{"id":37693,"date":"2022-08-10T17:02:59","date_gmt":"2022-08-10T14:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=37693"},"modified":"2025-08-29T20:11:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T17:11:17","slug":"what-is-optimism-op","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/what-is-optimism-op\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Optimism (OP)?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">Key points<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Optimism is a Layer-2 (L2) scaling solution designed to boost the speed and scalability of the Ethereum network.<\/li>\n<li>The Optimism blockchain uses Optimistic Rollups, cutting transaction fees by orders of magnitude versus Ethereum\u2019s Layer 1 (L1) while allowing any Solidity-based smart contracts and decentralised applications to be deployed on L2 with minimal changes.<\/li>\n<li>The L2 network\u2019s throughput ranges from 200 to 2,000 transactions per second.<\/li>\n<li>According to DefiLlama, Optimism ranks among the leading L2 networks by number of live protocols (over 60) and total value locked (over $1bn as of August 2022).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">Who created and funded Optimism?<\/h2>\n<p>The Optimism protocol was developed by Optimism PBC (later renamed OP Labs PBC), founded in New York in 2019. The start-up was launched by Jinglan Wang, Kevin Ho and Karl Floersch, former Ethereum developers.<\/p>\n<p>Over its lifetime the project has raised $178.5m across three investment rounds.<\/p>\n<p>A non-profit, the Optimism Foundation, was set up to steward the funds and incentivise ecosystem growth. It is led by the Optimism co-founders, as well as Eva Beylin (director of the Graph Foundation), Abbey Titcomb (head of community at Radicle) and Brian Avello of the Maker Foundation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The fund is expected to share its powers over time with the decentralised governance body Optimism Collective. The OP Labs PBC team launched a testnet in October 2019, an alpha mainnet in January 2021, and a final mainnet release with EVM support in December 2021.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">How does Optimism\u2019s tokenomics work?<\/h2>\n<p>The Optimism L2 network has a native <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.news\/cryptorium\/chto-takoe-token-upravleniya\/\">governance token<\/a>, OP, launched on 31 May 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Total supply is 4.3bn OP, allocated as follows:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>20% \u2014 to members of the Optimism Collective;<\/li>\n<li>25% \u2014 reserved for ecosystem funds;<\/li>\n<li>19% \u2014 to be distributed to users via airdrops;<\/li>\n<li>17% \u2014 for early investors;<\/li>\n<li>19% \u2014 for the team and developers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The first airdrop was among the largest in crypto history: from 31 May 2022, <a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/101746\/ethereum-scaling-solution-optimism-airdrop\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more than 248,000 users<\/a> of the Optimism ecosystem received 251m OP, or 5% of total supply. A further 14% is slated for several retroactive airdrops.<\/p>\n<p>According to Optimism\u2019s documentation, the OP token has the following roles, to be enabled gradually:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>funding development of the Optimism ecosystem;<\/li>\n<li>voting on protocol upgrades and allocation of ecosystem funds;<\/li>\n<li>participating in governance of projects within the Optimism Collective<strong>.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">How does Optimism work?<\/h2>\n<p>To increase throughput and minimise transaction costs, Optimism uses Optimistic Rollups. Transactions and smart-contract execution occur on the L2 network, while Ethereum\u2019s mainnet handles block production and security.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"819\" src=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/optimistic_rollups-min__1_-1024x819.png\" alt=\"\u0427\u0442\u043e \u0442\u0430\u043a\u043e\u0435 Optimism (OP)?\" class=\"wp-image-162831\" srcset=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/optimistic_rollups-min__1_-1024x819.png 1024w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/optimistic_rollups-min__1_-300x240.png 300w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/optimistic_rollups-min__1_-768x614.png 768w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/optimistic_rollups-min__1_.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>The network runs its own Optimistic Virtual Machine (OVM), enabling Ethereum smart contracts and decentralised applications to run on L2 without changes.<\/p>\n<p>To accelerate processing, the OVM employs \u201coptimistic execution,\u201d refraining from validating each transaction upfront. Unlike Ethereum L1, any transaction on Optimism is considered valid unless proven otherwise. This yields 200\u20132,000 transactions per second, versus roughly 10 tps on Ethereum.<\/p>\n<p>For security (for instance, to prevent double-spends), the OVM lets network participants challenge transactions.<\/p>\n<p>Special nodes called sequencers bundle hundreds of L2 transactions into compact batches that are submitted to Ethereum mainnet blocks.