Getting Ready for Shape: The New Ethereum L2 for Creatives
Built by the minds behind the Deca NFT curation platform, Shape, a new Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) network designed specifically for creators, is gearing up for its mainnet launch on Monday, Sept. 30th.
Why it matters
The latest entrant to Optimism’s Superchain ecosystem, Shape is an L2 built on OP Stack tech that is equivalent with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), making it just as easy to use and build on Shape as it is to do so on Ethereum.
In a bid to win over creatives, Shape has implemented a Gasback program natively into its chain.
This feature lets smart contract owners reclaim 80% of the sequencer fees—charges for ordering and bundling L2 transactions—that users spend interacting with their contracts, allowing creators and apps to share in the network's success.
What to expect
A number of projects have already announced plans to support Shape as soon as the L2’s mainnet launches on Sept. 30th.
For example, NFT creator and collector platform Highlight will offer full indexing and marketplace support for Shape NFTs, and Transient Labs, a custom NFT smart contracts platform, is integrating the L2 too. The USDC stablecoin is also coming to Shape.
Additionally, the Shape Rotation campaign is slated to kick off on Sept. 30th. The event will see +40 prominent NFT collectors launch a $250,000 collecting spree on Shape NFTs, with the Shape team matching another $250,000 on all the purchases.
Trying Shape ahead of mainnet
Shape’s testnet is currently live, so it’s possible to try the L2 early before it hits the limelight.
For instance, the DIY contracts platform thirdweb has been an early supporter of the Shape Sepolia testnet. You can use the platform’s Shape faucet to receive 0.01 testnet ETH (pending availability, once per 24 hours).
If you want to try creating your own testnet NFT drop, login to the main thirdweb dashboard, and in the Deploy tab of the “Contracts” section select the “Ready-to-deploy” option.
Then select “NFT Drop,” press "Deploy Now," customize your test mint as you desire, and select “Shape Sepolia Testnet” as your deployment chain before confirming your deployment transaction. If you need to add the testnet to your wallet, you can add the network information in your wallet’s settings.
The big picture
The main art-centric L2 active today is Zora Network, which has become a popular choice among creatives in the Ethereum ecosystem this year. That said, there is still plenty of room for other visions to come to the fore here, and Shape is aiming to do just that with its Gasback incentives for users.
It remains to be seen if the Gasback feature will be enough on its own to allow Shape to become a serious challenger to Zora Network’s dominance. Yet major artists like XCOPY have already shown an interest in Shape’s launch, so if the L2 can keep bringing in this sort of intrigue, it's got a shot at becoming a new significant hub in crypto's creative scene. Keep your eyes peeled here accordingly.