Optimism

Optimism is an Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution that uses optimistic rollup technology to deliver faster, cheaper transactions. Developed by the Optimism Foundation (formerly Optimism PBC), the chain went live in January 2021. Its mission goes beyond technical scaling. Optimism is building what it calls the "Superchain," a network of interconnected L2 chains that share security and communication standards.

The OP token powers governance in the Optimism Collective, which has a unique bicameral governance structure. The Token House (OP holders) votes on protocol upgrades and incentive programs. The Citizens' House allocates retroactive public goods funding (RetroPGF), rewarding projects that have already delivered value to the ecosystem. This dual structure balances short-term protocol needs with long-term ecosystem health.

Optimism's open-source OP Stack has become one of the most influential pieces of infrastructure in crypto. Coinbase used the OP Stack to build Base, its own L2 chain. Other major projects including World Chain (Worldcoin), Zora, and Mode have also launched using the OP Stack. Each of these chains contributes a portion of revenue back to the Optimism Collective, creating a sustainable economic model for shared infrastructure.

The Superchain vision ties these individual chains together into a cohesive network with shared bridging, sequencing, and governance. Transactions on Optimism cost pennies thanks to the combination of rollup compression and Ethereum's EIP-4844 (blob transactions). The ecosystem supports a growing DeFi landscape with protocols like Velodrome, Synthetix, and Aave. Optimism's approach of building open-source, public goods infrastructure and sharing it freely has positioned it as the cooperative counterpart to competitive L2 approaches.