Optimism Foundation Proposes Monthly OP Buybacks Using 50% of Superchain Revenue
The Optimism Foundation has proposed a governance plan to allocate 50% of Superchain sequencer revenue to monthly OTC buybacks of OP for 12 months. Revenue is sourced from Superchain chains including Base, Unichain, World Chain and OP Mainnet. Purchased OP would be sent to the Collective treasury for potential burning, staking rewards, or ecosystem funding; remaining ETH revenue would be managed by the Foundation under governance oversight. Optimism reports 5,868 ETH in Superchain revenue (about $8M at current prices). The Superchain now captures roughly 61% of Layer‑2 fee market share and processes about 13% of crypto transactions. The proposal will go to a governance vote on Jan. 22; if approved, monthly buybacks could begin the following month. The plan ties OP tokenomics more closely to network fee performance and places key parameters (buyback size, OTC execution, and whether repurchased OP are burned or used for staking/eco spending) under governance control. Traders should watch the vote outcome, timing of buybacks, and execution details, as these factors could materially affect OP supply dynamics and short‑term price action.
Bullish
The proposal is likely bullish for OP because it creates a predictable, governance‑backed mechanism to remove or repurpose circulating OP using 50% of Superchain sequencer revenue for monthly buybacks. Immediate bullish factors: (1) buybacks reduce available supply or shift tokens to the Collective treasury where they can be burned or used for staking rewards; (2) the plan ties token value to Superchain fee growth, creating a clearer value-extraction pathway that may improve investor sentiment; (3) the governance process and public revenue figures (5,868 ETH) give transparency that can reduce uncertainty. Short-term impact depends on vote outcome, buyback start timing, and OTC execution — approval and quick, visible buybacks could trigger a price run-up as traders front-run supply reduction. If governance delays approvals or opts to keep repurchased OP in treasury without burning, the price effect will be muted. Long-term bullish potential exists if buybacks are sustained and protocols use repurchased OP to fund staking rewards or burns, tightening effective supply while Superchain fee share continues growing. Risks that temper the bullish view: size of revenue relative to float (5,868 ETH ≈ $8M may be modest versus total market cap and circulating supply), OTC execution avoiding market purchases could limit immediate price impact, and governance could reallocate funds to non‑deflationary uses. Overall, the mechanism improves fundamentals compared with a purely governance token and, if executed as proposed, should support OP price over time.