Decentral Block Post

Optimism (OP) is a Layer 2 scaling solution, which operates as a separate blockchain built on top of Ethereum. Despite having a smaller total value locked (TVL) than its rivals, Optimism may still have the potential to thrive in the increasingly competitive DeFi landscape. 

Being one of the pioneers in the DeF space, Optimism initially gained an initial but had to contend with fierce competition. The project has been trailing behind other scaling solutions in terms of daily transactions for the past six months. However, in late July, the situation changed as Optimism finally overtook its main competitor Arbitrum and is showing signs of increasing demand from users.

The rise of Layer 2 scaling solutions

The increase in Layer 2 activity on Ethereum has been significant, surpassing mainnet activity by more than four times, according to data from L2beat. Various solutions have emerged to address Ethereum's scalability challenges and each Layer 2 project focuses on different aspects such as privacy, specific decentralized applications and NFT marketplaces.

Consequently, the leaderboard of transactions and volumes constantly fluctuates based on demand, and each solution comes with its own advantages and drawbacks.

Optimism operates using rollups, bundling all transactions into a single transaction to be executed on the base layer, inheriting all security features from Ethereum. The philosophy behind Optimism assumes that all transactions are valid unless challenged and proven otherwise, allowing for cost-effective and fast transactions for users.

Unibot (UNIBOT) token was among the top crypto gainers in July as its price rallied by 400% in a month to reach an all-time high of $199.90 on July 28. The project defied the market’s negative trend as both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) dropped by nearly 4%.

However, by August 3, 2023, the token's price retraced 44% from its peak, leading to doubts about whether this surge was merely a fleeting trend. Nevertheless, it is essential to consider the project's fundamentals, which seem to suggest otherwise.

The project is a harbinger of a newfound bullish narrative around decentralized Telegram bots for trading on DEXs. The total market capitalization of the sector surged above $150 million from around $20 million at the start of July, per Coingecko.

While a number of copycats have launched in the market, Unibot has a dominant market share, with 72.3% of the total market for decentralized Telegram bots for trading on DEXs. Since May 2023, Unibot has gained popularity with increased usage and price.

It provides features such as limit orders, MEV protection and snipping. Snipping enables instant purchase of newly listed token pools on Uniswap, which is preferred among high-frequency traders.