The development of #Optimism technology is attracting more and more major players in the crypto industry, strengthening the project's position as a leader among Layer-2 solutions for the Ethereum network.
Large companies choose Optimism
After the successful launch of Coinbase's Base network, new projects continue to join the Optimism ecosystem. Uniswap, Sony and Kraken have announced plans to deploy their own Layer-2 networks based on OP Stack technology.
Layer-2 is an additional blockchain layer that runs on top of the main Ethereum network. These solutions allow transactions to be processed outside of the core network and the resulting data to be transmitted into it.
Layer-2 networks play a key role in the development of the Ethereum ecosystem by enabling faster and cheaper transactions. Second only to bitcoin in terms of capitalization, Ethereum remains the leading platform for smart contracts, decentralized exchanges, and credit protocols.
Expansion strategy through grants
The Optimism Foundation actively supports new projects by allocating significant amounts in OP tokens. The Kraken exchange recently received a grant of 25 million OP tokens (about $42.5 million) to develop its Ink network.
As of September 30, the Optimism partnership fund has:
-- 841 million OP tokens to fund projects
-- 480 million OP tokens have already been distributed
-- 361 million OPs remain available (about $480 million at the current exchange rate of $1.32)
Expert Opinion
Offchain Labs CEO Steven Goldfeder notes the differences in approach, “There is a strategy focused on announcements and a strategy focused on real success and metrics on the web. Our strategy is to support real users and developers.”
Andrew Koller, creator of Kraken's Ink network, explains the choice of OP Stack: “We wanted to focus on the user experience without worrying about the complexities of blockchain management. So Optimism was an obvious choice.”
Results and outlook
Despite a 65% drop in the value of the $OP
token this year, this is less than the decline in other major Layer-2 tokens - MATIC from Polygon (-70%) and $ARB
from Arbitrum (-72%). Meanwhile, Ethereum's price is up 6% YTD.
The Optimism ecosystem continues to expand, attracting new participants and strengthening its position in the segment of Layer-2 solutions for Ethereum.
