Optimism is more than just a state of mind—it's a strategic approach that can transform challenges into opportunities. When we adopt an optimistic outlook, we empower ourselves to see beyond the immediate obstacles and visualize a brighter future. This mindset is not about ignoring reality but about embracing the possibility of positive outcomes. Imagine tackling each day with a sense of hope and resilience! Optimism can be a powerful catalyst for personal growth, stronger relationships, and a more fulfilling life. So, what does it take to cultivate true optimism, and how can it impact our daily lives? Read on to discover the transformative power of optimism.

What Is Optimism (OP)?

Optimism (OP) is a layer-two blockchain built on top of Ethereum. By leveraging the security of the Ethereum mainnet, Optimism helps scale the Ethereum ecosystem through the use of optimistic rollups. This means that transactions are trustlessly recorded on Optimism but are ultimately secured on Ethereum.

As one of the largest scaling solutions for Ethereum, Optimism boasts over $500 million in Total Value Locked (TVL). It supports 97 protocols, including major players like Synthetix (SNX), a derivatives exchange, Uniswap (UNI), a decentralized exchange (DEX), and Velodrome (VELO), an automated market maker (AMM). Users can start their journey on Optimism by adding the chain to their Metamask wallet and bridging tokens like ETH to the Layer-2 network. On May 31, 2022, Optimism conducted a highly anticipated airdrop of its OP token.

Who Are the Founders of Optimism?

Optimism is spearheaded by the Optimism Foundation, a nonprofit organization committed to growing the Optimism ecosystem. Much like Ethereum, Optimism aims to become a fully decentralized public good that is not profit-oriented. The project is entirely funded by donations and grants, pledging to develop infrastructure that promotes the growth and sustainability of public goods.

What Makes Optimism Unique?

Optimism is designed around four core tenets:

• Simplicity
• Pragmatism
• Sustainability
• Optimism

The project aims for the minimum number of moving parts while building a Layer-2 solution for Ethereum. In practice, this means using proven Ethereum code and infrastructure whenever possible. Optimism strives to keep its code as simple as possible and work directly with existing codebases.

The ecosystem further emphasizes pragmatism, driven by the real-world needs and constraints of its team and users. Therefore, Optimism aims to build iteratively and implement features like EVM equivalence gradually.

Optimism's design process is built around the idea of long-term sustainability, avoiding shortcuts to scalability. This is why it uses optimistic rollups and leverages Ethereum's consensus mechanism to scale the network. Blocks are constructed and executed on the Layer-2 (Optimism), while user transactions are batched and submitted to the Layer-1 (Ethereum). The Layer-2 has no mempool, and transactions are immediately accepted or rejected, ensuring a smooth user experience while maintaining security through Ethereum's consensus mechanism.

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

How Many Optimism (OP) Coins Are There in Circulation?

Optimism aims to create an ecosystem where value is generated for its three constituencies:

• Token holders receive value through the productive re-deployment of sequencer revenue.
• Contributors and builders receive value from retroactive public goods funding.
• Users and community members receive value from ongoing airdrops and project incentives.

In short, demand for OP block space generates revenue, which is distributed to public goods, driving more demand for block space. Optimism's token allocation is as follows:

• Ecosystem fund (25%): split between the governance fund (5.4%), the partner fund (5.4%), the seed fund (5.4%), and unallocated (8.8%).
• Retroactive Public Goods Funding (20%)
• User airdrops (19%): split into a first airdrop of 5% and subsequent airdrops yet to be announced.
• Core contributors (19%): people who help bring the Optimism Collective from concept to reality.
• Investors (17%)

The initial token supply is 4,294,967,296 OP tokens, with an inflation rate of 2% per year. In Year 1, 30% of the initial token supply will be made available to the Foundation for distribution. After the first year, token holders will vote to determine the Foundation's annual OP distribution budget. The Foundation expects to seek the following annual allocations:

• Year 2: 15% of the initial token supply
• Year 3: 10% of the initial token supply
• Year 4: 4% of the initial token supply

How Is the Optimism Network Secured?

Optimism utilizes optimistic rollups. Optimistic Rollups (ORs) can trustlessly record transactions on the second-layer blockchain and broadcast periodic Merkle roots of the transactions to the first-layer blockchain. External validators verify these Merkle roots, which delays withdrawing funds from Layer-2s running on optimistic rollups (usually by one week).

Where Can You Buy Optimism (OP)?

OP is available on several major cryptocurrency exchanges, including:

• Binance
• Huobi
• [KuCoin](https://