Ethereum Executives Remain Optimistic Despite Ongoing Scaling Challenges

As the Layer-1 blockchain Ethereum continues to grow and evolve, Layer-2 blockchains like Optimism are working tirelessly to alleviate issues of scaling, speed, and costs. The mission to scale Ethereum is an ongoing challenge that has been persisting for years.

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A Long-Standing Effort

"We’ve been working on the same thing since 2017," said Jing Wang, Optimism’s CEO and co-founder, in a recent interview on TechCrunch’s Chain Reaction podcast. "We’ve all been trying to solve the same problem for a long time." Ryan Wyatt, chief growth officer at Optimism, echoed this sentiment. Before joining Optimism, Wyatt was the president of Polygon Labs, the entity building the Layer-2 blockchain Polygon.

The Need for Scaling

As it stands, using and transacting with Ethereum is still relatively clunky, slow, and expensive. That’s why Layer-2 (L2) blockchains like Optimism exist: to focus on scaling and speed, while also lowering costs for users. It helps users interact with Ethereum’s chain at about 10x cheaper through its own network and provides developers the ability to build decentralized applications (dApps) in a faster, scalable way.

"Just as Amazon is a serverless back end for web2 applications," Wang said, "Optimism is a decentralized serverless back end for web3 applications. We wanted to scale Ethereum because I think Ethereum stays the most close to the original decentralization values and we wanted to give it a go staying close to those same values."

The Importance of Growth

However, with scaling also comes the importance of growth. "There’s a lot of facets to it," Wyatt said, "and I think one missing piece is how we continue to work with developers across the ecosystem." Usually when you think of scaling, you think of hiring big teams. But although Optimism wants to grow bigger, the ecosystem has to self-govern, and the best way to do that is to have developers across the space contribute.

Developer Incentives

Optimism wants developers to build dApps using its technology, therefore pushing users to the network. "There’s a ton of similarities to blockchain infrastructure in the developer ecosystem," Wyatt said. "For me, it seems incredibly similar." To incentivize developers, Optimism is offering various benefits and rewards.

The Superchain Vision

For some, blockchains are like religious ecosystems, where there’s only one way or the highway. "It’s one chain versus the second chain," Wang said. "Optimism’s Superchain vision is trying to get us closer to a world where the chains are closer to containers for compute… and all these chains interoperate together in what we call the Superchain."

The goal is to help users forget which chain developers are building on, because it ultimately won’t matter. "Ideally in the future," Wang said, "there’s applications that are so massive that they’re probably running 100 concurrent chains. But for now, the amount of demand within the industry doesn’t necessitate that, so we have something that looks closer to one application per chain."

Success Stories

But when it comes to success stories, Wyatt emphasized that "it should really be about the developers that are building on top of this infrastructure." So, the day that we get away from talking about L2s, he said, will be a big day because now the story will be about the great apps and experiences that are being built on top of the infrastructure.

A Bright Future Ahead

Optimism execs remain optimistic about Ethereum’s future amid its ongoing scaling battle. With continued efforts to alleviate issues of scaling, speed, and costs, the future looks bright for this Layer-2 blockchain. As Wyatt said, "We’re not just building a platform; we’re building an ecosystem that will help us get closer to the original vision of decentralization."

The Road Ahead

While there are still challenges to overcome, Optimism is committed to working with developers across the ecosystem to create a brighter future for Ethereum. With its Superchain vision, Optimism aims to bring about a new era of scalability and interoperability that will change the face of blockchain technology forever.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Optimism execs remain optimistic about Ethereum’s future amid its ongoing scaling battle. With continued efforts to alleviate issues of scaling, speed, and costs, the future looks bright for this Layer-2 blockchain. As Wyatt said, "We’re not just building a platform; we’re building an ecosystem that will help us get closer to the original vision of decentralization."

Optimism Execs Remain Optimistic about Ethereum’s Future Amid Ongoing Scaling Battle

A Bright Future Ahead

With Superchain vision, Optimism aims to bring about a new era of scalability and interoperability that will change the face of blockchain technology forever.