{"id":25355,"date":"2024-06-12T09:10:15","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T13:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coincentral.com\/?p=25355"},"modified":"2024-06-12T09:10:15","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T13:10:15","slug":"optimism-op","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coincentral.com\/optimism-op\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Optimism ($OP): Layer 2s Scaling ETH and the $OP Token"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optimism is a Layer 2 Optimistic Rollup network that utilizes Ethereum&#8217;s strong security while reducing cost and latency.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Uniquely, an \u201coptimistic rollup\u201d processes transactions off-chain and then batches these transactions into a single transaction posted on-chain; the &#8220;optimistic&#8221; aspect of these rollups comes from the assumption that all transactions are valid by default.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optimism is essentially an extension of Ethereum, offering cheaper and faster transactions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The $OP token is used for governance and can be bought or sold on exchanges like Coinbase.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optimism Fees vs. Ethereum Fees<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A typical transaction cost on Optimism can be approximately ten times cheaper than on Ethereum.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optimism significantly reduces transaction fees compared to the Ethereum mainnet by leveraging its Layer 2 optimistic rollups.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s how these fees work:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The L2 Execution Fee<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is the cost to execute the transaction on Optimism&#8217;s Layer 2 network.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>The L1 Data Fee<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> covers the cost of posting transaction data back to the Ethereum mainnet (Layer 1) as part of the rollup process.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These fees are generally much lower than those charged for conducting the same transaction directly on Ethereum.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optimism also improves transaction speeds. On Ethereum, transactions are limited by block confirmation times, which can lead to delays, especially during network congestion. Optimism batches multiple transactions off-chain and then posts them to Ethereum, which speeds up the process.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This approach enables near-instant transaction confirmations on its Layer 2 network. During peak times, Ethereum transactions can take several minutes to confirm, whereas Optimism is often within seconds.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How Does Optimism Make Money?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optimism&#8217;s economic model hinges on the belief that robust public goods create a thriving ecosystem. It\u2019s designed to generate value for three key groups: <\/span><b>token holders, contributors\/builders, and users\/community members.<\/b><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Revenue Generation<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><b>Sequencer Revenue: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The centralized sequencer processes transactions and generates revenue from transaction fees. The Optimism Foundation initially manages this revenue, which a decentralized sequencing network will eventually handle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Blockspace Demand: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The right to use Optimism\u2019s blockspace is the primary revenue source. As the network grows, demand for blockspace increases, generating more revenue.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Revenue Distribution<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><b>Funding Public Goods: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sequencer revenue is redistributed to fund public goods, which include developer tools, infrastructure, and educational resources. This funding is managed through Retroactive Public Goods Funding (RetroPGF).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>RetroPGF:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The Citizens\u2019 House, part of the two-house governance system, votes quarterly on fund distributions to projects that provide significant value to the ecosystem. This incentivizes builders to contribute to the ecosystem without needing direct revenue generation.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Value Creation<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><b>For Tokenholders:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Revenue from the sequencer funds public goods, which enhances the ecosystem and drives demand for blockspace.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>For Builders\/Contributors:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> RetroPGF compensates builders for their contributions and opens markets for early investment in public goods projects.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>For Users and Community Members: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ongoing airdrops of OP tokens and project incentives funded by the OP ecosystem benefit users directly. Public goods also enhance the overall user experience.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Founding Team<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optimism Labs, founded by Jinglan Wang, Kevin Ho, and Karl Floersch in 2019, developed the Optimism network.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Their mission was to create a fast, stable, and scalable Layer 2 solution that aligns with Ethereum\u2019s principles and enhances its capabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Airdrops on Optimism<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There have been four Optimism airdrops, each targeting a different part of the cryptocurrency community.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Airdrop #1, distributed in May 2022, allocated between 271 to 27,534.98 OP to roughly 248,699 eligible addresses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optimism\u2019s Airdrop #2 distributed 11,742,277.10 OP to 307,965 unique addresses\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Airdrop #3 was on September 18, 2023. The airdrop allocated 19,411,313 OP to 31,870 unique addresses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All Optimism airdrop information can be found on its <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/community.optimism.io\/docs\/governance\/airdrop-1\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">official documentation<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optimism Governance<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optimism employs a unique two-part governance structure that includes the Optimism Fund and the Optimism Collective.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Optimism Collective is further divided into the Citizens\u2019 House, which consists of users holding a soul-bound Citizen NFT, and the Token House, comprising users who hold Optimism\u2019s token $OP. The Optimism Fund plans to phase out, leaving only the Optimism Collective. $ETH is the roll-up<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_25358\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25358\" style=\"width: 2048px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25358\" src=\"https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-9.04.39\u202fAM.png\" alt=\"The Optimism Superchain\" width=\"2048\" height=\"670\" srcset=\"https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-9.04.39\u202fAM.png 2048w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-9.04.39\u202fAM-300x98.png 300w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-9.04.39\u202fAM-1024x335.png 1024w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-9.04.39\u202fAM-131x43.png 131w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-9.04.39\u202fAM-768x251.png 768w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-9.04.39\u202fAM-1536x502.png 1536w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-9.04.39\u202fAM-591x193.png 591w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-9.04.39\u202fAM-621x203.png 621w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-25358\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Optimism Superchain (Source: https:\/\/www.optimism.io\/)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">gas token to work towards EVM equivalence.