==Introduction==

Optimism is a new model of digital democratic governance optimized to drive the rapid and continuous growth of a decentralized ecosystem. The Collective is a group of communities, businesses and citizens united by a mutually beneficial pact to adhere to the maxim that impact = gain; the principle that positive impact for the collective should be rewarded with benefits for the individual. This maxim serves as a purpose, which motivates the creation of a more productive and empathetic economy.

Optimism Layer 2 solutions are intended to lighten the load on the Ethereum network. There are two main features to excite cryptocurrency adopters. Optimism enables near-instantaneous transactions. Transactions on the Ethereum blockchain are nearly ten times cheaper. Considering the volume of daily transactions, these are impressive features.

The Ethereum blockchain enables easy and flexible development of decentralized projects. The number of applications created on Ethereum is rapidly increasing. However, it is no secret that the success of Ethereum has also caused problems for the network. The high volume of transactions increases the time and costs needed to confirm them. The network can process only 10 to 15 transactions per second on average. This growth has led to high confirmation speeds and high fees. Optimism eases the burden of these two problems. When it comes to the popular cryptocurrency exchange Uniswap, transaction fees are reduced by 10 to 100 times. Similar tests have shown a reduction of up to 143 times in fees at Synthetix Exchange.

==Methods==

In this analysis we will focus on Ethereum/Optimism. More specifically, we will analyze the following data:

• Ethereum volume bridged to Optimism by month
• Ethereum volume bridged from Optimism by month
• USDT volume bridged to Optimism by month
• USDT volume bridged from Optimism by month
• USDC volume bridged to Optimism by month
• USDC volume bridged from Optimism by month
• LUSD volume bridged to Optimism by month
• LUSD volume bridged from Optimism by month

ETHEREUM VOLUME (Monthly)

USDT VOLUME (Monthly)

USDC VOLUME (Monthly)

LUSD VOLUME (Monthly)

In these two charts we can see the Ethereum volume bridged to and from Optimism by month.

We can clearly see that there is a much higher amount of Ethereum going into Optimism than not coming out. The outbound Ethereum remains fairly stable in almost all but one month. This month, which stands out from the others, it reached 15k of Ethereum leaving Optimism. The others months between 3k and 6k. In the Ethereum entering Optimism we can see that it has been increasing, especially in the months of August and September, with amounts of 122k and 93k respectively. Even so, in October it dropped radically, falling to 27k.

In these two charts we can see the USDT volume bridged to and from Optimism by month.

We see that there is more USDT volume entering Optimism than not exiting. We can also see that there is not a stable trend, but that each month there is a different amount in the two charts, though seems that in both of them there is a small uptrend. We can see that in August there was a peak, reaching 63M USDT volume bridged to Optimism. The other months can reach from 3M to 30M. In both charts we can see that at the beginning of the year the amounts were lower. In the left graph we can see that the maximum of USDT volume bridged from Optimism was in October, with an amount of 14M.

In these two graphs we can see the USDC volume bridged to and from Optimism by month.

We can see that there continues to be more USDC entering Optimism than not exiting. Even so, the difference is not as abysmal as in the other stablecoins we have analyzed above. In general, the difference between the two charts is not very large, since, for example during the month of October, 90M have entered and 63M have exited. The biggest peak in both cases was in August, with 277M USDC volume bridged to Optimism and 140M from Optimism.

Finally, in this graph we can see the LUSD volume bridged to and from Optimism by month.

It is the only stablecoin with which there is more volume bridged from Optimism than to Optimism. There is a huge difference in amounts. During the last three or four months it has been decreasing in value. The heaviest peak we have seen was in January, in terms of volume bridged from Optimism, with 34M. While in the LUSD volume bridged to Optimism, its peak was in May, with almost 3.5M.

==Key insights==

• There is a much higher amount of Ethereum going into Optimism than not coming out.
• In the Ethereum entering Optimism, it has been increasing, especially in the months of August and September, with amounts of 122k and 93k respectively.
• In October it dropped radically, falling to 27k.
• There is more USDT volume entering Optimism than not exiting.
• There is not a stable trend, but that each month there is a different amount in the two charts.
• In August there was a peak, reaching 63M USDT volume bridged to Optimism.
• In both cases, at the beginning of the year the amounts were lower.
• The maximum of USDT volume bridged from Optimism was in October, with an amount of 14M.
• There continues to be more USDC entering Optimism than not exiting.
• The difference is not as abysmal as in the other stablecoins.
• The biggest peak in both cases was in August, with 277M USDC volume bridged to Optimism and 140M from Optimism.
• It is the only stablecoin with which there is more volume bridged from Optimism than to Optimism.
• The heaviest peak was in January, in terms of volume bridged from Optimism, with 34M.
• In the LUSD volume bridged to Optimism, its peak was in May, with almost 3.5M.