Optimism, an Andreessen Horowitz-backed blockchain startup, has snagged Ryan Wyatt, a former head of gaming at YouTube, as its chief growth officer. Wyatt — who has a long history in e-sports including his eight years at YouTube as its global head of gaming — most recently left another blockchain project, Polygon Labs, in July. He will lead an Optimism team focused on the startup’s efforts to grow its business through partnerships and marketing.
Optimism works on so-called layer 2 technologies in crypto — these systems take transaction data off the Ethereum blockchain, compress it and post it back onto the original chain for just a fraction of the time and cost. Such scaling in Ethereum over the past few years has driven speed improvements and brought down skyrocketing transaction fees. Optimism has attracted more than $700 million worth of cryptocurrencies to its platform, making it one of the biggest layer 2 blockchains, according to tracker DeFiLlama. Base — the blockchain built by Coinbase Global Inc. — for example, uses Optimism’s technology.
Wyatt expects layer 2 projects will keep capturing the most activity in crypto despite excitement over Ethereum blockchain competitors. He joins the startup under an entity called Optimism Unlimited, an operating subsidiary of the Cayman Islands-based non-profit organization Optimism Foundation, according to a press release. “The reality is a vast majority of activity and users are sitting inside of the Ethereum ecosystem,” he said. “As a developer, you want to be where the users are at.”
The crypto industry has struggled after multiple blowups last year including the high-profile FTX exchange. For Jing Wang, chief executive officer and executive director of Optimism Foundation, that bear market has washed out people who were only interested in cash grabbing. “The genuine people who are actually interested in the technology remain,” she said in an interview. “That’s why I was so stoked about Ryan.”
