Ethereum scaling solution startup Optimism reached a $1.65 billion valuation after raising a $150 million Series B round. The Ethereum network is in high demand, mainly due to an explosion of DeFi, peer-to-peer lending, borrowing, and trading, plus NFTs β unique tokens that represent digital item ownership. This has resulted in high gas fees and network sluggishness.

Optimism
Michael Tchong
Founder, Author, Adjunct Professor, Futurist
Michael is the founder of Toolhacker LLC, an innovation speaker and adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco, futurist, and author of βUbertrends β How Trends And Innovation Are Transforming Our Future.β He is also the founder of four ahead-of-the-wave startups, including MacWEEK, Atelier Systems, CyberAtlas, and ICONOCAST.