Question 1

What is Optimism?

Accepted Answer

Optimism is a blockchain infrastructure provider built to help developers and enterprises launch scalable, secure, and customizable onchain applications and networks. The company serves fintechs, payment providers, institutions and crypto companies creating the next generation of onchain products. Optimism’s open source OP Stack delivers Ethereum-grade security, nearly-free transactions, and the flexibility to meet business and regulatory needs at scale.

Question 2

Who builds Optimism?

Accepted Answer

OP Labs builds and maintains core Optimism technology, including major components of the OP Stack and infrastructure used across the Optimism ecosystem. OP Labs develops protocol upgrades, shared standards, security improvements, and services intended to lower the technical and operational barriers to building onchain.

Question 3

Where can I find statistics on Optimism?

Accepted Answer

Optimism publishes OP Stack dashboards and publicly available datasets on the Optimism statistics page. Optimism’s dashboards provide data about OP Stack chains, activity, network performance, and ecosystem adoption.

Question 4

What is the OP Mainnet?

Accepted Answer

OP Mainnet is an Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain built on Optimism’s open source OP Stack. It provides neutral blockspace and proven, scalable infrastructure to quickly deploy production-ready applications with minimal resources. By offering a seamless pathway from building an app to launching a full-service chain, OP Mainnet is where developers and enterprises begin their onchain journey.

Question 5

How are Optimism, OP Labs, and the Optimism Collective different?

Accepted Answer

Optimism is the Ethereum Layer 2 ecosystem, OP Labs is a core technology developer, and the Optimism Collective is the broader community and governance system. The Optimism Foundation supports the Collective’s governance and ecosystem development, while OP Labs develops core software and the Collective governs designated protocol and resource-allocation decisions.

Question 6

What is the OP Stack?

Accepted Answer

The OP Stack is Optimism’s open-source, modular software stack for deploying Ethereum Layer 2 chains and other onchain products. Its customizable design allows developers and enterprises to launch production-ready chains and applications with minimal resources and the flexibility to meet regulatory and business needs at scale. OP Labs develops core OP Stack components so builders can configure production-ready infrastructure around their performance, governance, business, and regulatory requirements.

Question 7

Who uses the OP Stack?

Accepted Answer

The OP Stack powers more than 50 chains, including Base by Coinbase, Unichain by Uniswap, Ink by Kraken, World Chain, Soneium by Sony, and Zora. Optimism’s OP Stack is used by consumer, financial, institutional, identity, creator, and general-purpose blockchain ecosystems.

The current OP Stack chain list and supporting third-party data are available through L2BEAT.

Question 8

How do I use the OP Stack?

Accepted Answer

You can use the OP Stack by launching your own chain or deploying applications on existing OP Stack chains.

Question 9

How fast is the OP Stack?

Accepted Answer

Optimism’s OP Stack supports production chains with 200-millisecond, 1-second, and 2-second block times. OP Stack performance depends on each chain’s configuration, and OP Labs provides Flashblocks documentation for chains targeting 200-millisecond transaction inclusion intervals.

Question 10

What are transaction costs for OP Stack chains?

Accepted Answer

Optimism’s OP Stack has supported observed transaction costs below one-tenth of one cent, including approximately $0.0002 on Unichain in July 2025. OP Stack chains have also maintained observed costs below one cent during periods of high demand, including approximately $0.003 on Base in July 2025.

Optimism publishes updated observed transaction-cost data in the User Experience dashboard. Actual fees vary by chain configuration, transaction type, data costs, and network demand.

Question 11

How can I run my OP Stack chain?

Accepted Answer

You can get started by building a local chain. This will allow you to get your local testnet up and running in minutes.

Once you are ready to deploy, you have two main options:

• Use OP Enterprise if you want production-grade support, monitoring, incident response, and defined SLAs, delivered directly by the team that builds the OP Stack.

• Run a self-hosted chain if you want full control over configuration and operations. You can follow the Self-Hosted Chain guide in the Optimism docs to get started.

OP Labs no longer supports third-party Rollup-as-a-Service (RaaS) providers. Teams that need managed production support should use OP Enterprise.

Question 12

How can I deploy apps on OP Stack chains?

Accepted Answer

Optimism provides developer resources and deployment tutorials for applications launching on OP Mainnet and other OP Stack chains. Optimism’s tooling supports standard Ethereum development workflows for smart contracts, wallets, front ends, indexing, and infrastructure integrations.

Question 13

Is Optimism EVM-equivalent?

