Optimism & Flashbots Collab for Enhanced OP Stack Sequencing

Optimism Enhances OP Stack with Flashbots Collaboration

Optimism is partnering with Flashbots to bring advanced sequencing capabilities to the OP Stack. This collaboration aims to provide builders with enhanced tools for chain differentiation, efficient value capture, and accelerated scaling, as announced by both companies on Thursday.

The Superchain, which includes networks such as Base, Unichain, World Chain, Ink, and Soneium, currently handles over 60% of all Ethereum layer 2 activity as of August 2025. The collaboration leverages Flashbots’ expertise, known for their work on MEV-Boost, BuilderNet, and Flashblocks, to elevate the stack’s performance and adaptability.

Key Benefits of the Partnership

• Faster Confirmations: OP Stack builders can expect confirmation times of around 200ms through Flashblocks, already live on Base and Unichain, with expansion planned for OP Mainnet and other Superchain networks.
• Programmable Block Building: Builders gain the ability to customize block construction.
• Verifiable Fairness: Utilizing secure enclaves to ensure fairness.
• Responsible MEV Capture: Improved mechanisms for managing Miner Extractable Value.
• Enhanced Spam Resistance: Strengthening the network against spam transactions.

These advancements empower developers to tailor latency, fairness protocols, and scalability to suit specific use cases, retain sequencer revenues within their ecosystems, and expedite their projects' time-to-market.

Quotes from Leadership

“With Flashbots as a core technology partner, we’re accelerating the roadmap for fast, cheap, and customizable sequencing across the OP Stack,” said Sam McIngvale, Head of Product at OP Labs. “This is part of our broader mission: giving builders the freedom to design their chains their way, with infrastructure that’s open, flexible, and battle-tested in production.”

The collaboration's initial focus will be expanding Flashblocks across the Superchain and introducing advanced sequencing options as configurable features.