Optimism
Although I have used Optimism in the past, bought some of its native token OPTIMISM, I never really dived into it. But today, we are going to take a closer look about this blockchain which is claimed to be (I quote on their website:
fast, stable, and scalable L2 blockchain built by Ethereum developers, for Ethereum developers. Built as a minimal extension to existing Ethereum software, Optimism’s EVM-equivalent architecture scales your Ethereum apps without surprises. If it works on Ethereum, it works on Optimism at a fraction of the cost. Or in short, a low-cost and lightning-fast Ethereum L2 blockchain. (Optimism)¹
Ethereum has scalability issues which make transactions slower and more costly or expensive as more people use it. To solve this problem, layer 2 scaling solutions are being developed and Optimism is one of them. It is built to work on top of the Ethereum mainnet. And per information on their website, Optimism users have saved over 3 billion dollars in gas fees.
Rollup Protocol
According to a Coindesk article, it is powered by a technology called Optimistic rollups. These are scaling solutions which perform transactions outside of the network's layer 1, posts the transaction data to Ethereum but inherits its security properties. Simply put, rollups make Ethereum transactions cheaper without significantly sacrificing the inherent security of the base blockchain. Whilst the transactions take place on Optimism, the data are posted to the Ethereum mainnet where they get validated. (Source)²
Per Optimism Docs, "Optimism is an "Optimistic Rollup," which is basically just a fancy way of describing a blockchain that piggy-backs off of the security of another "parent" blockchain. Specifically, Optimistic Rollups take advantage of the consensus mechanism (like PoW or PoS) of their parent chain instead of providing their own. In Optimism's case this parent blockchain is Ethereum." - (Source)³
Key Information
Website
GitHub
Chain Explorer
Socials: Twitter, Discord
Optimism Tokenomics
OP (Optimism)
Initial token supply: 4,294,967,296 OP
Inflation rate: 2% a year.In Year 1, 30% of the initial token supply will be made available to the Foundation for distribution.
After Year 1, token holders will vote to determine the Foundation's annual OP distribution budget. The Foundation expects to seek the following annual allocations:
Year 2: 15% of the initial token supply
Year 3: 10% of the initial token supply
Year 4: 4% of the initial token supply
(Info from CMC)⁴
Optimism Stats via Token Unlocks App
Market Capitalization: USD 934.66M
Circulating Supply: 644,594,782
Maximum Supply: 4,294,967,296
Token Distribution
Locked Tokens
27% of the supply is locked or 1.16 billion OP. 678.15 million are unlocked and 2.46 billion OP tokens are untracked.
Incoming Token Unlocking
In approximately 24 days from now (30th June), a total of 24 million Optimism tokens (0.562% of the total supply) will be unlocked.
Some people think this has something to do with the price of OP token declining and is now trading at USD 1.37, over 7% down within the 24-hour period.
Screenshots via Token Unlocks
Also, a scheduled major upgrade on the Optimism network from the legacy system to the Bedrock system is happening today, 6th June 2023. This is aimed at providing the tools for launching a production-quality Optimistic Rollup blockchain.
Per CMC, Optimism is one of the biggest scaling solutions for Ethereum with over $500 million in Total Value Locked (TVL). Accordingly, Optimism is "completely funded by donations and grants, and pledges to produce infrastructure that promotes the growth and sustainability of public goods." (Source)
OP Markets
Optimism token can be traded (Spot, Futures, Perpetual) on both centralized and decentralized exchanges which include but not limited to Uniswap V3, Binance, Coinbase, Bithumb, Kucoin, OKX, Bybit, Gate.io, Huobi, Probit Global, KyberSwap, Bitget, Crypto.com Exchange, Bitkub, Phemex, MEXC, CoineEx, BitMax, AscendEx, LBank, Bitvavo, BitMart, LAToken, Velodrome, NovaDax, Zipswap, Pexpay, Cointiger and many more. Optimism can be bought via fiat too and certain applications are available for this like MoonPay, Transak and others.
Optimism Ecosystem
There are plenty of applications on Optimism in various categories re: Automated Market Makers (AMMs), decentralized exchanges (DEXes), Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), bridges, DAO, Wallets, DeFi etcetera. It houses 97 protocols that include platforms like Lyra, Synthetix as mentioned above, Aave, Transak, Thales, Kwenta, Hop Exchange, 1inch, SusiSwap, Stargate, Across, Synapse Protocol, Celer Network, Elk Finance, Umbria Network and many others.
Source
Optimism Collective
This is a group or band of companies, communities and citizens working together to reward those who create or sustain public goods and build a sustainable future for Ethereum. Source
The Optimism Collective consist of two governing houses, re: Token House and Citizens' House.
