From cross-chain bridges to L2, what are the strategic considerations for Orbiter's transformation?

Recently, Tiger Research released an in-depth research report on the cross-chain bridge Orbiter Finance, listing its ultra-high market share data in the cross-chain of mainstream layer2 assets, and mentioned that Orbiter is doing a strategic transformation from a cross-chain bridge to a Vizing layer2 chain. The question is, if the "business model" of cross-chain bridges is not bad, why should we be ambitious to build layer2 chains? Come, let me try to decipher:

1. Since Ethereum established the rollup-centric Layer 2 expansion strategy, the "cross-chain bridge" has become a top priority as a key component service connecting various Layer 2 message communication and asset interoperability.

However, due to the fact that the original cross-chain path defined by Ethereum is basically L2 - > L1 - > L2, plus the 7-day challenge time window of OP-Rollup, if the A layer 2 chain wants to transfer an asset to the B layer 2 chain, in addition to the 2 large cross-chain gas fees between the mainnet and the layer 2 to bear, there is also a longer time cost of locking funds.

As a result, most of the cross-chain assets between layer2s either rely on centralized CEXs' centralized withdrawal solutions, or third-party cross-chain bridge protocols such as Orbiter, Hop Protocol, and Wormhole.

That's why, as stated in the report, Orbiter Finance has been able to stay ahead of the curve in this round of layer2 expansion, with a market share of roughly 40% and a unique Maker mechanism, with one company accounting for almost 70% of the profits in the cross-chain bridge market. These data can confirm the success of Orbiter in the cross-chain bridge track.

2. However, after the upgrade of Cancun, the layer2 market once showed a situation of a hundred flowers, and the two camps dominated by OP-Rollup and ZK-Rollup continued to expand vertically, constantly promoting their own technology stacks and ecosystems, for example, OP Stack has developed dozens of new layer2s including Base as part of its Superchain grand strategy.

However, both OP Stack and ZK Stack are burying their heads in the development of their respective closed ecosystems, and although their wings are gradually full, they are increasingly showing a trend of development of princely separation, which leads to the further dispersion of layer2 liquidity and the consistent fragmentation of user experience.

In this case, @VitalikButerin has repeatedly called for layer 2 to improve interoperability, and launched the Helios light client to accelerate the trustlessness and interoperability between layer 2s. In addition, many chain abstractions, including @ParticleNtwrk and @ProjectZKM, and ZK technical service providers have also intervened through the third-party interoperable layer to help unify the liquidity of the Ethereum layer2 ecosystem.

This means that the Endgame of the Ethereum layer2 ecosystem will definitely build a consistent interoperable layer, which means that if cross-chain bridges such as Orbiter are satisfied with the current "business model", they may eventually face the risk of being eliminated from the market.

3. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why Orbiter has changed from passive to active and launched the Vizing layer2 extension solution to enable secure and low-cost seamless asset interaction between layer2 multi-chains.

As mentioned above, the other layer2 are the development strategies of the princes, and in front of Vizing, I am afraid that there is only one way to go. To this end, the Vizing chain is built with three core features:

1. Vizing Account Abstraction (VAA): allows users to manage multiple Layer2 networks with a single account, greatly simplifying the user experience, similar to the unified account abstraction service provided by the chain abstraction service;

2. Vizing Environment Layer (VEL): Provide developers with a unified cross-chain development environment and lower the threshold for ecological construction, which is equivalent to a unified cross-chain communication standard.

3. Cross-chain information communication between Rollups: To reduce the dependence on Ethereum L1, it is necessary to adapt to different layer2 Rollup chains, and use a unified and standardized interface to transmit and exchange information with them, so as to provide conditions for efficient and decentralized asset exchange between layer2 companies.

Above.

In general, under the premise that layer2 will inevitably move towards cross-chain interoperability and unification, Orbiter chooses to take the initiative to "revolution" itself and promote a more ambitious and imaginative layer2 interoperable shared layer strategy.

Moreover, with the settlement of subsequent roadmaps such as the subsequent ZK-SNARKs of the Ethereum ecosystem, including the expected Beam Chain network upgrade plan, etc., all point to a unified layer2 interoperability ecosystem.