Optimism

What is Optimism (OP)?

Optimism is a layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum and, as its name implies, uses a technology called optimistic rollups.

Ethereum is one of the most secure and decentralized networks in existence, but it isn’t perfect. One of the biggest barriers to “true” mass adoption is scalability, which Ethereum developers have had to sacrifice to ensure security and decentralization.

This is called the “blockchain trilemma,” where blockchain projects juggle scalability, decentralization, and security. Many compromise on decentralization, and some compromise on security, but Ethereum and Bitcoin compromise on scalability.

Thanks to Ethereum’s failings regarding scalability, a raft of scaling solutions called layer 2s have emerged. Many of them attempt to scale Ethereum in different ways, and Optimism is one of them.

When Was Optimism Launched?

Optimism was first announced in an August 2019 blog post by Plasma developer Karl Floersch. This led to $3.5 million in funding from Paradigm and the release of Unipig in collaboration with Uniswap at Devcon V.

The progress made by Optimism was highlighted by the excitement around its airdrop in April 2020. However, the network couldn’t handle the frenzy of over 240,000 user wallets rushing to claim their tokens. This led to reduced performance for hours and many complaints about delayed settlements and failed transactions.

This airdrop may have even caused more harm than good since one of the Optimism Discord moderators claimed some users could access tokens before launch. It was presumed that many of these users dumped their OP tokens at launch, crushing the price.

The airdrop gave away 5% of the OP token supply, with subsequent airdrops yet to be announced and 14% of the OP supply available for the purpose. Meanwhile, retroactive public goods funding stood at 20% of the OP supply.

Beyond funding and airdrops, 19% of the OP supply was distributed to core contributors. While they represent a significant amount, these tokens are distributed gradually via lockups.

25% of OP tokens were allocated to the Ecosystem Fund, split between the governance, partner, and seed funds, with a percentage remaining flexible.

Finally, 17% of the total allocation was given to project investors like a16z and Paradigm. These funds are also subject to lockups.

Who are the Founders of Optimism?

Optimism was founded by a group of self-described “ETH obsessives maniacally scribbling on whiteboards.”

With plasma being the scalability solution at the time, the group ran a research non-profit called Plasma Group. In June 2019, the group realized that Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin’s rollup design could be applied to the plasma.

How Does Optimism Work?

Ethereum can only handle a certain number of transactions per second, and as congestion grows, users start to bid more and more gas to push their transactions through.

This makes Ethereum problematic for the average user, both in terms of long wait times and high gas fees for their transactions.

Optimism neatly solves this problem by taking those transactions submitted by users and bundling them up into a single bundle. This bundle is called a rollup, and it allows the gas fee to be shared between all the individual transactions within.

This rollup is processed on Optimism’s layer 2 blockchain, but the transaction data is posted to Ethereum itself.

There are two main types of rollups, and Optimism’s rollups are “optimistic.” This is because every transaction is assumed to be valid. However, if the system suspects there might be fraud, certain computations are then performed to verify the transaction.

Optimistic rollups differ from “zk-rollups,” or zero knowledge rollups, in that the latter generates proof of validity for every bundle of transactions. Optimistic rollups only do so if required, but they have a 7-day “challenge period” within which transactions can be challenged for fraud.

What Makes Optimism Unique?

Beyond simply offering a scaling solution for standard transactions, Optimism also has its own Optimism Virtual Machine (OVM). This engine makes it easy for developers to deploy their decentralized applications (dApps) to the blockchain.

OVM is equivalent to the Ethereum Virtual Machine, so dApps can be ported over with a minimum of fuss. Developers just need to make a few slight tweaks, following which their dApps can hit the ground running.

How is the Optimism Network Secured?

Optimism is a scaling solution for Ethereum that uses rollups. One of the main benefits of these rollups is the fact that security is provided by the layer, which in this case is Ethereum.

That’s great news for Optimism, since Ethereum is one of the most secure distributed networks in existence. There have been no major hacks of the Ethereum blockchain, although smart contract vulnerabilities have led to exploits and attacks connected to various dApps.

Ethereum is secured by a consensus mechanism called proof-of-stake (PoS). Unlike proof-of-work (PoW), which relies on computing power, PoS networks rely on a system of incentives and disincentives to keep nodes in line.

To become a validator and start actively participating in the network consensus, you need to bond at least 32 ETH to the protocol. For most people, this is a significant investment, and it’s just the minimum amount required.

