Optimism’s OP token has struggled to rise in worth, with DAO members divided over the buyback vote.
Working revenue has fallen greater than 93.7% from its peak, hitting a low of $0.2519 final month. This marked the bottom worth stage for the token in December.
In response, Optimism DAO representatives are voting on a proposal to make use of protocol proceeds to purchase again OP tokens. Voting begins on Thursday and can final for six days, ending on January twenty eighth.
As of this writing, delegates have forged greater than 4.2 million votes in favor of the proposal, in comparison with simply over 491,900 votes in opposition to. Voters have the choice of sure, no, or abstain.
If the “sure” votes exceed a quorum and the “sure” votes exceed the approval threshold relative to the overall variety of votes, the buyback proposal will move. The quorum for this proposal is 30% and the approval threshold is 94.40%.
If the proposal is authorised, the Optimism Basis can be required to spend half of the grocery store chain’s month-to-month revenue on buying OP.
As revenues improve, the Basis would require extra purchases OP token month-to-month. Proponents argue that this mechanism may assist assist the worth of the token.

Voting on OP token buyback is stay. Supply: Optimism web site.
DAO members are divided over OP’s buyback plan
Nevertheless, this proposal induced the DAO to separate. Some delegates assist the plan, whereas others imagine it wastes cash and weakens Optimism’s monetary power.
Critics level out that optimism is at present promoting OP brief.
Optimism DAO consultant PaperImperium believes that OP holders ought to vote in opposition to this buyback proposal. he assume It’s illogical to make use of priceless belongings to purchase again OP whereas persevering with to promote tokens, particularly when shortening the venture’s runway.
PaperImperium can also be involved about implementing OP buybacks. He mentioned, “…as an alternative of utilizing Optimism’s personal chain, this proposal makes use of an OTC desk, which does not look good.”
This system will probably be performed over-the-counter (OTC) relatively than within the open market. Which means that your buy won’t immediately have an effect on the OP market worth.
Optimism DAO consultant Michael Vander Meyden warned in a discussion board put up that over-the-counter buybacks may enable workers and traders to promote unlocked tokens again into this system.
he mentioned“That is regarding as unlocks are at present occurring at a a lot increased fee than deliberate buybacks, which defeats the aim of aligning incentives.”
The Optimism Basis mentioned it selected OTC enforcement to simplify the method. It has dedicated to publicly reporting all OTC transactions on stats(dot)optimism(dot)io or governance boards.
This debate comes regardless of the rising position of optimism in blockchain expertise. Its OP stack powers over 50 blockchains, together with Uniswap’s Unichain, Coinbase’s Base, Kraken’s Ink, Zora Community, Sam Altam’s World Chain and different blockchains.
Can buybacks resolve the token collapse?
Skepticism about share buybacks exceeds optimism.
Messari researchers say inventory buyback methods usually waste cash. They may divert funds from advertising and marketing and development, and the general affect of the buyback on the token worth will probably be minimal.
A number of crypto initiatives have thought of ending their token buyback applications.
Siong Ong, founding father of Jupiter DEX, requested group members whether or not the change ought to cease shopping for again JUP tokens as there is no such thing as a worth profit. DEX spent greater than $70 million on share buybacks final yr, however the worth did not transfer a lot.
In a discussion board put up, GFXlabs argued that optimists ought to prioritize creating and sharing enterprise plans for long-term monetary sustainability. He added that share buybacks wouldn’t resolve the issue and will make the state of affairs worse. A number of DAO members agree with these factors.
Supporters of the proposal see it as an indication of progress.
Milo Bowman, president of Optimism DAO, mentioned it was acceptable to run buybacks in parallel with emissions, even when they had been partially offset. He added that the buyback framework permits members to higher mannequin the result of the superchain’s potential 100x development.

