Performance issues set back Ethereum scaler Optimism during token airdrop

• Ethereum layer-two scaling solution Optimism faced delayed transactions on OP token launch
• The network, however, stabilised after more than five hours of continuous work

Ethereum layer two scaling solution Optimism has recently been a victim of downgraded performance with increased user activity after launching its anticipated token airdrop. Earlier in April, it came out that the L2 planned to launch an OP governance token, alongside which a new decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) would be formed – the Optimism Collective. However, the launch didn’t go exactly as planned.

“Sup sleuths—as you might have guessed, OP Drop #1 launches today. We have NOT officially announced yet, but we’re already experiencing an all-time high demand. We knew everyone would be excited, but holy cow—y’all just couldn’t wait for #OPSummer,” the Optimism Foundation wrote on Twitter.

The Ethereum scaling solutions needed ‘more scaling’

Optimism had set eligibility for the airdrop to frequent Ethereum compatriots such as bridge users, multi-sig signers, and early adopters of Optimism. This totalled about 250,000 eligible addresses.

On Wednesday, the day of the launch, Optimism saw user demand rise to heights never seen before. This destabilised the network for more than five hours before sanity was regained.

“Wow, what a day. OP Drop #1 had a turbulent launch which we finally stabilised after more than five hours of non-stop work. There are a lot of lessons we learned from this to apply to Drop #2. We’ll be publishing an extensive retrospective next week. Iteration is core to the Optimism ethos and we always strive to apply today’s lessons to tomorrow’s problems,” an update from the Foundation read.

Scaling is hard

Scaling solutions on Ethereum have often been touted as the future of the chain as they function to reduce the load on the mainnet. Advantages include increased transaction speeds, reduced fees, and a capacity to accommodate mass-scale numbers of users. However, the troubles that Optimism, a leading Ethereum l2, saw during the token airdrop indicate that scaling is hard and has many more strides.

“And this was certainly not meant to sound negative in any way towards @optimismPBC – quite the opposite, I consider the project as one of the leading ones to tackle scaling and them running into scaling issues right now just shows how hard the problem is,” co-founder of Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible blockchain Gnosis tweeted.