- OP Labs, the core developer behind the Ethereum layer-2 Optimism network, has laid off 20 employees to narrow its focus and reduce overhead.
- The decision coincides with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin‘s public call for a “new path” with less reliance on layer-2 scaling networks.
- The firm’s OP Stack technology is facing a significant setback as the major network Base plans to migrate away from it, which will cut off a revenue stream.
- The Optimism (OP) token has fallen approximately 86% in the last year and is trading around 98% below its all-time high from early 2024.
OP Labs, the core development team for the Ethereum layer-2 Optimism network, has laid off 20 employees as it seeks to streamline operations and make faster decisions. The firm’s co-founder and CEO, Jing Wang, stated this strategic move was not financially motivated, publishing on X that the company is “well capitalized with years of runway.”
Wang emphasized the layoffs reflect a deliberate choice to focus on core priorities. “This is about doing fewer things well, making decisions faster, and reducing coordinating overhead,” she explained in the internal note.
Consequently, this organizational shift occurs during a pivotal debate about the future of Ethereum’s scaling. In February, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin argued the network needed a “new path,” posting on X that “L1 does not need L2s to be ‘branded shards,’ because L1 is itself scaling.”
Meanwhile, OP Labs faces a significant business challenge as a major client prepares to leave its ecosystem. The Coinbase-incubated layer-2 network Base announced last month it will modify its technology stack and migrate away from Optimism’s OP Stack, which powers more than 50 layer-2 networks.
This migration will stop the sequencer revenue that Base previously shared with Optimism. A representative for OP Labs told Decrypt the firm is focused on supporting affected employees during the transition.
The Optimism token (OP) has fallen around 2.9% in 24 hours following the news, trading near $0.11. Its mainnet holds $1.16 billion in bridged total value locked, ranking 12th among all networks according to data from DeFiLlama.
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