Introduction To Optimism and ETH-OP Bridge

Optimism was developed by Ethereum's core devs, and it's a fast, stable, and scalable L2 blockchain. Created as a lightweight addition to the original Ethereum code. Layer 2 (L2) protocols, often known as optimistic rollups, aim to increase Ethereum's base layer's throughput.

Transactions are processed off-chain, reducing the load on the main Ethereum chain and allowing for significantly faster processing times. By design, Optimism allows users to communicate between smart contracts on both Optimism and Ethereum using any message they like. This enables the exchange of assets, like as ERC20 tokens, between the two networks.

How to Cross the Bridge to eternal optimism?!

The bridge is a two-way system that allows users to move assets between Ethereum and Optimism. Once a user calls the smart contract on Ethereum, the transaction is first triggered by an event named CanonicalTransactionChain and then relayed to the Optimism network.

Where to find more information?

This dashboard is an extension of another dashboard written by yours truly, that analyzes the volume and transactions over the bridge in both ways.

Find out more here

Methodology

Two contract addresses are used to identify the ETH transfers to Optimism. One is for the standard bridge and the other is for the DAI bridge. The standard bridge 0x99c9fc46f92e8a1c0dec1b1747d010903e884be1 is used for ETH and ERC20 token transfers. The DAI bridge 0x10E6593CDda8c58a1d0f14C5164B376352a55f2F is used for DAI only.

All bridge transfers are found from ethereum.core.ez_eth_transfers and ethereum.core.ez_token_transfers tables. first one is for ETH transfers and the second one is for ERC20 token transfers.

• This dashboard only considers the first destination of a user after they bridge to Optimism.
• Destination categories are as follows:

1. Event Type of destinations (e.g. Transfer, Swap, Deposit, etc.)
2. Ecosystem destinations (e.g. DEX, dApp, DeFi, etc.)
3. Contract Interactions (e.g. Swap, General, Bridge, NFT Token, etc.)
4. Project Destination (e.g. UniSwap, Aave, Hop protocol, etc.)

• The dashboard also shows the distribution of users who have bridged to Optimism based on time delta between the first bridge transaction and the first destination transaction.
• Overtime analysis is done for the past month, 3 months, and 6 months. This period can be changed from the Period dropdown. It is also possible to change the interval of overtime analysis from the Interval dropdown. For every interval the Top 10 popular destinations is shown. For example in daily interval, Top 10 destinations on that day are shown.
• For the sake of brevity, the dashboard only shows 1-Month period and 1-Day interval. But the analysis is done all the way back to 6 months.

Past Month

• The most popular destination for users that have just bridged to Optimism is Transfer with 33% of the total. This is followed by Deposit with 23% of the total. Swap is the third most popular destination with 20% of the total. Mint events only account for 2% of the total.
• Withdraw is the least popular destination with 1% of the total. This indicates that most users that bridge to Optimism tend to stay on L2 at least for a while.
• Daily normalized shows uptrend for Transfer, Deposit, and Swap. And a downtrend for Mint and ** Approval**. Note that Approval event is not triggered by the user, but by the contract itself.
• From Oct 12th 2022 We can see a gradual increase in the number of users that trigger an event on L2 after bridging to Optimism. This is a good sign that the number of users that interact with L2 is increasing.

Past 3 Months

• Transfer is the most popular destination with 31% of the total. This is followed by Approval with 19% of the total. Note that deposit and swap events have stepped one place down compared to the past month.
• Notice how Mint events were popular during Sep 2022 and lost it significance during Oct 2022. This is probably due to the fact that the number of users that bridge to Optimism has increased during Oct 2022.
• Over the past 3 months, Transfer events have had a steady trend.

Past 6 Months

• Past 6 months the bridger destinations have been pretty spread evenly among the top 5 destinations. Transfer is the most popular destination with 35% of the total. Deposit, Approval, Swap, and Claimed events each account for 10-13% of the total.
• The crash in June 2022 has partly contaminated the data as seen by the sudden very large spikes in the number of users that trigger Transfer and Claimed events.
• A beam of hope for the future can be seen when comparing recent month to the past 6 months. The number of users events has increased significantly and steadily.

Past Month

• The most popular contract type destination for users that have just bridged to Optimism is Swap with 30% of the total. This is followed by General with 20% of the total. Bridge is the third most popular destination with 20% of the total. NFT Token events only account for 7% of the total.
• In the past month interactions with general and bridge contracts have decreased gradually while swap interactions have started to attract more users.

