Bitrabo Editorial
Developers of Optimism plan to unlock 386 million OP tokens worth over $587 million on May 31, 2023, marking the end of the initial vesting period. The event will increase the circulating supply of OP tokens by over 100%, and analysts predict that it could negatively affect OP’s price.
Early Investors May Cash In
Crypto communities use token locks to avoid selling large assets during low liquidity periods, which could impact the tokens’ prices. But unlocking token events increases the number of tokens in circulation, creating an imbalance between demand and supply. As per Unlock Calendar, the upcoming Optimism Unlock event could create significant sell pressure for OP tokens, with early investors, such as Andreessen Horowitz, Paradigm, and IDEO, who could decide to cash in their profit. According to Cryptorank, early investors in Optimism at the seed round realized over 10,000% of their original investment.
Plans to Improve Efficiency with Bedrock Upgrade
Optimism is slated for a Bedrock upgrade on June 6, 2023, that promises performance and scalability improvements by reducing transaction fees, ensuring better network security, and increasing compatibility with Ethereum. The public was informed on May 15 that the network would experience downtime between two to four hours during the upgrade. During this time, deposits, withdrawals, and other transactions will be unavailable. The upgrade will reduce transaction time from ten minutes to three minutes to confirm deposits. OP’s trading volume is up by 43.12%, reflecting increased trading activities for the token today.
OP is valued at $1.52 at press time, down by over 6% within 24 hours. It remains to be seen how the upcoming Optimism Upgrade will affect its price performance, but it largely depends on traders’ sentiments.
Featured image from Pixabay and chart from Tradingview.com