<\/p>\n<p>Another node type \u2014 verifiers \u2014 can challenge the validity of a sequencer\u2019s batch for up to one week. If challenged, the entire batch is checked by comparing root states before and after the transaction.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If a proposal is found to be fraudulent, the entire batch and the corresponding block are rejected, the vigilant verifier is rewarded, and the sequencer is penalised. Thus verifiers are incentivised to expose bad actors, and sequencers earn fees only for valid proposals.<\/p>\n<p>Because each batch contains hundreds of transactions, gas costs are shared among users. According to l2fees.info, in August 2022 the fee to transfer ETH on Optimism fell below $0.04, and token swaps below $0.07 \u2014 roughly 30\u2013100 times cheaper than on Ethereum.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">What is in the Optimism ecosystem?<\/h2>\n<p>More than 60 decentralised protocols, cross-chain bridges and other blockchain projects run on Optimism. The network is supported by the most popular Web3 wallets, including MetaMask, Trust Wallet and Coinbase Wallet. Major stablecoins such as USDT, USDC, DAI, FRAX and USDD are also issued on Optimism.<\/p>\n<p>According to DefiLlama, the top five applications by total value locked (TVL) on Optimism are:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>the lending protocol Aave;<\/li>\n<li>the derivatives platform Synthetix;<\/li>\n<li>the decentralised exchanges Velodrome and Uniswap;<\/li>\n<li>the gaming platform PoolTogether.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To support ecosystem growth, the Optimism Foundation awards grants to developers and teams launching dApps and Web3 services on Optimism. In November 2021, the first round of \u201cretroactive funding\u201d allocated $1m across 58 projects.<\/p>\n<p>NFT projects are a focus within the ecosystem. Notable collections include Optipunks, Optimistic Bunnies, Optimistic Loggies, Dope Wars, oe40, tofuNFT, Quixotic and Circular Art.<\/p>\n<p>As on other blockchain platforms, several major incidents have affected Optimism-based apps. In June 2022 a hacker \u201cintercepted\u201d 20m OP (about $17m) that the Optimism Foundation had sent to market maker Wintermute, but later returned the funds to the recipient.<\/p>\n<p>Less than a month later, Quixotic, the largest Optimism-based NFT marketplace, came under attack. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">How is Optimism evolving?<\/h2>\n<p>As of August 2022, Optimism\u2019s low transaction costs had saved users more than $1bn.<\/p>\n<p>The team is focused on building a new governance system that shares authority between the Optimism Foundation and members of the Optimism Collective.<\/p>\n<p>Under a concept published in April 2022, the Optimism Collective is a decentralised autonomous organisation for digital democratic governance, designed to foster rapid and sustainable growth of the decentralised ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p>The Optimism Collective will comprise two houses:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Citizens House \u2014 includes holders of non-transferable \u201csoul bound\u201d NFTs tied to a specific address;<\/li>\n<li>The Token House \u2014 includes OP holders and functions like a traditional DAO.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Merge, scheduled for September 2022 and completing Ethereum\u2019s transition to Proof-of-Stake, is expected to give Optimism a powerful boost, chiefly thanks to the <a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/vitalik-buterin-outlines-endgame-roadmap-for-eth-2-0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Rollup-Centric Roadmap<\/a> \u2014 Ethereum\u2019s unofficial plan to scale via tight integration with L2 solutions.<\/p>\n<p>In late July 2022, the Optimism team introduced an Ethereum transaction automation system called Drippie.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-cards single_card\">\n<h2 class=\"card_label\">Further reading<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-arbitrum\">What is Arbitrum?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-a-merkle-tree\">What is a Merkle tree?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-curve\">What is Curve?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/how-to-mint-an-nft-for-free-a-step-by-step-guide\">How to mint an NFT? Everything you need to know<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-polygon-matic\">What is Polygon (MATIC)?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is Optimism and how does it differ from other L2 solutions? Which projects make up its ecosystem? Answers, in brief.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2113],"tags":[2117,2126,1179,1362,1406],"class_list":["post-37693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptorium","tag-101-altcoins","tag-kriptorium-ethereum","tag-layer-2-solutions","tag-optimism-op","tag-optimistic-rollup"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"175","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37693"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37695,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37693\/revisions\/37695"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}