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Optimism \u201cSuperchain\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ecosystem includes multiple chains part of a &#8220;Superchain&#8221; network. Some notable chains are:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Base<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: A blockchain developed by Coinbase.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Fraxtal<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Built by Frax Finance, focusing on DeFi solutions.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Mode<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: A network designed for creating peer-to-peer parimutuel markets.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>OP Mainnet<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: The primary Optimism network.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Redstone<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Focuses on data and analytics.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Zora<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: A network for creative and artistic projects.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These chains leverage the OP Stack for interoperability, shared security, and ecosystem support.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to Use, Send, and Receive Crypto on the Optimism Network<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optimism can be used in several ways; the most popular are Coinbase Wallet and MetaMask.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Method #1: For Coinbase Wallet:<\/span><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Buy or transfer Optimism tokens from your Coinbase account:<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Connect your Coinbase account to Coinbase Wallet.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Select the asset to transfer or buy.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Change the destination network to \u201cOptimism.\u201d<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Confirm the transaction.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Transfer funds from Coinbase account to Coinbase Wallet:<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Log into your Coinbase account and click \u201cSend &amp; Receive\u201d or \u201cSend.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Select an asset to send and determine the network and wallet address in Coinbase Wallet.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Paste the wallet address in the Coinbase app,<\/span><b> change the network to \u201cOptimism,\u201d and complete the transaction.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Transfer assets to the Optimism network using the Optimism Bridge:<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Open Coinbase Wallet and navigate to the Browser tab.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Go to the Optimism Bridge app, input the amount to bridge, and confirm the transaction.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\"><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Note: This method may have higher network fees.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other Methods:<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aside from using Coinbase, you can interact with the Optimism network through several other methods.:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Optimism Bridge<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: You can use the Optimism Bridge to transfer assets from the Ethereum mainnet to the Optimism network. This involves connecting your wallet (for example, MetaMask) and using the bridge interface to move funds between the two networks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Other Wallets<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: MetaMask, Trust Wallet, and others support Optimism. You can transfer assets directly to these wallets and interact with the Optimism network through decentralized applications (dApps) built on Optimism.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>DeFi Platforms<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Many DeFi platforms, such as Uniswap and Synthetix, have integrated Optimism. You can connect your wallet to these platforms and use Optimism for faster and cheaper transactions. You can also use these platforms to purchase OP.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Words of Warning:<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A best practice: <\/span><b>don\u2019t forget about bridging your tokens.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You may lose your funds if you just send Eth L1 tokens to the Op network (which is an L2 but an entirely different network).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similarly, you&#8217;ll lose your money if you send funds on the Optimism network to an exchange that doesn\u2019t support Optimism.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the words of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/help.optimism.io\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/4411903283227-Withdrawals-from-OP-Mainnet\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optimism\u2019s support documents<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, \u201cWhen you transfer assets to a centralized exchange you send it to an address provided by that centralized exchange. By default, this is an Ethereum mainnet address and the exchange does not look at this address in Optimism. As a result, assets transferred directly to a centralized exchange that doesn&#8217;t support Optimism are irrevocably lost, unless the exchange can help you. Don&#8217;t do it. Verify that the centralized exchange is supporting OP Mainnet and that it looks at the OP Mainnet account before you send it anything.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another consideration is that while L2s are inexpensive to use while you\u2019re on them, bridging between L1 and L2 can incur fairly steep gas fees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to Withdraw Assets from OP Mainnet<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are two ways to get your funds off OP.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong> Using the OP Mainnet Bridge:<\/strong> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Choose from a list of supported ERC-20 tokens, or select any token available on Ethereum mainnet and OP Mainnet.<\/span>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Connect your wallet and select &#8220;Withdraw.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Choose &#8220;Using the official bridge.&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Select the asset and amount.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Approve the transaction in your wallet.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wait for the withdrawal root to be published on Ethereum.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prove the withdrawal.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wait for the seven-day verification period.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Claim the withdrawal.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li><strong>Third-party bridges <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">may be cheaper and faster, though with a more limited token list.. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bridge loans the asset on the Ethereum mainnet, bypassing the standard verification period and spreading the withdrawal cost over more tokens.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">$OP Tokenomics<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">$OP is the governance token, while $ETH is the gas token.