some interface for Optimistic Rollup, enter into a new interface for the payment channels, and again, use an entirely new interface for Plasma. As a user, it would be much easier if I had a single wallet that showed all of my coins from every L2 solution I use. If each of those L2 implementations was integrated with the OVM, this type of wallet would be easy to build. The wallet developer wouldn’t need to build in custom support for payment channels, Plasma, or Optimistic rollup - they would just need to build in OVM support and they could immediately support ANY Layer 2 solution that was built on top of the OVM.

Regardless of whether the best layer 2 solution to scale your app ends up being Plasma, or Optimistic Rollup, or something new, they will all be able to fit into the simple OVM framework. As a developer of a dApp or wallet, it is reassuring to be able to future-proof your project by just adding OVM support.

Learn more about the OVM:

• Introducing the OVM

• The OVM ❤️s Your Scaling Solution: State Channel Edition