Thursday’s surprise token airdrop by Optimism Network saw 11.7 million governance tokens sent to more than 300,000. According to a report, blog post By layer 2 blockchain’s caretaker, Optimism Collective
Optimism’s first airdrop is part the blockchain’s plan to distribute 19% its initial governance token supply. This initiative will help the blockchain move toward greater adoption. In its first airdrop, Optimism distributed more than 200,000,000 tokens (5% of its initial governance token supply) in May.
Optimism is looking for an advantage over Arbitrum, its biggest competitor and another Ethereum layer 2, even though it doesn’t have a token. The airdrop occurs as Optimism seeks to gain an edge. Abritrum boasts more wallets than Optimism and has increased the gap between them over the last month.
The airdrop was open to users who have spent gas on transactions on the blockchain. The airdrop was also open to those who delegated voting power, which is granted by governance tokens, other users. To strengthen the governance system of the blockchain, the Optimism Network considers sharing voting power a “positive sum activity”.
On the news that Optimism had increased its circulating supply, the token fell 13%. Despite this, OP has risen nearly 200% in the last few weeks. Today’s announcement of the airdrop saw the token’s value drop 13%. The token currently trades at approximately $2.35 as of the publication date.
Thursday’s unannounced distribution went smoothly. This was in contrast to Optimism’s July 2022 attempt, where users had to manually claim their allotments. The distribution was automated in this instance.
Continue reading: Optimism Foundation Proposes a ‘Bedrock Upgrade’ to Increase OP Token’s 25%