Token Description & Project Background

Optimism, formerly known as Plasma Group, is an L2 solution for Ethereum for facilitating faster and cheaper transactions.

The Optimism mainnet went live in December 2021, whilst the network’s native token, OP, token launched in May 2022.

OP is the network’s governance token. The project is run by the Optimism Collective, which has stated it will be governed co-equally by two houses, Citizens’ House and the Token House. 

The project was founded by Kevin Ho, Karl Floersch and Jinglan Wang.

Risks of OP

Like an investment in other crypto assets, there are some general risks to investing in OP. These include:  (i) volatility risk and liquidity risk, (ii) short history risk, (iii) demand risk, (iv) forking risk, (v) code defects, (vi) regulatory risk, (vii) electronic trading risk, and (viii) cyber security risk. For additional information of these and other general risks associated with crypto assets and Uphold’s platform, please refer to the Risks Specific to Holding Digital Assets statement.

In addition to these general risks, an investment in OP is subject to the following specific risks:

• As a layer-2 roll-up solution, any potential success associated with OP is reliant on the continued security, decentralization, as well as adoption of the Ethereum chain, which is itself competing with an increasing number of Layer-1 blockchains.

We emphasize that this Crypto Asset Statement is not an exhaustive description or summary of all risks associated with OP . Investors should conduct their own research and perform their own assessment before trading any crypto asset to determine the appropriate level of risk for their personal circumstances.

The OP community and Optimism Collective are not under any legal or regulatory obligation to disclose material information to the public regarding its activities. Holders of OP have no recourse to the OP community, Optimism Collective, or Uphold if OP declines in value for any reason.

Changes to applicable law may adversely affect the use, transfer, exchange, or value of any of your crypto assets, and such changes may be sudden and without notice.

Uphold’s Evaluation Process

Prior to listing OP on the Uphold Platform, Uphold performed due diligence on OP and determined that OP is unlikely to be a security or derivative under relevant securities legislation. Uphold’s analysis including reviewing publicly available information on the following: 

• The creation, governance, usage, and design of OP, including ensuring the source code being open-source, audited and peer reviewed, security, and roadmap for growth in the developer community. 
• The supply, demand, maturity, utility, and liquidity of OP.
• Marketing materials put forward by the OP social team including, Twitter, Medium blog, LinkedIn posts, Discord and Telegram channels.
• Material technical risks associated with OP, including any code defects, security breaches and other threats concerning OP and its supporting blockchain (such as the susceptibility to hacking and impact of forking), or the practices and protocols that apply to them.
• Legal and regulatory risks associated with OP, including any pending, potential, or prior civil, regulatory, criminal, or enforcement action relating to the issuance, distribution, or use of OP. 

General

Uphold has prepared this Crypto Asset Statement based on publicly available information. Although Uphold has taken steps to obtain information from apparently reliable sources, information contained in this Crypto Asset Statement may be inaccurate, incomplete or out-of-date. This overview is a starting point for you to perform your own research prior to investing in a crypto asset.

Uphold users should read the Risks Specific To Holding Digital Assets statement for additional discussion of general risks associated with crypto assets made available through the Uphold platform.  

Canadian residents, please note that Uphold has filed an application for registration in certain Canadian jurisdictions but has not yet obtained registration. Until such time as Uphold obtains registration, Uphold has agreed to abide by the terms of an undertaking available at the following link. Please also review the Uphold Canada – Crypto Risk Statement for additional discussion of general risks associated with the crypto assets made available through Uphold Platform. Please be aware that statutory rights of action for damages or rescission in section 130.1 of the Securities Act (Ontario) and, if applicable, similar statutory rights under securities legislation in the other provinces and territories of Canada do not apply in respect of this Crypto Asset Statement or other disclosures on the Uphold website and Risks Specific To Holding Digital Assets statement. 

Last updated on June 21, 2023.