Optimism, one of the four “major” Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solutions, will soon be “launching a new governance and incentive token, OP, much to the community’s excitement.”
This launch, which includes airdrops to early adopters and active users and contributors, has “the potential to stir community enthusiasm to new heights,” according to a report from Huobi Research Institute.
The report, titled “Could OP make Optimism the next Rollup king?” examines Optimism’s recent performance in the market and “concludes its performance has been outstanding in the Layer 2 market.”
Despite the overall TVL of Layer 2 falling slightly from US$6.47 billion to US$6.33 billion, Optimism’s TVL “bucked the market and rose 15%, from 590 million to 868 million — almost the only mainstream Layer 2 project to rise within the period.”
This scenario is “a positive one that facilitates a token launch,” according to the update from Huobi.
Data from The Optimistic Ethereum Explorer shows Optimism has seen “a significant increase in the total number of addresses, from 327,000 to 350,000 in one week, a 7% increase.”
It’s now speculated that a 19 April update released by Optimism, titled “A New Chapter”, may have “fueled user confidence in the project, leading to this increase.”
Furthermore, the Optimism network saw “a 56% increase in the number of transactions per day, from 45,000 to 70,000, likely due to users’ hopes for receiving token airdrops.”
However, Optimistic’s challenge lies “in retaining users and subsequently, revenue, not just through airdrops.”
Activities and project development are needed “to support the network’s future growth.”
According to the Huobi Research Institute report, the Optimism network will have “no problems withstanding this massive growth in user and transaction numbers, and this rapid growth will not result in higher fees for individual users, due to stable Ethereum gas prices arising from a lack of congestion.”
The Huobi Research Institute report suggests users need “to be more actively involved in the Optimism’s activities and development in order to increase their chances of receiving airdrops of OP, and such airdrop events will help with Optimism’s user retention.”
The Huobi Research Institute report further “evaluates the four major platforms associated with OP Rollups, notably Arbitrum, Optimism, Boba and Metis, and noted that Boba and Metis observed rapid TVL expansion following token issuance, but saw TVL reductions later on due to an insufficiently cultivated ecosystem and the lack of established quality projects such as Uniswap, Aave and Curve not being deployed on these networks.”
Arbitrum, meanwhile, “remains in the leader in the space,” the report claims.
Barry Jiang, Researcher at Huobi Research Institute and author of the report, said:
“The question remains surrounding Optimism’s potential to dominate the Rollup space is how the ecosystem can be further developed, following the launch of its OP token. Considering Optimism has already had a number of proven infrastructure-type projects deployed on it, the possibility of it taking over Arbitrum as the number one OP Rollup platform exists. The Battle Royale has kicked off. No matter who comes out on top in the end, users will be able to enjoy cheaper services and more applications, and Layer 2 will soar in popularity.”
You may review the complete report here.
As covered, Huobi Blockchain Application Research Institute (referred to as ‘Huobi Research Institute’) was “established in April 2016.”
It is committed “to researching and exploring new developments in the global blockchain industry.”
Its goal is “to accelerate the research and development of blockchain technology, promote its applications, and improve the global blockchain industry ecosystem.”
Huobi Research Institute “covers industry trends, emerging technologies, innovative applications, new business models, and more.”
Huobi Research Institute partners with governments, enterprises, universities and other institutions “to build a research platform that covers the entire blockchain industry.”
Its professionals provide “a solid theoretical basis and analyze new trends to promote the development of the industry.”