Optimism is a low-fee, high-speed Ethereum L2 blockchain. It’s built to keep things as straightforward as possible for the functionality it offers. The goal is for Optimism to use the smallest set of components needed to support a secure, scalable, and flexible L2. That focus on simplicity creates several important benefits compared with other, more complicated L2 approaches.

On Ethereum, Optimism keeps its blocks in a dedicated smart contract known as the CanonicalTransactionChain (CTC). Inside the CTC, Optimism blocks are stored in an append-only list. That append-only structure is what makes up the Optimism blockchain.

OP is the token used by the Optimism Collective, which oversees the Optimism L2 blockchain. The Optimism Collective is a large-scale experiment in digital democratic governance, created to encourage fast and durable expansion of a decentralized ecosystem, and managed by the newly established Optimism Foundation. OP is responsible for protocol upgrades and network parameters, and it also establishes a continuing incentive framework for projects and users across the Optimism ecosystem. 5.4% of the total token supply will be allocated to projects on Optimism over the next six months through governance. If you’re developing within the Ethereum ecosystem, you can consider applying for the grant.