Once their bond, or stake, is in place, validators can start earning rewards for doing their job. More ETH staked means more rewards, so plenty of validators lock in more ETH. This can be a very lucrative revenue stream, so there’s ample incentive to perform well.

If staking rewards are the carrot, a mechanism called “slashing” is the stick. Validators who fail to perform properly or behave maliciously can have their staked ETH confiscated. This can be a very significant penalty since plenty of stakers have locked in large amounts of ETH.

Between the rewards granted by staking and the threat of slashing for misbehavior, the thousands of Ethereum validators out there are very well incentivized to keep the network ticking over.

What is the Use of OP?

OP is the native token of Optimism, and its primary use is in the governance of the protocol. It isn’t a utility token, and actually, using the Optimism scaling solution requires you to have a small amount of ETH in your wallet to pay for fees.

Who Controls Optimism?

Optimism’s governance system is called the Optimism Collective, which is a DAO (decentralized autonomous organization). The Optimism Collective comprises the Token House, which handles technical decisions, and the Citizens’ House, which deals with funding.

The Optimism Collective is a decentralized form of governance that is driven by OP token holders. Part of its vision is that products made to serve the public good can and should be profitable.

How Much OP is In Circulation?

Optimism started out with an initial token supply of almost 4.3 billion OP tokens, and the protocol has defined a 2% token inflation rate per year.

In Year 1, 30% of the initial token supply was made available to the Foundation for distribution. Later distribution amounts are determined by token holders via governance, although the Foundation targets a much lower distribution in the years to come. The target for Year 2 was 15%, dropping to 10% in Year 3 and 4% in Year 4.

How Do You Buy OP?

The easiest way to buy the OP cryptocurrency is through Uniswap V3 on Optimism itself. This way, you have fast and cheap access to OP using a variety of Ethereum-based cryptocurrencies.

You can buy OP with anything from wrapped tokens such as WBTC and WETH to stablecoins like DAI and USDC, as well as other cryptos like LINK and SNX.

Buying OP from a centralized exchange (CEX) platform is also easy, but there may be fewer trading pairs in play, depending on the exchange.

Is It Possible to Buy OP Instantly?

Optimism is a scaling solution, so you should expect transactions to go through fast and cost very little in fees when using it with a DEX like Uniswap.

Centralized exchange platforms can also seem fast, but there’s a good reason for that. Most trading on CEX is done via internal ledgers. To use a TradFi analogy, buying crypto on a CEX is like buying stocks with a broker. In neither case are you the true holder of the asset, and your rights are limited.

Buying on-chain with a DEX is similar to buying stocks directly from a company or through a transfer agent. You then take delivery of the asset and have full rights and privileges.

How Do You Store OP?

The OP token currently has only one real use, which is governance. As mentioned above, you are the true holder of your OP tokens if you buy them on-chain. To do so, you’ll need your own non-custodial wallet.

There are plenty of good wallets available that’ll allow you to hold OP tokens and connect to Optimism governance. These are commonly known as DeFi or Web3 wallets and tend to be online or browser extensions like Metamask, Trust Wallet, or the GameStop Wallet.

You can also link some of these “hot” wallets to offline “cold” wallets like Ledger and Trezor to keep your OP tokens extra safe.

Optimism Energy Consumption

Optimism is a layer 2 blockchain that performs rollups, so its energy consumption is a far cry from networks like Bitcoin. Optimism even lets Ethereum take care of consensus, which reduces the need for extensive amounts of power-chugging hardware.

Is OP a Good Investment?

The explosion in the use of Ethereum, led by DeFi and NFTs, also exposed the network’s lack of scalability at the turn of the decade.

Optimism was one of the many scaling solutions that emerged out of the carnage of triple-figure gas fees and long transaction queues. While some projects have had more success than others, with Polygon being a notable highlight, OP hasn’t been far behind.

In fact, according to DeFillama, Optimism is responsible for close to 3% of the total DeFi value locked on Ethereum. This comes from a lot of the top DeFi protocols in the space, including Aave, Yearn.finance, Synthetix, Curve, and more.

Ultimately, the value of OP as an investment could well be dependent on how developers decide Ethereum should be scaled best. While a wide variety of methods and solutions remain, one or the other may pull ahead in the future.

If optimistic rollups are the way forward, then the future certainly could be Optimism.