TL;DR
- Optimism DAO opened a vote to direct the Foundation to buy OP monthly using 50% of Superchain revenue, with voting ending Jan. 28.
- Supporters cite OP Stack usage by Base, Unichain, and Ink and say buybacks can run alongside emissions, helping investors model Superchain growth.
- Critics say it is a net seller and buybacks may not move price; trades will be publicly reported. Early tally: 3.8M for, 19K against.
Optimism DAO opened voting Thursday on a landmark plan to use protocol revenue for OP token buybacks, forcing delegates to pick between price support and runway discipline. If approved, the Optimism Foundation would be mandated to spend 50% of revenue generated through the Superchain buying OP every month, creating an automatic capital return program. The vote, scheduled to end on Jan. 28, has already split the delegate set. The urgency is obvious: OP is down more than 93% from its all-time high and hit an all-time low of $0.25 last month for holders.
Delegates debate buybacks, execution, and sustainability
Optimism is a major infrastructure supplier, with its OP Stack used by Coinbase’s Base, Uniswap’s Unichain, and Kraken’s Ink, yet supporters argue the token has not reflected that footprint. Backers say a predictable buyback schedule can make Superchain growth legible to markets by tying revenue expansion to recurring OP demand. Milo Bowman said buybacks can run alongside emissions even if they partially cancel out, and the “meme” matters because it lets people project outcomes if the Superchain grows 100x. PGov called it a step forward, but wants more dialogue on specifics.
OP holders should vote against this buyback proposal.
Optimism is a net seller of OP (grants, payment-in-kind, etc) and it makes little sense to spend precious hard assets and shorten runway to buy back OP while still net selling.
Also, this proposal uses an OTC desk instead… https://t.co/alrDKy5yV5
— PaperImperium (@ImperiumPaper) January 22, 2026
Critics focus on opportunity cost, internal consistency, and timing. Their central claim is that Optimism remains a net seller of OP through grants and payment-in-kind, so spending scarce hard assets on buybacks could shorten runway while barely changing net supply materially. PaperImperium, a governance liaison for GFX Labs, argued it makes little sense to buy back OP while still net selling. The skepticism is reinforced by research from Keyrock and Messari, which argues buybacks can waste funds by diverting money from marketing and growth initiatives while doing little to move token prices.
Execution is another flashpoint because the proposal calls for over-the-counter buys rather than open-market purchases. Delegates warn OTC execution may not directly lift prices and could let employees or investors offload tokens into the program as they unlock. Michael Vander Meiden raised that scenario. The Foundation replied that OTC is the simplest way to ship and said all OTC trades will be reported publicly via stats.optimism.io or the governance forum. Voting runs six days; so far delegates cast more than 3.8 million votes in favor and just over 19,000 against.
