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devcon 5 / the optimistic virtual machine an ovmerview

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The Optimistic Virtual Machine: an Ov(m)erview

Duration: 00:23:38

Speaker: Karl Floersch, Ben Jones

Type: Talk

Expertise: Intermediate

Event: Devcon

Date: Jul 2026

The Optimistic Virtual Machine (OVM) is a language for expressing layer 2 scaling solutions like state channels and plasma as a local fork choice. The language is built on a formal model of logical game semantics, along with a "cryptoeconomic dispute assumption." Composing these primitives allows us to describe complex properties of layer 2 state. These layer 2 systems can be written as OVM "programs" which are compiled into both a client-side "proof checker" (the local OVM) and ethereum-side code. The Ethereum code acts as OVM "interpreter" contract on the Ethereum blockchain, which can interpret disputes for any and all of these layer 2 system (state channels, plasmas, etc.). We will go over the details of both the game semantics and Ethereum smart contracts in this workshop.

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Layer 1 ProtocolOVMoptimismacademic