Optimism to pause ETH withdrawals for one hour next week to test incident response system
Quick Take
- Optimism will pause ETH withdrawals for one hour on Feb. 15 to test an upgraded incident response system.
- The new system can pause ERC-20 tokens and NFTs on any Optimism-chain that opts in.
Layer 2 network Optimism 
OP
-3.96%
will see its ether (ETH) withdrawals halted for one hour on Feb. 15 to test an upgraded incident response system.
Withdrawals of ETH from the Layer 2 network to the Ethereum mainnet will be paused during this time, according to a Discord announcement. Deposits from the mainnet to the Layer 2 network and normal transactions on the network will not be affected.
The goal is to enhance the ability to respond to security incidents across different chains in the Optimism ecosystem in a coordinated manner.
The incident response system currently features an on-chain pause for Ethereum withdrawals. The new feature will enable a Superchain wide pause, stopping withdrawals for tokens and NFTs for Optimism and any Optimism-based chains that choose to opt in.
"This upgrade is not just about strengthening individual chains; it's about leveraging the collective security intelligence of the entire Superchain," OP Labs said when it announced the upgraded system on Jan. 25.
The upgraded feature is currently live on its testing network. The one-hour pause will be to check whether it works in a live environment.
During the downtime, updates will be posted on its network status page.
The Optimism ecosystem
Optimism comprises an ecosystem of Layer 2 chains (collectively called the Superchain) that utilize optimistic rollups to reduce transaction costs for dapps. This ecosystem is governed by a DAO, known as the Optimism Collective.
The flagship network is the OP Mainnet, joined by others like Base and Zora.
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