Past 3 Months

• Bridge and general account for more than 50% of the total of contract interactions from bridgers.
• Swap and NFT Token have had a steady uptrend in the past 3 months starting from Oct 12th 2022, more transactions are interacting with these contracts after bridging to Optimism.

Past 6 Months

• Compared to the past 3 months, the number of users that interact with Bridge and General contracts have decreased after popularity period between July 2022 and late Sep 2022. Token Contract and Swap have had intervals of uptrend in the past 6 months.
• A large spike in the number of users that interact with Airdrop contract can be seen during Jun 2022. This corresponds to the Claimed event that was popular during that time. There must have been a large airdrop that must have caused many to bridge to Optimism L2 and claim their airdrop.

Past Month

• The most popular destination for users that have just bridged to Optimism is UniSwap with 44% of the total. This is followed by Hop Protocol with 22% of the total. Optimism is the third most popular destination with 8% of the total. Balancer events only account for 7% of the total.
• The trend for UniSwap and optimism has been steady and increasing over the past month. Specially for UniSwap where it accounts for more than 50% of daily transactions.
• Another project that has been gaining popularity is project galaxy.

Past 3 Months

• UniSwap and Hop Protocol have been the most popular destinations for bridgers. AAVE was used by a large number of users from Aug 2022 to Sep 2022.
• Hop Protocol has also lost attraction slowly and overtime from Aug 2022.

Past 6 Months

• Hop Protocol was the most popular destination for bridgers from Jun 2022 to Sep 2022. UniSwap has been the most popular destination for bridgers from Oct 2022 to Nov 2022.
• Veldrome finance was popular from July 2022 to Aug 2022.
• May 31st 2022 was the start of the week that caused spike in interactions with air drop contracts. This corresponds to the Claimed event that was popular during that time. Optimism has had a large airdrop on that date.

Final Remarks

• The number of users that bridge to Optimism L2 has increased over the past 6 months. This is a good sign that the number of users that interact with L2 is increasing.
• The number of users that interact with Layer2 and DEX has increased over the past 6 months. This is a good sign that the number of users that interact with L2 is increasing.
• The number of users that interact with Bridge and General contracts have decreased after popularity period between July 2022 and late Sep 2022. Token Contract and Swap have had intervals of uptrend in the past 6 months.
• UniSwap and Hop Protocol have been the most popular destinations for bridgers. AAVE was used by a large number of users from Aug 2022 to Sep 2022.
• Most users bridge to optimism L2 with a purpose. And they usually interact with L2 within the same day.
• NFTs have been decreasing in popularity specially recently.
• Most of the transactions are of the form Transfer, Bridge or Swap.

Bridges Crossed… Events Triggered…

Bridges Crossed… Ecosystems Explored…

Bridges Crossed… Contracts Called

Bridges Crossed… Projects Visited…

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Past Month

• The most popular destination for users that have just bridged to Optimism is DEX with more than 50% of the total. This is followed by Layer2 with 25% of the total. DeFi, NFT, and dApp each account for 5-9% of the total.
• October has initiated a new uptrend in number of users that interact with Layer2 and DEX.

Past 3 Months

• DEX and Layer2 has had the most visits from users that have just bridged to Optimism. DEX and Layer2 account for more than 70% of the total.
• CEX interaction has been very low and all the transactions are from the same user.

Past 6 Months

• Data from June 2022 that indicates a large number of users that interact with Operator. This corresponds to the ** Claimed** event that was popular during that time.
• Mid-Oct 2022 we can see a gradual increase in the number of users that interact with Layer2 and DEX.

Past Month

• Distribution of the time delay between the bridging event and the first event on L2 for the past month indicates that more than 85% of users that bridge to Optimism L2 interact with L2 within the same day. This shows that most users come to L2 with a purpose.
• 10% of users interact with L2 within 1-3 days after bridging. This could mean that they are waiting for the transaction or an air drop to be confirmed.

Past 3 Months

• The distribution data is same as the past month. This shows that the user behavior has been consistent over the past 3 months compared to the past month.

Past 6 Months

• The distribution is slightly different from the past 3 months. The number of users that interact with L2 within 1-3 days after bridging has increased. This could mean that the number of users that bridge to Optimism L2 with a short-term purpose has increased over the past 6 months compared to the past 3 months.
• 6% of users have stayed on L2 for more than 30 days before interacting with L2.

Bridges Crossed… How Far…?

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