What is Optimism?
An introduction to the Optimism network on Coinbase Wallet
What is Optimism?
Optimism is an extension to Ethereum which enables users and developers to benefit from the latter’s strong security guarantees while being cheaper and faster. The OP token is used for governance and can be bought or sold on Coinbase and other exchanges.
Optimism is a fast, stable, and scalable L2 solution built by Ethereum developers, for Ethereum developers. Optimism’s EVM-equivalent architecture scales your Ethereum apps without surprises. Committed to building a sustainable ecosystem through retroactive public goods funding, Optimism is scaling Ethereum’s present to provide funding for its future.
Optimism allows you to do many of the same things as the Ethereum network, but for ~10x cheaper. Just like Ethereum, users of Optimism can interact with DeFi (decentralized finance) applications, as well as buy, sell, collect, and mint NFTs, etc.
What makes Optimism unique?
Optimism is more than blockchain technology; it’s a Collective of companies, communities, and citizens working together to reward public goods and build a sustainable future for Ethereum. While some rollups are source available, Optimism’s code is open-sourced and MIT licensed. Specification is designed from the ground up to align with Ethereum, so everything works out of the box exactly the same way it would on Ethereum, enabling developers to immediately start innovating on Optimism without having to learn new programming languages or overhaul code. Optimism is the most forked rollup, and home to a values-aligned community of developers, builders, and crypto enthusiasts.
How to send and receive crypto on the Optimism network
Optimism is one of the default supported networks in Coinbase Wallet. Performing transactions on the Optimism networks requires ETH on Optimism.
There are four ways you can fund your Coinbase Wallet (mobile) app on the Optimism network with ETH or other supported assets on Optimism.
If you have an existing Coinbase account:
By buying from your Coinbase account inside of Coinbase Wallet
By transferring funds from your Coinbase account to your Coinbase Wallet
If you don’t have an existing Coinbase account:
By transferring assets using the Optimism Bridge inside Coinbase Wallet
By transferring assets already on the Optimism network from another wallet
Below we’ll walk through each of these methods in detail.
Buy or transfer Optimism tokens from your Coinbase account to Coinbase Wallet
This method assumes you already have a Coinbase account that has completed full identity verification and have downloaded the Coinbase Wallet app. If you don’t have a Coinbase account, you can sign up here. Transferring from your Coinbase account is one of the easiest, fastest and low-cost ways to move funds into the Optimism network.
To buy or transfer funds from your Coinbase account inside Coinbase Wallet, you can perform the following steps:
On the Assets tab, tap the Buy button
If your Coinbase account is not connected to Coinbase Wallet, you will be prompted to connect it.
Select the asset you want to transfer or buy under “Transfer from Coinbase” or “Buy new asset”
Enter the amount you’d like to transfer or buy
If needed, change the Source of funds. Then, tap “Preview buy”
If you have an existing balance in your Coinbase account, you can simply transfer the asset over. Otherwise you can purchase new funds and transfer over in one step.
(Important) Change the destination network to “Optimism”
Review the transaction details and tap “Confirm” to finalize.
Transfer funds from Coinbase account to your Coinbase Wallet
This method assumes you already have a Coinbase account that has completed full identity verification and have downloaded the Coinbase Wallet app. If you don’t have a Coinbase account, you can sign up here. Transferring from your Coinbase account is one of the easiest, fastest and low-cost ways to move funds into the Optimism network.
To buy or transfer funds from within your Coinbase account to your Coinbase Wallet app, you can perform the following steps:
Log into your Coinbase account or open your Coinbase app and click “Send & Receive” (if on web) or “Send” (if in the Coinbase app)
Select an asset to send
Open your Coinbase Wallet app and tap “Receive”
Determine the network and wallet address you want to receive assets on and copy down the address
Paste or input your Coinbase Wallet address into the address field inside of the Coinbase app and click “Continue”
Input the amount of funds you want to send
(Important) Change the network from Ethereum to Optimism and click “Preview”
Review the transaction and click “Send now”
If you have 2FA enabled, complete the 2FA step to confirm transaction
Below is a visual walkthrough of the process on the Coinbase mobile app (the process can also be done through the web at Coinbase.com):
Transfer assets to the Optimism network using the Optimism Bridge
This method assumes you have Coinbase Wallet installed and already have ETH or other assets on Ethereum that are available to be bridged to the Optimism network.
Note: This method likely will have higher network fees than transferring from your Coinbase account (methods 1 and 2 above).
To bridge funds from Ethereum to Optimism using the Optimism bridge in Coinbase Wallet, you can perform the following steps:
Open your Coinbase Wallet and navigate to the Browser tab
In the top address bar, go to https://app.optimism.io/bridge/deposit - the Optimism Bridge app - and input the amount of funds you’d like to bridge to the Optimism network. Then click “Review deposit”
Review the transaction details and then click “Deposit”
Confirm the transaction inside of your Coinbase Wallet
Note: it may take up to 30 minutes for the ETH balances to show up on the Optimism network
Transfer assets already on the Optimism network from another wallet
If you have assets on the Optimism network in another wallet, you can transfer them to your Coinbase Wallet by performing the following steps:
Open your Coinbase Wallet and tap on “Receive”
Copy your Ethereum address - this is also your Optimism address - by tapping the copy button or the QR code
Find the send transaction flow in your external wallet and paste your Coinbase Wallet address
If the external wallet has a QR code scanner, you can also scan the QR code in Coinbase Wallet to fill in the address
