Optimism’s governance community has approved a proposal to direct 50% of all Superchain revenue toward buying back the network’s token over the next 12 months, beginning in February.
The proposal, submitted by the Optimism Foundation on Jan. 8, is part of a broader effort to increase the utility of the Optimism token and more closely tie its value to the growth of the Superchain—a network of interconnected blockchains.
Voting concluded on Thursday, with the measure passing after receiving 33.27% support, while 3.23% voted against and 3.95% abstained.
Prior to the vote, all Superchain revenue was directed to a treasury managed by the Optimism governance community.
The Superchain is a network of layer-2 blockchains built using Optimism’s open-source OP Stack. It includes chains such as Sony’s Soneium, Unichain, Ink, and Coinbase’s Base, and generates revenue in Ether through sequencer fees collected from these L2 networks.
Under the approved proposal, Optimism will work with an over-the-counter provider to carry out monthly conversions of Ether into OP tokens. These OP tokens will be held in the treasury alongside the remaining ETH.
The Optimism Foundation noted in its proposal that, based on last year’s Superchain revenue, a similar allocation would have resulted in approximately 2,700 ETH being used for buybacks—equivalent to about $8 million worth of OP at current prices.
According to the Foundation, the accumulated OP tokens may be used for several purposes, including token burns, ecosystem funding, and incentives for participants who help secure the network.
Commenting on the approval, Optimism Foundation Executive Director Bobby Dresser told Cointelegraph that the move represents an “exciting first step in expanding the role of the OP token” and would help “align the OP token’s value with the success of the Superchain ecosystem.”
Despite the governance decision, the OP token has yet to see a positive market reaction. OP is down 1.9% over the past 24 hours, trading at $0.26, according to CoinGecko.
