Unchained

Will Optimism's OP Token Draw People Back to Layer 2s on Ethereum? - Ep.350

May 10, 2022

Kain Warwick, founder of Synthetix, and Ben Jones, co-founder and chief scientist at Optimism Foundation, dive into the latest developments in Ethereum's Layer 2 ecosystem. They unpack the differences between optimistic and zero-knowledge rollups and explore why Synthetix chose to build on Optimism. The duo discusses Optimism's innovative governance structure, the implications of retroactive public goods funding, and the exciting concept of a 'superchain.' They also touch on the challenges of community governance and the potential future of bridging between Layer 2s and Ethereum.

01:11:45

Creator website

Episode guests

Ben Jones

Kain Warwick

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Intro

2min

Scaling Ethereum and Governance Innovations

21min

Navigating Governance in DAOs

8min

Navigating Community Governance in Cryptocurrency

4min

Evolving Blockchain Governance

7min

Ethereum's Revival and Layer 2 Innovations

7min

The Future of Layer 2 Networks on Ethereum

23min

Kain Warwick, founder of Synthetix, and Ben Jones, cofounder and chief scientist at Optimism Foundation, discuss the current state of Ethereum Layer 2s, Optimism’s new governance structure, why Synthetix chose to build on Optimism, and more. Show topics:

what Optimism and Synthetix are
how zero-knowledge rollups differ from optimistic rollups
why Synthetix decided to build on Optimism
what makes L2s more enticing to build on than other L1s
how Optimism’s governance is going to change with the launch of the Optimism Collective and OP token
what issues Synthetix has had with Discord governance and early token voting, and how they have now solved this by forcing users to consolidate wallet addresses
what retroactive public goods funding is and how it could create a “flywheel” of development on Optimism
why whales might be excluded from Optimism’s token grant to Synthetix
why Ben thinks the future is about the “superchain” rather than multi-chain
what Kain and Ben think about bridging between L2s and Mainnet
why Optimism is a staunch backer of EIP 4844
how the merge could affect Optimism and Synthetix