This article comes from Bankless , the original author: William M. Peaster, compiled by Odaily translator Katie Ku.
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Today, Optimism, the second largest EVM-compatible L2 chain, officially issued coins and announced the airdrop rules. Currently, Optimism is a vibrant ecosystem with a total locked value close to $700 million and 108 Dapps deployed.
This is a win-win situation, Ethereum can be expanded through Rollups. Activity on Optimism will explode with news of its token launch. From what we learned today from the Optimism team, there will be many Optimism airdrops to come. If you've never heard of Optimism, it's not too late to get in the car.
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Optimism Getting Started Guide
Optimism is one of the most exciting Ethereum L2 scaling solutions we have seen. Next I will show how novices can go deep into L2 and enjoy ultra-fast, ultra-smooth, and ultra-cheap Ethereum transactions.
Goal: Learn how to start exploring Optimism
Time taken: 25 minutes
ROI: up to 25% APY (Annual Yield) in Optimism’s DeFi scene
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The ecosystem of Ethereum L2 scaling solutions is currently booming in all directions. This "ultimate battle" approach to blockchain scaling is propelling cryptocurrencies into the mainstream by making transactions very cheap and very fast.
While the L2 scene is still very young, one of its earliest trump cards is Optimism. The Optimism project gets its name from its Rollup style, which is called "Optimism Rollup".
How Optimism Works
In simple terms, this means that Optimism is an L2 that "rolls" off-chain transactions into batches, which the network then assumes are valid unless they are challenged for involving fraud proofs.
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Optimism's Total Value Locked (TVL) over the past 3 months
However, besides fast and cheap transactions, Optimism is currently the only L2 that offers full Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) equivalent.
Therefore, Optimism is the first L2 that fully complies with the Ethereum protocol specification. This EVM equivalence reduces the need for compilers and allows Optimism to allow DeFi and NFT projects to deploy to Optimism with one click, and then can still use all the good Ethereum L1 tools, such as Hardhat, Vyper and others.
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A Brief History of Optimism
January 2019: The Plasma Group, the Ethereum scaling research organization and predecessor to the Optimism team, presented the specifications of itself and the Plasma Cash scaling solution.
February 2019: The Plasma Group launched a general-purpose Plasma implementation.
July 2019: The Plasma Group announced the Optimism Virtual Machine (OVM), a "virtual machine designed to support all L2 protocols".
October 2019: Plasma Group released Unipig.exchange, a DEX implementation for testing Optimism Rollup in partnership with Uniswap.
January 2020: Plasma Group changed its name to a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) focused on scaling Ethereum.
February 2020: Optimism open source OVM (Execution Environment fully compatible with EVM).
May 2020: Derivative Dapp Synthetix released a demo of its protocol on the OVM.
January 2021: Optimism performed the initial mainnet launch.
July 2021: Uniswap V3 goes live on Optimism.
July 2021: Optimism launches a retroactive public goods financing project, where the team commits to distributing L2's operational benefits before full decentralization involves public goods financing experiments.
October 2021: Optimism publishes full EVM equivalence.
March 2022: The Optimism team released Cannon, the network's next-generation failsafe system.
April 2022: Optimism issues OP tokens, making L2 community-owned.
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How to get started with Optimism
1. Create an Optimism wallet
Since Optimism is compatible with EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine), adding an Optimism account to an existing Ethereum wallet is very simple. For example, let's say you have a MetaMask wallet. Adding Optimism is as easy as visiting Chainlist, connecting your wallet, and clicking on the Optimism option. Then in MetaMask you can switch between Ethereum and Optimism as needed using the Networks button.
2. Transfer money to Optimism
The Optimism team just released a new streamlined bridge UI that bridges third parties into one seamless bridge portal. You can choose a chain, a debit card, or a centralized crypto exchange to transfer funds to Optimism, in addition, you can choose from a number of different withdrawal methods from Optimism to Ethereum.
3. A Toolkit to Start Your Optimism Journey
Optimism Block Explorer (Etherscan)
Recommended reading:
How to play:
Try out NFTs on Optimism
4. Star app on Optimism
（1）Synthetix
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（2）Uniswap
Top 10 Optimism Dapps Currently
（3）Perpetual
With $200 million in total value locked on Optimism, synthetic asset protocol Synthetix is currently the largest Dapp on L2. However, this is not surprising, since Synthetix is the first Dapp to adopt Optimism, so its first-mover advantage has translated into early features on L2.
Uniswap is the Web3 standard for decentralized exchanges. When the DEX launched on Optimism last summer, its arrival sparked renewed interest in the DeFi scene using Optimism. If you want to trade cryptocurrencies cheaply, Uniswap V3 is one of your best options right now.
Perpetual Protocol is an on-chain perpetual futures DEX that currently exists on Ethereum, Optimism and Gnosis protocols. If you want an affordable way to trade perpetual swaps, Perpetual is an option worth considering.
5. Other project recommendations
Other star projects deployed on Optimism include the following Dapps:
Stargate: A protocol for full-chain interoperability.
Lyra: Options trading protocol.
Synapse: Cross-chain bridge protocol.
Hop Protocol: Cross-chain bridge protocol.
Arrakis Finance: Liquidity management protocol.
Summarize
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If you think crypto has a bright future, trying Optimism at this juncture is a great way to get ready for the coming L2 era.
Related Reading:
Token issuance soon? Optimism has to take the road to break the situation
Optimism officially issued coins, what are the airdrop rules?