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The $OP token has carved out a strong presence and trades on significant exchanges predominantly based in Asia, including <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/coincentral.com\/binance-review\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Binance<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, DigiFinex, and Bybit. These exchanges&#8217; strategic positioning in vital financial hubs like Singapore and Hong Kong highlights the importance of the Asian market in the Layer-2 landscape.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_25357\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25357\" style=\"width: 2048px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25357\" src=\"https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-8.57.25\u202fAM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"875\" srcset=\"https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-8.57.25\u202fAM.png 2048w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-8.57.25\u202fAM-300x128.png 300w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-8.57.25\u202fAM-1024x437.png 1024w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-8.57.25\u202fAM-131x56.png 131w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-8.57.25\u202fAM-768x328.png 768w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-8.57.25\u202fAM-1536x656.png 1536w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-8.57.25\u202fAM-591x252.png 591w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-8.57.25\u202fAM-621x265.png 621w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-25357\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">$OP&#8217;s most popular trading markets<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">$OP sees its highest trading volume on Binance, followed by DigiFinex, Bybit, HTX (formerly Huobi), and OKX.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Globally recognized platforms like Coinbase make OP more accessible to a broader Western audience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As of this writing, $OP has a market cap of $2.2 billion and a circulating supply of nearly 1.1 billion $OP. The token\u2019s max supply is listed as 4,294,967,296 $OP.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optimism ($OP) launched in May 2022, entering a volatile market but capturing significant interest. Its first central price peak occurred in January 2023, coinciding with Ethereum\u2019s successful transition to a proof-of-stake (PoS) system, boosting confidence in Layer 2 solutions like Optimism. This period also saw heightened interest in decentralized finance (DeFi), driving up transaction volumes and demand for cheaper, scalable solutions.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_25356\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25356\" style=\"width: 2048px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25356\" src=\"https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-8.55.54\u202fAM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1166\" srcset=\"https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-8.55.54\u202fAM.png 2048w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-8.55.54\u202fAM-300x171.png 300w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-8.55.54\u202fAM-1024x583.png 1024w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-8.55.54\u202fAM-131x75.png 131w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-8.55.54\u202fAM-768x437.png 768w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-8.55.54\u202fAM-1536x875.png 1536w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-8.55.54\u202fAM-591x336.png 591w, https:\/\/coincentral.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Screenshot-2024-06-12-at-8.55.54\u202fAM-621x354.png 621w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-25356\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">$OP Tokenomics on CoinGecko<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In May 2024, OP reached another peak near $5.00. This surge aligned with a broader crypto market rally and significant Optimism protocol updates, including enhanced Ethereum interoperability and increased adoption of decentralized applications (dApps).<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optimism Competitors<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optimism ($OP) competes with major Ethereum Layer 2 solutions like Arbitrum, Polygon, and zkSync.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each competitor brings unique strengths, whether Arbitrum&#8217;s efficient fraud proofs, Polygon&#8217;s high throughput and flexibility, or zkSync&#8217;s advanced zk rollup technology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each platform aims to scale Ethereum by enhancing transaction speeds and reducing costs, and the competition generally comes down to developers and users rather than technology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Arbitrum is another leading Layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum. It utilizes optimistic rollups to enhance transaction throughput and reduce costs. It employs a multi-round fraud-proof system, which can lower dispute resolution costs compared to Optimism\u2019s single-round approach.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It offers potentially lower fees and higher scalability, emphasizing security through its multi-round fraud proofs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Polygon (formerly MATIC) achieves scalability using sidechains, Plasma chains, and optimistic and zero-knowledge (zk) rollups. It supports up to 65,000 transactions per second and offers significantly lower gas fees.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">zkSync uses zero-knowledge rollups (zk rollups), which bundle multiple transactions off-chain and generate cryptographic proofs to ensure transaction validity. It\u2019s positioned as a leader in zk roll-up technology.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Final Thoughts: Rolling Up This Optimistic Rollup<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optimism is a collective of companies, communities, and citizens seemingly aligned to build a sustainable future for Ethereum and reinvest into a more productive cryptocurrency landscape.\u00a0 It\u2019s poised to play a vital role in Ethereum\u2019s future, enhancing scalability and user experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Optimism\u2019s code is open-sourced and MIT-licensed. It\u2019s the most forked rollup and has become home to a values-aligned community of developers, builders, and users.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As Ethereum&#8217;s demand keeps rising, Layer 2 solutions are the heroes users have been waiting for, exasperated by Eth\u2019s gas fees.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Layer-2s will continue to evolve, as will their communities and competition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The $OP token has had its ups and downs, but significant price peaks in early 2023 and mid-2024 show that when Ethereum moves, so does Optimism. With continuous technological advancements and a supportive community, the outlook is, well, optimistic.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Optimism is a Layer 2 Optimistic Rollup network that utilizes Ethereum&#8217;s strong security while reducing cost and latency. Uniquely, an \u201coptimistic rollup\u201d processes transactions off-chain and then batches these transactions into a single transaction posted on-chain; the &#8220;optimistic&#8221; aspect of these rollups comes from the assumption that all transactions are valid by default.\u00a0 Optimism is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":25359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"iawp_total_views":56,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5712],"tags":[5774,28107,28118],"class_list":{"0":"post-25355","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-guides","8":"tag-ethereum","9":"tag-layer-2","10":"tag-optimism"},"wppr_data":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What is Optimism ($OP): Layer 2s Scaling ETH and the $OP 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