Jinglan Wang, Founder and CEO of Optimism – Interview Series

Jinglan Wang, founder and CEO of Optimism, is a leading figure in the Ethereum scaling ecosystem, having co-founded the project in 2019 and guided its evolution from the early Plasma Group initiative to a major Layer 2 blockchain platform. She has held multiple leadership roles across the organization, including Co-Founder & CEO of Optimism PBC, Executive Director of the Optimism Foundation, and now CEO of OP Labs PBC, where she oversees core protocol development and ecosystem growth. With a background deeply rooted in blockchain research and decentralized systems, Wang has focused on addressing Ethereum’s scalability challenges, helping pioneer the use of optimistic rollups to enable faster, lower-cost transactions while maintaining the security of the underlying network.

Optimism is a Layer 2 scaling solution built on top of Ethereum designed to significantly improve transaction speed and reduce fees by processing activity off-chain and batching it using optimistic rollups before settling on the main network. This approach allows developers and users to benefit from Ethereum’s security while achieving far greater efficiency, making it one of the most prominent scaling ecosystems in Web3. The platform supports a wide range of decentralized applications—from DeFi protocols to NFT marketplaces—and is governed through a hybrid model known as the Optimism Collective, which combines token-based governance with community-driven participation. By focusing on scalability, interoperability, and public goods funding, Optimism aims to accelerate the adoption of decentralized applications while reshaping how blockchain ecosystems are governed and scaled.

You began your journey with Plasma Group before co-founding Optimism and later leading both the Optimism Foundation and OP Labs. What problem were you most determined to solve when you started Optimism, and how did your early work shape the company’s long-term vision?

At its very beginning, Plasma Group was focused on scaling blockchains in terms of raw numbers: processing more transactions, faster, in whatever way made that work.

What we quickly realized was that scaling “at all costs” didn’t work: you need to address usability. Without support for Ethereum smart contracts, we were scaling a product that nobody would use. This led to the birth of the modern L2 and Optimism itself.

This lesson carries over to the present: with the launch of OP Enterprise, we are bringing that same product-first mindset to L2s themselves, not just smart contracts–enabling financial institutions to launch their own chains with the confidence, support, and customization they need.

Optimism has evolved from a single Layer 2 solution into a broader ecosystem powered by the OP Stack. How do you define the transition from a scaling solution to what is now being positioned as foundational blockchain infrastructure?

I would say that a network of Layer 2 chains has always been a part of the long-term vision for scaling blockchain infrastructure.  What’s really changed is readiness: when we were one of the first chains out there, the infrastructure for many to repeat that playbook just wasn’t there.

With maturity, the time has come for that transition. The OP Stack is a battle-tested, robust infrastructure platform that is more than capable of bringing institutions safely onchain and meeting their needs where they are. That’s why you’re seeing platforms like Bitpanda, Kraken, and Sony move in this direction across the industry.

For readers trying to fully understand the OP Stack, can you break down what it is at a technical and architectural level, how its modular components work together, and why this design enables developers and companies to launch scalable, interoperable blockchain networks more efficiently than previous approaches?

At a technical level, the OP Stack is a modular, open-source framework for building Ethereum-aligned blockchains. Instead of a single monolithic system, it breaks a blockchain into core components such as execution, settlement, sequencing, and data availability. Each layer can be configured or upgraded independently while remaining compatible with the broader ecosystem.

This modular architecture gives developers and companies far more flexibility than earlier approaches. Teams can launch a chain with Ethereum security and tooling, while customizing performance, governance, compliance, or infrastructure to fit their specific use case. Because these components follow a shared standard, chains built with the OP Stack can interoperate with one another and evolve together as the technology improves.

That matters because running a chain means managing uptime, security patches, upgrades, incident response, compliance, and more. Before this, teams were stitching together 10–15 vendors just to stay live.

With the OP Stack, those pieces are standardized. In practice, this means teams can launch fast, production-grade chains in less time and focus on the actual products and business operations they’re providing.

We’re seeing major ecosystems like Unichain, World Chain, and Zora build on the OP Stack. What does this growing adoption signal about where the blockchain industry is heading over the next five years?

Over the next five years, we expect a multichain ecosystem approach to become more common as access to shared blockchain infrastructure like the OP Stack expands and the industry settles on shared standards. This means more enterprises will move from pilot to production without being cut off from liquidity, users across the broader onchain financial ecosystem.

From an investor perspective, how should we think about value capture in a multi-chain ecosystem like the Superchain? Does value accrue more at the infrastructure layer, the application layer, or across both?

At scale, this becomes a simple economic decision. If you’re running high-volume activity, transaction fees add up quickly, up to millions a year. When you run your own chain, that revenue stays with you instead of going to a third party. Additionally, the flexibility of customization allows for better alignment between financial applications and the underlying infrastructure powering them. That’s what’s driving more companies to move in this direction.

One of Optimism’s unique features is its focus on public goods funding and shared revenue across the ecosystem. How sustainable is this model, and could it become a standard for future blockchain networks?

Optimism’s enterprise model works because it scales with usage. As more activity moves onchain, more resources go back into maintaining and improving the infrastructure, security, tooling, and upgrades. This keeps our system reliable, durable over time, and continuously improving for production demand as usage grows. 

As institutional interest in blockchain continues to grow, what role do scalable Layer 2 ecosystems like Optimism play in making Ethereum viable for enterprise-grade applications?

The gap has been what blockchain technology can enable to that point, and what institutions actually need to run a business. They need predictable costs, fast execution, and systems that can handle real volume. Without that, you can’t run trading, payments, or financial products.

Public infrastructure like the OP Stack has evolved the performance and operating side, meaning institutions that want to own their own chains will be able to do so while staying connected to Ethereum.

With increasing competition from other scaling approaches, including zero-knowledge rollups, how does Optimism differentiate itself both technically and strategically in the evolving Layer 2 landscape?

The OP Stack is here to support the technologies that best meet the needs of our customers. The OP Stack already supports zero-knowledge proof systems, and multiple chains run such configurations today. We’re focused on making infrastructure that works for enterprises working at scale, that reflects the needs of our partners day to day. Whether it’s an exchange launching new markets, a fintech building financial products, or an institution exploring tokenization, the goal is to help them run high-performance systems without getting bogged down by the infrastructure. 

The modularity of our infrastructure and varying support levels available allow teams to upgrade and adapt over time instead of being locked into a single approach or vendor as the space evolves. We are here to support the best technology choices for your needs and make it effortless to bring them to production at scale.

Looking ahead, what milestones should investors and developers watch for that would signal the Superchain vision is truly achieving mainstream adoption?

So far, Optimism has 50+ chains deployed, 3.6 billion transactions in H2 2025, and 61% of the Ethereum L2 fee market share. The roster includes World (Sam Altman), Sony, Unichain (Uniswap), Celo, Mastercard, and now Bitpanda. The clear signal to look for is serious institutions doing real evaluation and choosing the OP Stack for the economics, security model, and operational support that holds up and stands out under institutional diligence across the industry.

Thank you for the great interview, readers who wish to learn more about this project should visit Optimism.