I just skimmed through some data on the Optimism chain and found a few interesting points worth sharing. Optimism (OP) is currently hot because its token price has surged, but beyond the hype around the price, its ecosystem is developing quite sustainably. Transaction volume remains steady around 200,000 transactions per day, with over 1.6 million unique users, and the average gas fee is only about 150% of Ethereum mainnet — meaning it's significantly cheaper. So what is OP that makes it so attractive?

Actually, OP is a Layer 2 of Ethereum, but in essence, it operates as an independent public chain. Its DeFi ecosystem is quite complete. Velodrome is the largest DEX, holding about 21.6% of the total TVL across the chain — this number is truly impressive. It’s designed based on the Solidly model, integrating a (3,3) mechanism quite efficiently. Transaction fees are only 0.02-0.05%, providing users with a better experience compared to other DEXs.

Besides Velodrome, there’s Aave V3, Curve, Uniswap V3 — top projects on Ethereum that have been deployed on OP. Sonne Finance is the native lending platform of OP with significant TVL. The interesting part is that these projects are often supported with OP token rewards when you add liquidity or participate.

Regarding derivatives, I noticed Pika — a stablecoin project supported by a decentralized derivative tool. It allows for perpetual swaps with leverage and also earns OP rewards. Additionally, there’s OPCraft — an on-chain voxel game similar to Minecraft, where everything from rivers to diamonds exists on the chain.

But what’s really bigger is OP Stack — this is an open-source modular framework for building composite chains on Ethereum. It divides the blockchain into three layers: execution layer, settlement layer, and consensus layer. The idea is that developers don’t need to build a chain from scratch but can use OP Stack as a foundation, replacing different modules based on their needs.

As OP Stack matures, Optimism will deploy what’s called the “OP universe” — a system of multiple interconnected chains. Chains based on OP Stack can communicate via shared messaging formats, and even perform atomic cross-chain transactions.

My take: what is OP? It’s no longer just an ordinary Layer 2. It’s evolving into a platform for building a comprehensive ecosystem. If you want to benefit from OP, it’s best to get involved early with core projects or build innovative dApps on this stack. OP is clearly following a strategy: influence creates wealth. The earlier you join the ecosystem, the better your chances. Currently, the price of OP is $0.16, but more importantly, it’s about what’s being built on this foundation. I’m monitoring the development of OP Stack and the upcoming chain applications to be launched.