Foundation for a new frontier
Optimism started as a project with a single L2 chain and the goal to scale Ethereum — both its technology and its values. The blockchain industry has evolved, and so has Optimism’s approach.
Reaching the full potential of Ethereum requires a network of chains: all working together, built on a shared standard that enables interoperability and realizes the benefits of network effects. To achieve internet scale for Ethereum, one chain alone is not enough.
This vision comes to life through the Superchain - a network of Optimism-governed blockchains built on a common standard codebase that also shares security and values.
That means that, now, Optimism is so much more than its initial single chain, OP Mainnet. It’s the foundation of the Superchain, supporting a robust community of Ethereum-aligned builders including Coinbase, Uniswap, World, Sony, and more. It’s unlocking the potential of shared infrastructure to build the Internet of the future.
From one chain to the Superchain
Today, the Superchain is the platform that can build the next iteration of the open and equitable internet for all. From its inception, the Superchain was envisioned as a unified, interoperable network of chains. Making the Superchain vision a reality has been a central focus of development across the Optimism Collective ever since.
What makes this vision and this ecosystem truly unique, is its ability to bring together teams that would traditionally be seen as competitive. In the Superchain, we’re playing a positive-sum game; when any chain succeeds, the entire Collective benefits together. In a space rife with fragmentation, projects building on the Superchain are actively working together to make the onchain experience more connected for developers and more seamless for users across the Superchain, and beyond.
The Superchain ecosystem creates a flywheel of sustainable growth and development, benefiting the entire Collective. Optimism’s role is to provide the technology stack and governance system to empower the Superchain and its builders.
Shared standards, shared language
With almost 30 OP Chains in the Superchain ecosystem and nearly half of all L2 transactions taking place on the OP Stack, our community is bigger than ever.
We want to take the opportunity to reintroduce the key pillars of the Optimism Collective. These individual components work together to build the foundation that powers the Superchain and the flywheel that propels our efforts to build the next iteration of an open, equitable internet and a self-sustaining community.
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Optimism
Optimism started as a single L2 chain with a goal to scale Ethereum's technology and values. Optimism is no longer a single chain. Now, it represents the Superchain, building a unified network of blockchains all powered by the open-source OP Stack.
The Superchain
The Superchain is a network of OP-governed blockchains built on a common standard codebase that shares security, governance, and values. Every OP Chain in the Superchain is built using the OP Stack and governed by the Optimism Collective. With this structure, each chain adheres to shared standards and principles, shared updates and security, and access to grants and airdrops across the ecosystem. Each OP Chain in the Superchain contributes the same percentage of protocol fees back to the Optimism Collective, and together OP Chains in the Superchain Ecosystem have the power to grow Ethereum to an internet-level scale. The Superchain is a positive-sum network; the success of any single chain benefits all chains in the ecosystem.
OP Stack
The OP Stack is an open source, MIT-licensed technology stack for deploying scalable blockchain infrastructure. As an Ethereum-aligned scaling solution, the OP Stack emphasizes parallel development, openness, and transparency. The modular codebase powers the Superchain and all OP Chains.
OP Chains are blockchains that are built on the OP Stack. While the OP Stack is open source and freely available for anyone to use and fork, OP Chains in the Superchain ecosystem use standard configurations of the OP Stack.
OP Mainnet
OP Mainnet is one of many OP Chains in the Superchain, providing neutral blockspace and a home for OP Governance. Like with other OP Chains, developers building on OP Mainnet are eligible for Retro Funding and grants from the Governance Fund to support their projects.
While Optimism and OP Mainnet used to be synonymous, Optimism has evolved to be so much more than a single chain. Optimism is the home of the Superchain. OP Mainnet is a single OP Chain in the Superchain.
Optimism Governance
Optimism Governance is a decentralized, two-house system that supports the growth of the Superchain and sustains the Optimism Collective over the long term. Governance ensures that protocol development continues to happen in the best interest of the Superchain, that contributors are incentivized to build open source infrastructure, and that the Collective can organize to respond to changing environments.
Retroactive Public Goods Funding (Retro Funding)
Retro Funding is a reward mechanism that drives the growth of the Optimism ecosystem.
By rewarding positive impact to the Collective, developers, businesses, creators, and educators are incentivized to continue making open sourced and impactful contributions to the Superchain. Retro Funding is not a charitable endeavor; it's an economic model where contributions that benefit the Collective are valued and rewarded. Retro Funding powers the positive-sum effort of building a fair and open internet and incentivizes contributors to continue building for the common good.
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A shared language helps bring the benefits and the power of the Superchain to life. We’re building the future of crypto and the internet alongside an ever-growing community of builders, chain operators, and users, we’ve never felt more optimistic.