What is optimism?
x.com/Optimism”>Optimism is an ethereum layer 2 with an innovative, community-first approach to growing and developing the ethereum landscape. It works using an “Optimistic Rollup” approach, approving transactions in advance and only checking for abuse when an issue is reported.
x.com/Fwiz”>Ryan WyattFormer President of Polygon Labs and CEO of YouTube Gaming, he is the lead figure on the Optimism development team, serving as Chief Growth Officer. Under his leadership, Optimism has redesigned its ecosystem to be more open, more transparent, and more collaborative, making it easier for developers and users to build and scale on ethereum.
The ultimate goal of optimism is to create a “superchain,” a unified network of multiple chains that work together seamlessly.
To achieve this, Optimism has implemented “OP Stack,” a modular and adaptable framework that allows developers to create their own blockchains that can connect and communicate with each other, driving both scalability and cross-collaboration.
Renowned projects such as Worldcoin's World Chain, Igloo Inc.'s Base blockchain, and Abstract Blockchain are all powered by the OP Stack.
How optimism works
At the core of Optimism is $OP, the native token of the Optimism ecosystem that sits at the heart of its governance and operation.
$OP holders have a direct say in how the network is run, can suggest improvements to protocols, and vote on upcoming changes. This decentralized model ensures that the community plays a vital role in the evolution of the network over time.
Optimism governance is managed by the Optimism Collective, with two main bodies: the Token House and the Citizens House.
The Token House is responsible for protocol upgrades, treasury approvals, and other key decisions. $OP holders can vote on these decisions or give up their voting power to someone else if they prefer.
The House of Citizens is an experimental governance model that focuses on retroactive funding of public goods. It aims to reward projects and efforts that help the ethereum ecosystem grow and scale, and that are done with the common good in mind.
Looking ahead, Optimism’s 2024 roadmap reveals a number of features focused on an interconnected future.
These include the Superchain Registry, which allows developers to view the users, configurations, and code for each blockchain within the Superchain. Blockspace Charters aim to improve governance, detailing upgrades for each chain controlled by Optimism Collective. Following the launch of Stage 1.5, more transactions will be validated autonomously, reducing the need for human interaction.
The story of optimism
In October 2019, the Optimism team published their first research paper, outlining the idea and potential of Optimistic Rollups. The initial version of the Optimistic ethereum testnet was launched in June 2020, allowing budding developers to experiment with the technology.
The $OP token was introduced via airdrop in May 2022, with 5% of the total supply distributed to eligible users. Further airdrops are also planned, with 19% of the total supply set aside for this purpose.
Optimism underwent a major mainnet upgrade in December 2022, allowing the blockchain to verify transactions in a permissionless manner, making operations safer and more decentralized.
In 2023, Optimism partnered with several major blockchain projects. These include x.com/circle”>CircleIntroducing USDC to Optimism, x.com/coinbase”>Coinbasewhen creating the BASE network, x.com/binance”>Binance opBNB Layer 2 Blockchain Launched and Clearpool, a Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Lending Marketplace, Expands to Optimism OP Mainnet
The team continues to improve its Optimistic Rollup technology over time, making transactions more reliable and cheaper to execute.
Optimism is emerging as a key player in the future of ethereum. With its robust technology, decentralized governance model, vibrant community, and Superchain goal, Optimism is poised to create the foundation for ethereum’s viability, adoption, and long-term success.
Want more? Connect with nft Plazas
Subscribe to the weekly newsletter
Join our Telegram
twitter.com/nftplazas” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Follow us on twitter
facebook.com/nftplazas” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Like us on facebook
*All financial and investment opinions expressed by nft Plazas are derived from the personal research and experience of our site moderators and are intended as educational material only. Individuals should thoroughly research any product before making any type of investment.
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″>!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=();t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)(0);s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,’script’,’https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js?v=next’);