On May 31st, more than 386 million OP tokens will be made available, more than tripling the current circulating supply.
On May 31st, the initial vesting period for early contributors and investors will finish, and more than 386 million Optimism (OP) tokens, with a current value of $587 million, will be released. One of the biggest unlocking events planned for the year has some worried about possible negative pressure on the price of the OP token.
With only 335 million OP tokens in circulation as of right now, the unlocking of more than 386 million tokens might result in a notable rise in the circulating supply of more than 100%. Given that early-stage investors are sitting on significant gains, speculation has it that this rush of newly unlocked tokens may put sell pressure on the native OP cryptocurrency.
Key Seed Investors in Optimism
The Optimism unlock has a fair possibility of significantly increasing sell pressure for the OP token, according to research from Unlock Calendar, a research organization that specializes in token unlock events. This is mostly attributable to early investors who may consider cashing in on their gains, including well-known crypto venture capital firms like Paradigm, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), and IDEO CoLab Ventures.
Market participants are keenly observing the potential influence on the price of the OP token and the general market dynamics as the unlock date draws near. Concerns and debates regarding the possible effects on Optimism and its ecosystem have been triggered by the unlocking of such a large quantity of tokens.
Optimism: Enhancing Ethereum’s Scalability
Optimism is a layer-2 scaling solution created to increase the Ethereum network’s transaction and activity speed, affordability, and efficiency. The OP token acts as the Optimism network’s governance token, enabling token holders to take part in decision-making procedures.
Optimism released its inaugural airdrop on June 1st of the previous year, giving OP tokens to roughly 250,000 addresses connected to early network participants. On February 9th, 2023, nearly 11 million OP tokens were issued to 307,000 different addresses in another big airdrop.
These airdrops have been essential in spreading OP tokens across a variety of participants, promoting community involvement, and broadening the network’s coverage. The growth and development of the Optimism ecosystem have been aided by the availability and distribution of OP tokens.
According to data from CoinGecko, OP is down 53% from its all time high of $3.54 which it reached on Feb. 24, earlier this year.