ON–118: Layer 2s (part 2)
Coverage on Optimism.
Apr 22, 2022
- Optimism is a low-cost and lightning-fast Ethereum L2. It's EVM-equivalent, not just compatible. This means that all Ethereum apps and tooling work on the network. Optimism's earliest projects included DeFi blue chips Synthetix and Uniswap. They set a foundation for pioneering L2 apps such as Lyra (Options built on top of Synthetix) and Perpetual Protocol (built on top of Uniswap). Derivative apps like these have found a home on Optimism, led by Perp, Synthetix, Pika, and Lyra. Read the Optimism story (so far).
- Projects are also hitting growth milestones on Optimism. Polynomial's vaults on top of Lyra hit their cap in 4 hours. Perpetual Protocol has done $8b in notional trading volume since December. Synthetix's Futures Market recently hit $1b in notional trading volume, just 34 days after it launched.
- It's not all DeFi. Quixotic, the largest NFT marketplace on Optimism, launched in Dec 2021. OptiPunks led the first wave of trading volume (145 ETH), followed by Dope Wars' Hustlers and Gear (77 ETH). Last week, Quixotic spiked to new all-time highs and launched a few new features along the way.
