Layer 2 blockchain · settles to Ethereum
Fraxtal ticker FRAX
Summary
Optimium on Ethereum built from the OP Stack. One sequencer orders transactions into 2-second blocks. Instead of posting transaction data to Ethereum, the batcher sends it to a Frax data server that stores copies on several storage backends and returns an IPFS content hash; only that hash is posted to Ethereum, and nodes then fetch the data from a data endpoint or IPFS. A single whitelisted proposer posts state roots to an output oracle on Ethereum. There is no working fraud proof, and a 3-of-5 Fraxtal multisig can delete proposed roots. Withdrawals wait 7 days after a root is posted. Users can force a transaction in through Ethereum, with up to a 12-hour delay. Block production uses no stake or work of its own. 13172021222327
Design
- System
- Layer 2 blockchainFraxtal Mainnet (chain ID 252) is an OP Stack chain anchored to Ethereum. Frax's docs call it a rollup, but only an IPFS hash of each batch goes on Ethereum; the data is kept by a Frax-run storage service. L2BEAT therefore calls it an Optimium, listed under 'Others'. It keeps the Layer 2 class because its ordering, bridge and withdrawals run through Ethereum contracts. FRAX (the renamed FXS) is the native gas coin; one Frax page calls Fraxtal an L1, which does not match how it runs today.
- Settles to
- EthereumOnly IPFS content hashes of batch data are posted to Ethereum; the data itself is stored outside Ethereum by Frax. Blocks count as finalized once the Ethereum block holding their reference is final. Withdrawals through the canonical bridge must be claimed after a 7-day period, and they rely on one whitelisted proposer and on a 3-of-5 multisig that can upgrade the Ethereum contracts with no delay.
- Settlement family
- Ethereum / EVM
- Scarce resource
- Other
- State model
- Accounts
- Finality
- Other
- Who makes blocks
- One sequencer. The Superchain Registry gives Frax's own endpoint (rpc.frax.com) as the sequencer's RPC endpoint, and FIP-441 says the Fraxtal protocol's intellectual property belongs to the Frax DAO while on-chain subprotocols are managed by the Frax Core Team. L2BEAT lists one whitelisted proposer address and the 3-of-5 Fraxtal multisig as the only party that can challenge or delete state roots.
- Fork choice
- No open L2 fork choice: the sequencer's blocks are canonical, and the sequencer can still reorganize them until their batch reference lands on Ethereum. After that the chain is derived from the hashes posted to Ethereum plus data fetched from outside Ethereum, so Ethereum fixes the order but does not hold the data. State-root challenges affect bridge withdrawals, not the chain itself.
Qualifications
- Scarce resource · Not applicable. Fraxtal block production uses no stake or work of its own; the sequencer is operator-assigned. FIP-428 says the North Star hard fork would make system-contract changes to prepare for a future validator system in which FRAX is staked, but no design or date for that system was published.
- Finality · Partial. Fraxtal follows the OP Stack stages: in a sequencer block, reference posted to Ethereum, then the Ethereum block holding it is final. Because the posted reference is a hash of data stored elsewhere, Ethereum finality fixes the order of batches but does not guarantee the data stays retrievable.
- Data availability · Partial. Frax says batch data sits on four storage backends with twelve copies, served through a public Frax endpoint that anyone could replace with one relying only on IPFS; L2BEAT describes three locations (AWS, IPFS and Cloudflare R2) behind a single Frax endpoint, with no committee, no economic security and no fraud detection for withheld data.
- Rollup label · Contested. Frax's docs call Fraxtal an EVM-equivalent rollup, while L2BEAT calls it an Optimium outside the rollup list and the Superchain Registry records alternative data availability with no fault proofs.
- Network status · Applies. Fraxtal Mainnet was producing 2-second blocks at review time per Fraxscan, and node releases continued through April 2026. No sunset or migration notice was found in Frax docs or the Frax governance forum.