Token House
OP was distributed to hundreds of thousands of wallet addresses that engaged in positive-sum, community-oriented behavior with Airdrop #1. OP holders on this category are responsible for submitting, deliberating and voting on various types of governance proposals. In carrying out these functions, OP holders may either vote directly, or delegate their OP voting power to an eligible third party.
The Token House votes on proposals pertaining to Governance fund grants, Protocol upgrades, Inflation adjustment, Director removal, Treasury appropriations, and Rights protection.
Citizens' House
This is responsible for retroactive public goods funding (RPGF).
Accordingly, both these are in experimental stage and will evolve as the Optimism Collective grows.
Source
Optimism Stack
This is a modular, standardized, shared, open-source development, decentralized software stack that powers Optimism. It forms the backbone of OP Mainnet and Base and eventually in the form of the Optimism Superchain and its governance. It is currently maintained by the Optimism Collective.
The OP Stack can be thought of as software components that either help define a specific layer of the Optimism ecosystem or fill a role as a module within an existing layer. - Source
The first release of the OP Stack codebase is called Bedrock. The Bedrock release primarily consists of the core software required to run Layer 2 blockchains and was originally designed to power an upgrade to the OP Mainnet network. Bedrock improves on its predecessor by reducing transaction fees using optimized batch compression and Ethereum as a data availability layer; shortening delays of including L1 transactions in rollups by handling L1 re-orgs more gracefully; enabling modular proof systems through code re-use; and improving node performance by removing technical debt. - (Source)
Optimism Bedrock
This is the current iteration of the OP Stack. The Bedrock release provides the tools for launching a production-quality Optimistic Rollup blockchain. At this point in time, the APIs for the different layers of the OP Stack are still tightly coupled to this Rollup configuration of the stack.
The new OP Stack (Bedrock) was built to support the Optimism Superchain, a proposed network of L2s that share security, communication layers, and a common development stack (the OP Stack itself). The Bedrock release of the OP Stack makes it easy to spin up an L2 that will be compatible with the Superchain when it launches. If you'd like to launch a Superchain-ready L2, check out our guide for running a chain based on the Bedrock release of the OP Stack.
(OP Stack Docs)
The OP Stack is said to be an evolving concept. It grows as Optimism grows.
The Bedrock Release of the OP Stack simplifies the process of deploying new L2 Rollups. As work on the stack continues, it should become easier to plug in and configure different modules. As the Superchain (link) begins to take shape, the OP Stack can evolve alongside it, to include the message-passing infrastructure that allows different chains to interoperate seamlessly. At the end of the day, the OP Stack becomes what Optimism needs.
(OP Stack Docs)
Here's the current overview of the OP Stack landscape.
Optimist NFT
The Non-Fungible Tokens of Optimism are a fully customizable digital avatar that lets users showcase their personality and build their onchain identity.
The Optimist NFT is one of the first applications built on top of the AttestationStation, which is a permission-less data source for anyone who is building a decentralized identity. (Source)
To date, only eligible wallets can mint them and seems to be an invite-only process. Eligibility for future rounds of the Optimist NFT public mint will be determined by participation in the Optimism Collective and data recorded in the AttestationStation. Source
How to Deposit into Optimism
One needs Ether (ETH) on Optimism chain to do almost anything. And there are two ways to get ETH, as well as ERC-20 tokens into Optimism re:
Deposit using Optimism Bridge
Or by following these steps:
- Connect your Ethereum Metamask wallet to the Optimism Gateway.
- Enter the amount of ETH in the top input, which will be deposited 1:1 on to the Optimism L2.
- Sign the transaction in Metamask and wait for it to go through.
- Deposit will get credited in your Web3 wallet within several minutes, while withdrawals might take up to one week.
Or buying assets from exchanges and have them deposited directly to Optimism using one of the fiat onramps that support Optimism chain.
Summary (TL;DR)
- Optimism is a layer 2 scaling solution that is built on top of the Ethereum Mainnet which allows transactions to be processed at a lower cost.
- It uses Rollup Protocol which records data on the Ethereum network without sacrificing the security properties of transactions.
- It is powered by OP Stack, a software that runs Layer 2 blockchains at a reduced cost. The next iteration of the software is called Optimism Bedrock and is designed to support the planned Superchain. The Bedrock allows different chains to interoperate seamlessly. A scheduled Bedrock upgrade is happening today, 6th June.
- The native token is called OP (Optimism) and can be traded on different CEX and DEXes (Spot, Futures and Perpetual). About 24 million of the OP tokens will be unlocked on 30th June.
- Optimism has NFTs but is not available to anyone. Only eligible users can mint them.
For infotainment only. 06062023/10:05ph
Image Sources:
- Optimism Logo from GitHub, edited on mobile app.
- Token Analytics & Charts from Token UnLocks
- OP Stack Docs
- Optimism Website