Optimism Continues to Sell 19.5 Million OP Tokens to Private Investors

On the evening of March 7th, Optimism announced its plan to sell OP tokens to private investors, a move that quickly sparked mixed reactions within the community.

Optimism continues to sell 19.5 million OP tokens to private investors

The latest update shared with the community by Optimism on the evening of March 7th details the sale of 19.5 million OP tokens to investors (with the detailed list yet to be disclosed) with a lock-up period of 2 years. Investors under this arrangement may Delegate voting rights to third parties.

Optimism's announcement also emphasized that the funds for this token sale come from the "unallocated" portion of the Foundation's fund and constitute part of the 30% of tokens initially issued into the market.

Optimism also tweeted that on-chain transactions involving significant volumes are expected to revolve around this agreement.

This recent move marks the second time Optimism has publicly announced a private token sale. The first private token sale occurred in September 2023, involving 160 million OP tokens (approximately $162 million at that time).

Optimism's decision to initiate this token sale has faced criticism from some investment communities. Main criticisms primarily revolve around the lack of transparency regarding the list of token buyers.

"I love Optimism and what they're building (and I'm an angel investor in them) but private sales with zero transparency like this just leave a really bad taste in my mouth." - @sassal0x, March 8, 2024

In the past, issues surrounding transparency to investors have occasionally put Optimism under scrutiny. Notably in August 2022, a token transfer from Optimism's multisig wallet raised concerns within the community about potential hacking risks. The team swiftly posted notifications to reassure users and investors alike.