Tradeoffs
- Emphasizes
- Scalability
- Gives up
- Decentralized operation, data availability on Ethereum and withdrawal security: one sequencer orders all transactions, the transaction data is held by a Frax-run storage service with only a hash on Ethereum, one whitelisted proposer posts state roots with no working fraud proof, and a 3-of-5 multisig can upgrade the Ethereum contracts instantly with no exit window, per L2BEAT.Keeping data off Ethereum lowers the cost of posting batches, which is the main scaling gain. Forced inclusion through Ethereum (up to 12 hours) is the main protection users still get from Ethereum. L2BEAT also reports a permissioned function, added in September 2025, that lets a Frax multisig mint the gas token on Fraxtal without a matching deposit; this was not confirmed on a Frax page.
- Full node at home
- Practical at home 3415161939Frax recommends at least 16 GB RAM and 500 GB of NVMe storage, and ships a Docker setup built on its own forks of op-node and op-reth; the sample settings run an archive node unless a full-node flag is set. A node also needs an Ethereum RPC endpoint and a data endpoint to fetch batch data, which defaults to Frax's own; Frax says anyone can build one that relies only on IPFS. Checking the chain without trusting Frax therefore takes an Ethereum node and an IPFS replica as well.
- Throughput claims
- No classified figure recorded
Scaling layers
No scaling layer recorded in this profile.
Capabilities
| Capability | How it is provided | Notes and sources |
|---|---|---|
| Account abstraction | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Atomic swaps | Unknown | A protocol-level trust-minimized swap mechanism on Fraxtal was not reviewed; EVM contracts could implement hash-locked swaps, but none was verified. |
| Authenticated data publication | Unknown | Not yet assessed under the current definitions; Fraxtal's custom data service stores the chain's own batch data so nodes can rebuild blocks; Fraxtal users do not invoke it to publish their own data, so it does not meet this row. Whether Fraxtal has a feature that does was not verified, so the earlier none becomes unknown under the rule that absence needs a source. 3 |
| Light clients | Unknown | No Fraxtal light client was reviewed. State roots on Ethereum come from one whitelisted proposer with no working fraud proof, so checking Fraxtal state against them would trust that proposer. |
| Native staking or delegation | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| On-chain governance | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Parallel execution | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Payment or state channels | Unknown | No payment or state channel layer anchored to Fraxtal was reviewed. |
| Programmable spending | Native (protocol or core-team software) Earlier definition | Fraxtal is an EVM-equivalent OP Stack chain, so spend conditions are written as smart contracts. 1 |
| Protocol-verified messaging | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Reversible transfers or recovery | Unknown | Not yet assessed under this row's current definition. |
| Rollups | Unknown | Frax's docs say Fraxtal will offer components for other chains to connect to it and deploy Layer 3 networks on it, but no chain settling to Fraxtal was verified. Fraxtal's own anchoring to Ethereum is described in the mechanism and Ethereum dependency notes. 1 |
| Shielded transfers | Structured assessment pending | Not yet assessed for any chain. |
| Signed partial offers | Unknown | Not yet assessed under this row's current definition. |
Reading these values
- How this feature is provided
- Built into the protocol, core-team software or independent software says where a feature lives and who can change it. These are implementation layers, not quality: core-team software is not closer to the protocol than independent software.
- Structured assessment pending
- The shared review has not assessed this feature for any chain yet (Account abstraction, Native staking or delegation, On-chain governance, Parallel execution, Protocol-verified messaging and Shielded transfers). That does not mean it is absent, and a chain’s profile may already describe it.
- Unknown
- The review has not established this for this chain under the current definition; the note beside it says why. Unknown is not absent and not a low score. A feature reads “Not present” only when a source shows it is absent.
- Earlier definition
- Payment or state channels, Programmable spending and Rollups keep the earlier definition until the next fact-check. There, “Native” does not separate the protocol from core-team software, “Ecosystem software” does not say who publishes it, and “Partial” does not say which layer.
- Reading across rows
- The list of capabilities is incomplete. Do not read these rows as a chain leading or lagging overall.
