Kriptoks

Optimism (OP) is a revolutionary layer-two blockchain built on top of Ethereum that is designed to scale the Ethereum ecosystem through the use of optimistic rollups. By leveraging the security of the Ethereum mainnet, Optimism aims to help the Ethereum ecosystem reach new heights.

Optimism is one of the most significant scaling solutions for Ethereum, with over $500 million in total value locked (TVL). It is home to 97 protocols, including some of the biggest players in the crypto space such as Synthetix (SNX), Uniswap (UNI), and Velodrome (VELO). These protocols are all built on Optimism and benefit from its scalability and security features.

Users can easily access Optimism by adding the chain to their Metamask and bridging tokens like ETH to the layer-two. On May 31, 2022, Optimism conducted a highly-anticipated airdrop of its OP token, which is used to govern the protocol and participate in its ecosystem.

The Optimism Foundation, a nonprofit organization, leads the development and growth of the Optimism ecosystem. Like Ethereum, Optimism aims to become a fully decentralized public good that is not profit-oriented. The foundation is completely funded by donations and grants, and pledges to produce infrastructure that promotes the growth and sustainability of public goods.

One of the key principles of Optimism is to keep its code and infrastructure as simple as possible, while working directly with existing codebases. This approach emphasizes pragmatism and is driven by the real-world needs and constraints of the Optimism team and its users. Therefore, Optimism aims to build iteratively and implement features like EVM equivalence gradually.

Optimism's design process is centered around long-term sustainability and avoiding shortcuts to scalability. This is why it uses optimistic rollups and takes advantage of the consensus mechanism of Ethereum to scale the network. Blocks are constructed and executed on the layer-two (Optimism), while user transactions are batched up and submitted to the layer-one (Ethereum). The layer-two has no mempool, and transactions are immediately accepted or rejected, providing a smooth user experience while ensuring security through the Ethereum consensus mechanism.

Transactions are submitted to Ethereum without direct proof of validity and can be challenged for a certain period of time (currently seven days). After that, a transaction is considered final. As a result, withdrawals from Optimism to Ethereum take seven days to complete.

In summary, Optimism is a layer-two blockchain solution built on Ethereum, that aims to scale the Ethereum ecosystem through the use of optimistic rollups, while being led by a non-profit foundation and emphasizing on long-term sustainability and simplicity. It offers a wide range of protocols and a governance token, OP, that allow for a smooth and secure user experience.