OP Labs CEO Jing Wang confirmed that 20% of the corporate’s workforce will likely be leaving the corporate, and clarified that the choice was pushed by strategic focus reasonably than monetary pressures.
This information comes simply three weeks after Coinbase’s Layer 2 community, Base, left Optimism, inflicting a 23% collapse in OP token costs.
OP Labs frames chopping as a strategic axis
Wang launched an inside memo confirming the departure, saying OP Institute has a long-standing runway and is properly capitalized.
He wrote that this resolution was centered on performing much less work and acting at the next degree whereas lowering the overhead of coordination between groups. Retiring staff will obtain:
- At the very least 3 months’ price of primary wage
- As much as 5 months of further compensation will likely be supplied relying on the size of service.
- All affected workers will likely be positioned on a six-month medical continuum.
- Every worker retains a laptop computer.
Mr. Wang mentioned he would personally be certain that the resumes of departing staff members attain future employers, and known as on recruiting groups to DM him with open positions for direct introduction.
In the present day we shared some tough information with the OP Labs staff.
Our precedence was to speak with these affected and provides our staff time to course of the information earlier than sharing it with the general public. This resolution displays a narrowing of our focus, not our runway.
I wish to share the memo I despatched to… pic.twitter.com/rJThhlcFaw
— Optimist Prime (@jinglejamOP) March 12, 2026
OP token slides as information is launched
Optimism (OP) had been rising all through early buying and selling, reaching above $0.12 within the hours main as much as the announcement. As soon as the affirmation was damaged, the token flipped sharply.
On the time of writing, OP was buying and selling at $0.119, close to its session low of $0.109. The token has fallen greater than 55% because the starting of the yr, and its all-time excessive of $4.84 hit in March 2024 is now a distant reference level.
Optimism (OP) Worth Efficiency. Supply: BeInCrypto
Notably in latest reminiscence, the primary Optimism value crash occurred slightly below three weeks in the past, when OP’s market worth fell by 23%.
It follows the information that Base L2 will likely be leaving the Optimism ecosystem to construct its personal stack, in keeping with Wilson Cusack, the chain’s head of product.
New built-in stack for Base Chain
We’re excited to share that we’re evolving a expertise roadmap consisting of proprietary specs, code, and infrastructure to speed up the muse of Base. This transition provides us the autonomy to ship protocol enhancements extra ceaselessly and concentrate on our efforts.
— wilson.base.eth (@WilsonCusack) February 18, 2026
What continues, what stops
Wang instructed the remaining workers that the aim is to not redistribute the identical workload to fewer folks. Your work is not going to be redistributed and will likely be deleted.
He labored to make clear which initiatives would proceed and which might be suspended.
Optimism is main the OP Stack infrastructure initiative, which powers a number of chains throughout the Superchain ecosystem, together with Base.
The query now’s which parts of that broader roadmap will focus the staff going ahead.
Wang’s memo to workers suggests additional particulars about priorities will emerge, and the market and broader developer group will likely be ready for extra particulars about what a leaner OP Labs is trying to construct.
A be aware from OP Labs CEO Jing Wang to the Optimism group. Supply: Github
This text, OP Labs CEO Jing Wang explains every little thing about Optimism’s 20% headcount discount, initially appeared on BeInCrypto.