Ecosystem & custody
| Product type | Status | Notes and sources |
|---|---|---|
| Automated market makers | ThinFraxswap, Curve, Velodrome | Frax's docs list Fraxswap contracts on Fraxtal; Fraxswap is a constant-product AMM whose core is based on Uniswap V2, with an added time-weighted order feature. DefiLlama's DEX tracker showed low trading volume across all Fraxtal venues in the 30 days before review, most of it on Fraxswap and Curve. Liquidity depth was not measured. 121330 |
| Issuer-native stablecoins | First-partyfrxUSD (Frax) | Frax lists frxUSD, its own fully collateralized dollar stablecoin, at a Fraxtal system address. Frax says each frxUSD is backed one to one by cash-equivalent reserves such as tokenized US Treasury funds, held with custodians and managed by Frax Inc under delegation from the Frax DAO. Circle's native USDC list and Tether's supported-chain list do not name Fraxtal. Whether frxUSD on Fraxtal is minted directly or bridged from Ethereum was not confirmed. 10113132 |
| Algorithmic stablecoins | Unknown | The original FRAX stablecoin, now called Legacy Frax Dollar, began with partly algorithmic backing; FIP-188 in 2023 set a path to full collateral, and FIP-441 describes it as winding down. Other algorithmic or hybrid stablecoins on Fraxtal were not reviewed. 142728 |
| Bridges | Native to the protocolFraxtal OP Stack bridge (canonical, Ethereum), Frax Mesh (LayerZero-based, Frax tokens only) | The canonical bridge carries any token between Ethereum and Fraxtal; Frax's docs give under an hour for deposits and a 7-day wait plus a manual claim for withdrawals. Frax Mesh moves Frax's own tokens between Fraxtal and other connected chains using LayerZero messaging, with Fraxtal as the hub; Frax's bridge page gives under a minute for transfers between Ethereum and Fraxtal. Third-party bridges were not reviewed. Risk: Canonical withdrawals rely on one whitelisted proposer with no working fraud proof and on batch data held outside Ethereum; a 3-of-5 multisig can upgrade the bridge contracts instantly, and L2BEAT records a June 2025 upgrade used to withdraw funds for a stuck address. Frax Mesh relies on LayerZero verifier networks and a 3-of-6 multisig on each chain rather than on Ethereum. 7922 |
| Block explorers | ThinFraxscan (Etherscan) | Fraxscan, built by the Etherscan team, was serving Fraxtal Mainnet data at review time. Frax's docs also list a Blockscout instance, Routescan and Tenderly; the Blockscout site redirected to a login check and Routescan refused automated access during this review, so they were not confirmed. Explorer indexes are not canonical consensus. 829 |
| Hardware wallets | Unknown | See custody rows: Trezor states that it does not currently support Fraxtal, and no Ledger support for Fraxtal was found (Ledger Wallet's code has no Fraxtal network). 3437 |
Hardware-wallet custody
| Device maker | Status | What users can and cannot do |
|---|---|---|
| Ledger | UnknownSame as native: Unknown | Ledger's Fraxtal coin page returned 404, Ledger's Frax Share page covers the token on Ethereum and does not mention Fraxtal, and neither Ledger Wallet's network list nor its public currency definitions have a Fraxtal entry. Signing Fraxtal transactions through a third-party wallet with a Ledger device was not verified. 353637 |
| Trezor | None foundSame as native: No | Cannot: Count on Trezor support for the Fraxtal network: Trezor's Fraxtal page states that Trezor does not support FraxtalTrezor's FRAX token page lists Fraxtal among twelve networks where the FRAX token exists, several of which Trezor Suite does not run, so it reads as a list of token deployments rather than device support for the Fraxtal network. Trezor Suite's network code has no Fraxtal entry, and Trezor's Ethereum page does not list Fraxtal among its networks. FRAX itself can be held on Ethereum. Signing Fraxtal transactions through a third-party wallet with a Trezor device was not verified. 333438 |
Public data
iKnow Blockchain has no public-data lookups for Fraxtal yet. This is a limit of the service, not a statement about the network.
| Lookup | Status | What it covers and its limits |
|---|---|---|
| Address or account | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
| Tokens and assets | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
| NFTs | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
| Transactions | Not available yet | Public-data lookups for this chain are not built yet. |
Sourced developments
Developments: Review overdue Reviewed Sep 27, 2026; next review was due Oct 7, 2026, 12:00 UTC.
