Layer 2 Network Optimism to Use Ethereum Attestation Service to Promote User Trust

The attestation service will allow any Optimism user to create digital sign-offs on all kinds of information involving the blockchain’s activities and users.

AccessTimeIconMay 4, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. UTC
Updated May 4, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

Optimism, an Ethereum-based layer 2 companion blockchain, will be using Ethereum Attestation Service (EAS), an on-chain attestation protocol to enable users to assess the trustworthiness of the platform’s users and vouch for whether something actually happened on the blockchain, EAS said in a press release sent to CoinDesk.

This could promote fairer OP token distribution and community voting systems on Optimism, according to the release.

Any Optimism user can use the technology to attest to information that they believe is accurate, such as whether a person built, or contributed to, a particular project, whether an individual makes profitable trades or not, and more.

EAS’ launch aims to enable Optimism users’ to allow them to verify on-chain content that could sway how the platform’s native OP tokens are distributed and how users interact with one another more broadly.

“We're trying to be a base layer where identity platforms can exist, where supply chain companies can attest to supply movements, and provenance, where governments can attest to land registries and entities can vote,” EAS co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Steve Dakh told CoinDesk.

The team said the technology will allow developers to create innovative identity products across Optimism, and other networks such as Base, Polygon and Ethereum.

Such a service could include products such as an aggregated rating system for decentralized finance (DeFi) users’ reputations that could assign an individual a reputation score based on other users’ attestations of their interactions with that individual.

The technology can also support the work of the Optimism Collective, an entity that rewards the ecosystem’s contributors with crypto, by providing the group with the information it needs to distribute OP tokens to community members who have positively contributed to the blockchain, Zain Bacchus, senior product manager of ecosystem at OP Labs, told CoinDesk.

This will incentivize developers to build critical infrastructure on Optimism and pursue other projects that improve users’ experiences within the ecosystem.

“People in the Optimism Collective have been kind of trying to figure out, ‘hey, how do we actually identify one person – and not just like any person, but like a positive contributor to the space – to give these tokens to’ and that's when we started experimenting with attestations,” Bacchus said.

Using EAS, users can also post a publicly accessible, on-chain record of how the collective distributes tokens. This could allow on-chain analysts to more easily understand who is receiving OP tokens and for what purpose, promoting transparency across the entire ecosystem.

Edited by Shaurya Malwa.

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

Elizabeth Napolitano

Elizabeth Napolitano was a news reporter at CoinDesk.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.


Read more about