OP/USD: Convert Optimism (OP) to United States Dollar (USD)

Optimism (OP) is a layer-two blockchain that operates on top of Ethereum, aiming to enhance the scalability of the Ethereum ecosystem. It employs a technology known as optimistic rollups, which allows transactions to be recorded on Optimism and ultimately secured on Ethereum. This approach aims to provide a balance between efficiency and security. Optimism is home to numerous protocols and has a significant total value locked (TVL), indicating its substantial role in the Ethereum ecosystem. The project is led by the Optimism Foundation, a nonprofit organization that strives to grow the Optimism ecosystem and aims to become a fully decentralized public good.

Optimism operates by leveraging the security of Ethereum's consensus mechanism. It constructs and executes blocks on its own layer (L2), while user transactions are batched and submitted to Ethereum's layer (L1). This process ensures 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 of time. After this period, a transaction is considered final. This is why withdrawals from Optimism to Ethereum take seven days to complete.

Optimism aims to create an ecosystem where value is generated for its three constituencies: token holders, contributors and builders, and users and community members. The demand for OP block space generates revenue, which is distributed to public goods, driving more demand for block space. This makes Optimism a potential platform for a wide range of decentralized applications (dApps), including decentralized exchanges (DEXs), automated market makers (AMMs), and other financial protocols. Users can also bridge tokens like ETH to the L2, expanding the possibilities for token utilization within the Optimism ecosystem.

Optimism was established by the Optimism Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to growing the Optimism ecosystem. The project is completely funded by donations and grants, and it pledges to produce infrastructure that promotes the growth and sustainability of public goods. On May 31, 2022, Optimism conducted an anticipated airdrop of its OP token. The initial token supply is over 4 billion OP tokens, with an inflation rate of 2% per year. The project's design process is built around the idea of long-term sustainability and not taking shortcuts to scalability, which is why it uses optimistic rollups and takes advantage of the consensus mechanism of Ethereum to scale the network.