Publication date · newest first
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Frax rebuilt its Fraxtal op-node on Optimism's op-node 1.19.0 and moved its node setup to it
On 4 June 2026 Frax published op-node 1.19.0-frax-1.2.1, its Fraxtal consensus client with the Frax 1.2.1 changes carried onto Optimism's op-node 1.19.0; the release note lists no other change. On 17 June 2026 Frax switched the Docker setup in its fraxtal-node repository, for mainnet and the Hoodi testnet, to this op-node build and to op-reth v2.3.1-frax-1.3.4, and replaced the node start-up script. No fraxtal-node release was tagged for this change and it was not marked required.
- Implementation:released as a Frax op-node build; adopted in the fraxtal-node master configuration on 2026-06-17
- Release:op-node 1.19.0-frax-1.2.1 component release; no fraxtal-node release tag for it as of 2026-09-27
- Activation:operator upgrade; no hard fork or activation time stated
Sources: Frax Finance on GitHub — op-node-1.19.0-frax-1.2.1 (external site) · Frax Finance on GitHub — fraxtal-node commit cc49857: Update reth/node versions (external site) · Frax Finance on GitHub — FraxFinance/fraxtal releases (external site) · Frax Finance on GitHub — fraxtal-node releases (external site)
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Fraxtal nodes moved from op-geth to Frax's op-reth fork
Frax's mainnet node release of 13 April 2026 replaced the op-geth execution client with Frax's fork of op-reth, ahead of upstream op-geth's deprecation on 31 May 2026. A follow-up release published on 26 April 2026 added new bootnodes to speed up first sync and was marked strongly recommended.
- Implementation:Released
- Release:mainnet-20260413 and mainnet-20260425 node releases
- Activation:operator upgrade; no hard fork
Source: Frax Finance on GitHub — fraxtal-node releases (external site)
-
FIP-441 fixed FRAX supply and set out a move of Frax governance to Fraxtal
The Frax Core Team proposed capping FRAX, Fraxtal's gas coin, at 143 million with yearly spending caps, dropping the planned long-term tail emission and providing a path to move vote-escrowed positions from Ethereum to Fraxtal. In the thread, a Frax Core Team reply says Fraxtal gas-fee flows will be recycled rather than burned. The appendix reports the North Star hard fork, which made FRAX the gas coin, as complete.
- Proposal:approved in a Snapshot vote closing 2026-02-05
- Implementation:partly implemented; the veFRAX migration was listed as not yet built in the proposal
- Release:not a software release
- Activation:policy in effect; implementation status not verified
Source: Frax governance forum — [FIP-441] $FRAX: 1 Token, 1 Mission, 1 Vision (external site)
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Required Fraxtal node upgrade before Ethereum's Fusaka hard fork
Frax published a required mainnet node release updating its op-geth and op-node forks so Fraxtal nodes would keep following Ethereum through the Fusaka hard fork on 3 December 2025. The release warned that nodes left un-upgraded would see a chain split.
- Implementation:Released
- Release:mainnet-20251117 node release
- Activation:needed before Ethereum's Fusaka activation on 2025-12-03
Source: Frax Finance on GitHub — fraxtal-node releases (external site)
-
Fraxtal testnet replaced by a new testnet on Ethereum's Hoodi network
Frax replaced its Fraxtal testnet with a new one that settles to Ethereum's Hoodi test network and runs current node versions. Frax's network page now lists the Fraxtal testnet as chain ID 2523 with its own RPC endpoint and explorer.
- Implementation:Released
- Release:testnet-20251010 node release
- Activation:new testnet live per Frax's network page
Sources: Frax Finance on GitHub — fraxtal-node releases (external site) · Frax Docs — Fraxtal Network Information (external site)
Topics your AI can explain
Your AI can explain these topics for Fraxtal through the connection, with sources.
