Optimism to End Support for op-geth and op-program by May 2026

The Ethereum layer-2 network will require migration to op-reth before the Karst hard fork, as fault proofs transition to the kona-client framework.

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Summary

Optimism announced it will discontinue support for op-geth and op-program on May 31, 2026, marking a major technical shift for Ethereum layer-2 chains built on its stack. All new features, including the upcoming Karst hard fork, will be developed exclusively for op-reth, meaning networks must migrate before Karst to stay aligned with the mainnet. The op-program’s fault proof mechanism will transition to kona-client, Optimism’s new fault proof system designed for increased security and performance.

Terms & Concepts
  • op-reth: A Rust-based implementation of the Optimism stack, succeeding op-geth as the primary execution client.
  • Karst hard fork: An upcoming Optimism network upgrade introducing protocol changes and feature enhancements.
  • kona-client: The new Optimism fault proof client responsible for validating fraud proofs within the Optimism ecosystem.