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Optimism Proposes Using Half Its Revenue to Buy Back OP Tokens

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The Optimism Foundation announced plans to dedicate 50% of incoming Superchain income to month-to-month OP token buybacks beginning February 2026, marking a basic shift within the community’s tokenomics technique.

The proposal transforms OP from a pure governance token into one straight aligned with the Superchain’s development, the place the community captured 61.4% of the Layer-2 charge market and processes 13% of all crypto transactions.

The buyback mechanism would function on collected sequencer income from chains together with Base, Unichain, Ink, World Chain, Soneium, and OP Mainnet, which contributed 5,868 ETH over the previous twelve months to a treasury managed by Optimism governance.

Based on comparable allocations from final 12 months’s income, this system would deploy roughly 2.7k ETH, or roughly $8 million, in OP purchases at present costs, with the governance vote scheduled for January 22.

Revenue-Driven Token Evolution

The Foundation plans to companion with an OTC supplier to execute month-to-month conversions of ETH to OP, starting with January’s income in February.

Conversions will happen inside predetermined home windows no matter worth, although this system pauses if month-to-month income falls beneath $200,000 or if the OTC supplier can not execute below the utmost allowable charge spreads.

Purchased tokens will circulation again into the collective treasury, the place they might ultimately be burned, distributed as staking rewards, or deployed for ecosystem growth because the platform evolves.

The mechanism begins small however scales with Superchain growth, the place each transaction throughout collaborating chains expands the buyback base and creates structural demand for OP tokens.

The proposal additionally grants the Foundation discretion to handle the remaining ETH treasury belongings to generate yield and assist ecosystem development, thereby decreasing governance overhead that traditionally restricted lively treasury administration.

While governance retains oversight over capital allocation parameters, this flexibility seeks to maintain the Superchain aggressive with friends that deploy capital extra adaptively.

Superchain Dominance Fuels Growth Strategy

The buyback initiative comes because the Layer-2 landscape consolidates dramatically around Base, Arbitrum, and Optimism, which collectively course of practically 90% of all L2 transactions.

Base alone surpassed 60% market share by late 2025, whereas exercise throughout smaller rollups dropped 61% since June, with many working as “zombie chains” with minimal person exercise.

Despite aggressive charge wars triggered by the Dencun improve’s 90% charge discount, pushing most rollups into losses, Base generated roughly $55 million in revenue throughout 2025.

The Superchain mannequin leverages this focus, the place member chains contribute parts of sequencer income again to Optimism, making a flywheel the place utilization generates income, income funds improvement, and improvement drives further utilization.

Meanwhile, Optimism continues constructing infrastructure for long-term sustainability, having selected Ether.fi as its strategic liquid staking companion on OP Mainnet in December, following a complete RFP course of.

The collective has earned 80.03 ETH in yield by means of staking operations, with the partnership designed to strengthen OP Mainnet’s place as a safe, liquid, and institutionally trusted DeFi surroundings.

Governance Debate and Implementation Timeline

The proposal is going through some scrutiny from delegates involved about bundling two distinct coverage choices right into a single vote.

Community member Gonna.eth urged splitting the buyback mechanism from Foundation treasury discretion, arguing that bundling creates dangers wherein delegates approve expanded discretionary energy primarily due to anticipated OP worth appreciation fairly than evaluating treasury administration authority by itself deserves.

Optimism OP Buy Back - Gonna's Comment Screenshot
Source: Optimism

The governance proposal strikes to vote in Special Voting Cycle #47, requiring Joint House approval at a 60% threshold.

If authorized, the Foundation will promptly enter into agreements with an OTC supplier and publish an execution dashboard monitoring fills, pacing, pricing, and balances for month-to-month conversions.

The program will proceed for twelve months earlier than re-evaluation, with preliminary operations executed by the Foundation below predetermined parameters, eliminating discretion.

Over time, the mechanism could transfer more and more on-chain by means of Protocol Upgrade 18, which ensures all sequencer income from OP Chains will get collected on-chain with out Foundation involvement.

At the time of publication, OP trades at $0.31, down 1% previously 24 hours.

The publish Optimism Proposes Using Half Its Revenue to Buy Back OP Tokens appeared first on Cryptonews.

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