Known gaps
What this profile's review did not establish:
- Frax's own pages disagree on what Fraxtal is: the docs call it a rollup, the network page an L2 and the FRAX token page an L1. L2BEAT and the Superchain Registry describe an OP Stack chain whose data is kept off Ethereum.
- The identities of the five signers of the Fraxtal upgrade multisig, and who operates the proposer and sequencer keys, were not sourced.
- The claim that a permissioned function lets a Frax multisig mint the gas token on Fraxtal without a matching deposit comes from L2BEAT only; no Frax page describing it was found.
- Frax and L2BEAT describe the data storage differently (four backends and twelve copies versus three named locations); the current storage setup was not checked directly.
- Frax's North Star proposal mentions a future validator system in which FRAX would be staked; no specification or date was found.
- Current chain size and bandwidth needs were not published; the node guidance gives only minimum RAM and disk, and the default archive mode will need more disk over time.
- Ledger support for Fraxtal was not verified (coin page 404; no Fraxtal network in Ledger Wallet's code or currency definitions). Trezor's FRAX token page lists Fraxtal among the token's networks while its Fraxtal page says Trezor does not support Fraxtal; the Trezor rating follows the network page.
- The Blockscout and Routescan explorers listed in Frax's docs could not be checked during this review.
- Whether frxUSD on Fraxtal is minted directly by Frax's custodians or bridged from Ethereum was not confirmed.
- Where Fraxtal fee income goes today was not confirmed: Frax's token page lists the base fee as a burn source, while FIP-441 says these flows will be recycled instead of burned.
- Atomic-swap, reversible-transfer and recovery, light-client, channel, Layer 3 and algorithmic-stablecoin surfaces on Fraxtal were not reviewed; no throughput claims were recorded.
- No official Frax blog or announcement page could be read (the Frax site renders its news client-side), so news relies on the governance forum and node release notes.
Sources
Oldest dated source check: Source checked Sep 27, 2026 Next check due Oct 27, 2026.
- About Fraxtal (external site)
- Fraxtal Network Information (external site)
- Data Availability (external site)
- Running a Fraxtal Node (external site)
- FRAX on Fraxtal (external site)
- $FRAX token (external site)
- Bridges (external site)
- Block explorers (external site)
- Frax Crosschain Overview (external site)
- The Frax USD Stablecoin (external site)
- frxUSD Contract Addresses (external site)
- Fraxswap Overview (external site)
- Fraxswap Addresses (external site)
- Frax v3 overview (legacy docs) (external site)
- fraxtal-node: docker-compose.yml (external site)
- fraxtal-node: .env.SAMPLE (external site)
- fraxtal-node: mainnet/rollup.json (external site)
- fraxtal-node releases (external site)
- Fraxtal DA follower (external site)
- Superchain Registry: mainnet/fraxtal.toml (external site)
- Superchain Registry: chainList.json (external site)
- Fraxtal (external site)
- Transaction finality (external site)
- Transaction fees (external site)
- Custom Gas Token (external site)
- [FIP-428] Frax North Star Proposal - V2 (external site)
- [FIP-441] $FRAX: 1 Token, 1 Mission, 1 Vision (external site)
- [FIP-188] Increase CR to 100% (external site)
- Fraxtal Mainnet Network Explorer (external site)
- DEX overview for Fraxtal (API) (external site)
- USDC Contract Addresses (external site)
- Supported Protocols (external site)
- Frax (prev. FXS) wallet (external site)
- Fraxtal wallet (external site)
- Frax Share (FXS) wallet (external site)
- Ledger Live currency definitions (external site)
- ledger-live: coin-module loaders (list of networks Ledger Wallet can add) (external site)
- trezor-suite: Ethereum-style network configuration (develop branch) (external site)
- Spin up your own Ethereum node (external site)
Report an error
Found something wrong or out of date? Reporting is free, and every chain goes through the same process. Published corrections appear in the public log.
Funding disclosure
Funding disclosures appear here when an upkeep arrangement exists, in the form “Upkeep funded by [name]; verdicts unaffected.” The funder ledger has not been published yet. Neutrality & funding