Crypto Exchange OKX's Polygon-Powered Layer 2, 'X Layer,' Hits Public Mainnet

OKX, the fourth-largest crypto exchange, said its new layer-2 blockchain, called X Layer, has gone live on its public mainnet, a continuation in the era of major crypto companies starting their own distributed networks.

X Layer, previously known as X1, makes use of Polygon's Chain Development Kit (CDK), a customizable toolkit that lets developers build their own chains by making use of zero-knowledge technology.

The news comes as other major cryptocurrency exchanges have pursued their own layer-2 networks over the past year. In August, Coinbase launched its “Base” blockchain, which is built with Optimisms OP Stack. Kraken is reportedly also interested in creating its own layer-2 blockchain.

In a press release, OKX said its developers will be contributing to CDK‘s codebase, and that X Layer will connect to Polygon’s wider ecosystem via the AggLayer. AggLayer is a Polygon offering that aims to unify liquidity across various chains spun up using the project's technology.

“OKXs 50 million users now have an easy path to onboarding to X Layer and all the other chains connected to the AggLayer,” Polygon Labs Chief Executive Officer Mark Boiron said in the release.

X Layer, which launched on testnet in November, will allow users to access over 170 decentralized applications (dapps), with more slated to launch soon.

“We envision X Layer and other layer-2 chains as the highway infrastructure of the Web3 world, with dApps as the marketplaces and self-hosted wallets as the vehicles that take you there,” OKX Chief Marketing Officer Haider Rafique said in the press release.