Optimism Foundation, the organization responsible for the Ethereum layer-2 blockchain Optimism, has announced a private sale of approximately 19.5 million of its governance tokens. At the current market value of $4.62 per token, the total worth of the tokens sold amounts to around $90 million. However, the foundation has stated that there is a two-year vesting period in place, preventing the buyer from selling the tokens before the specified time.
During the vesting period, the Optimism Foundation has emphasized that the buyer can still utilize the tokens for governance participation. The foundation clarified that these tokens are from the “unallocated portion of the OP token treasury” and are part of the organization’s original working budget, which accounts for 30% of the initial OP token supply.
The foundation has informed the community that the OP tokens will be distributed in multiple transactions over the next few days. Optimism has reassured the community that these transactions were planned and are likely the tokens sold in the private sale.
As the transaction was conducted privately, Optimism did not disclose any details about the sale or the buyer. This has sparked discussions within the community, with some expressing concerns about the lack of transparency, while others have defended the foundation, stating that the team behind Optimism also needs to sustain themselves.
This is not the first time Optimism has conducted a private sale of its tokens. On September 21, 2023, the network transferred 116 million OP tokens, valued at approximately $160 million at the time, after a similar private sale. Despite initial fears that the sale would negatively impact prices, the tokens were subject to a two-year lockup, mitigating any immediate effects on the token’s price.