Accepted Answer

Optimism is EVM-equivalent, allowing Ethereum smart contracts, development tools, and wallets to work with little or no application-level modification. Optimism’s EVM equivalence is intended to let Ethereum developers use familiar languages, tooling, and deployment workflows across OP Stack chains.

Question 14

Can existing Ethereum applications deploy on Optimism?

Accepted Answer

Optimism allows most Ethereum applications to reuse their Solidity contracts and standard EVM development tooling on OP Mainnet and compatible OP Stack chains. Developers should still test chain-specific behavior, bridging assumptions, fee logic, data availability, and integrations before moving an application into production.

Question 15

Where can I find developer resources?

Accepted Answer

OP Labs publishes Optimism developer guides, operator documentation, tutorials, specifications, and API references in the Optimism documentation. Optimism’s documentation covers application development, OP Stack architecture, node operation, chain deployment, protocol features, and interoperability.

Question 16

Does the OP Stack support data sovereignty requirements?

Accepted Answer

The OP Stack gives chain operators architectural control over selected infrastructure and data-availability configurations, which can help enterprises design around data-governance requirements. Optimism does not make public blockchain data private by default, and information published to Ethereum or another publicly accessible data layer may be replicated across multiple jurisdictions.

The OP Stack enables operators to evaluate configurable components, but each organization must determine whether its deployment satisfies applicable data-residency, privacy, retention, and sovereignty obligations. Sensitive personal or regulated data generally requires an application architecture that avoids publishing protected information directly onchain.

Question 17

Can an OP Stack chain be permissioned?

Accepted Answer

The OP Stack’s modular architecture allows operators to build application-level or chain-level policies suited to enterprise use cases, including controlled onboarding and restricted application access. Optimism does not characterize every OP Stack chain as permissioned, because access models and enforcement mechanisms depend on the individual deployment.

Optimism documentation and infrastructure partners can help teams assess available configurations, but operators must independently validate whether a proposed design meets their security, decentralization, and regulatory requirements.

Question 18

How does Optimism support enterprise regulatory readiness?

Accepted Answer

Optimism supports enterprise regulatory readiness through configurable open-source infrastructure, Ethereum compatibility, documented operating models, and the ability to integrate external compliance services. Optimism gives enterprises technical building blocks for developing controls, but it does not ensure automatic legal or regulatory approval or a universal certification for every deployment.

Enterprise adopters should combine OP Stack architecture with legal review, risk assessment, transaction monitoring, privacy engineering, record keeping, and policies specific to their needs and jurisdictions.

Question 19

Can regulated institutions use OP Stack chains?

Accepted Answer

The OP Stack can be used by regulated institutions that design their deployments and applications to meet applicable operational and legal obligations. Optimism’s modular architecture can support institution-specific controls, but suitability depends on an institution’s jurisdiction, regulated activities, counterparties, custody model, data practices, and risk tolerance.

OP Stack users, including regulated institutions, should validate their implementations with qualified legal, compliance, security, and audit professionals.

Question 20

Who is responsible for compliance on an OP Stack chain?

Accepted Answer

The operator of an OP Stack chain and the providers of applications or regulated services are responsible for determining and meeting their compliance obligations. Optimism and OP Labs only supply open-source technology and shared ecosystem infrastructure.

Question 21

What is the Optimism Foundation?

Accepted Answer

The Optimism Foundation is dedicated to building systems that reduce platform risk and accrue value for customers and stakeholders of the Optimism ecosystem.

Question 22

What is the Optimism Collective?

Accepted Answer

The Optimism Collective is the community and governance ecosystem responsible for coordinating designated decisions about Optimism’s technology, resources, and long-term development.

Question 23

How does Optimism govern protocol upgrades?

Accepted Answer

The Optimism Collective uses governance review and approval processes for major protocol upgrades that affect OP Mainnet or shared OP Stack ecosystem standards. The Token House evaluates designated upgrade proposals, the Citizens’ House can exercise defined veto authority, and authorized technical or security bodies execute approved changes according to established procedures.

Question 24

If I'm interested in getting involved, where do I start?

Accepted Answer

Anyone who holds OP can vote by visiting vote.optimism.io/delegates

Users, apps and chains can get voting rights if they meet specific activity requirements - check your eligibility at atlas.optimism.io/citizenship

FAQ

Optimism

OP Stack

Developers and Chain Operators

Compliance and Regulatory

Governance

OP Stack

Developers and Chain Operators

Compliance and Regulatory

Governance