1. The Role of Optimism’s Superchain
2. Governance and the New Synthetix Epoch
3. Future Use Cases and Development

The decentralized finance protocol Synthetix has launched its own blockchain, SNAXchain, built on Optimism's Superchain infrastructure. SNAXchain plays a crucial role in governance and protocol decision-making within the Synthetix ecosystem.

The Role of Optimism’s Superchain

SNAXchain is built on Optimism’s Superchain infrastructure, which uses optimistic rollups to scale transactions on Ethereum. Rollups, being a Layer 2 solution, reduce transaction costs while maintaining the security of Ethereum. Optimism’s Superchain includes several other networks such as Base, Mode, Zora, Lyra, and Aevo. The ecosystem is governed by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) called the Optimism Collective, which oversees the development of the Superchain. The key advantage of SNAXchain being part of this Superchain is user interoperability. Through its partnership with Wormhole, SNAXchain can communicate with Ethereum mainnet, Optimism, and other chains. This allows users to move assets between chains without friction, providing a crucial layer of interoperability.

Governance and the New Synthetix Epoch

A major feature of SNAXchain is its role as the new center for Synthetix governance. Governance has always been crucial to the Synthetix ecosystem, and SNAXchain will take a central role in decision-making as the protocol expands to more chains. As part of this new governance phase, nominations for Synthetix governance councils began on August 30th. These councils include the Spartan Council, Treasury Council, and Ambassador Council, all of which will help manage the protocol's direction. Voting begins on September 6th, and the new epoch officially starts on September 16th. To nominate themselves for a council, participants need to bridge a small amount of ETH for gas fees, connect their wallet to the governance app, and submit their nomination.

Future Use Cases and Development

While the primary focus of SNAXchain is governance, there are discussions about expanding its utility. Future use cases for SNAXchain could include: * **Staking SNX**: The chain could eventually be the primary platform for staking SNX tokens, simplifying operations for users. * **Fee Aggregation**: SNAXchain may serve as a hub to aggregate fees from various Synthetix deployments across multiple chains. * **Next-Gen Synthetix Perps**: There is also speculation that SNAXchain could be used to build the next generation of Synthetix Perps (perpetual futures contracts).

The launch of SNAXchain opens new opportunities for the development of the Synthetix ecosystem. The system will enable effective management of multi-chain deployments and maintain a high degree of interoperability between chains.