🔴 Optimism ($OP ) slips toward $0.25 ahead of Jan. 22 buyback vote

Optimism’s OP token changed hands around $0.30 on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, slightly up in the past 24 hours as the community edges towards a key governance vote.

But having traded to intraday highs of $0.37 last week, the token’s dip to current levels risks allowing for a pullback to all-time lows of $0.25 reached in December.

Can Optimism Foundation’s plans for a buyback program that commits Superchain revenue to monthly OP purchases bolster bulls?

​🔸 Optimism buyback details and implications

Optimism is set for a governance vote on January 22, 2026, following a proposal floated earlier this month.

The Optimism Foundation wants community approval to allocate half of the sequencer fees for open-market buybacks of OP.

💬 A proposal for the next chapter of Optimism
The Optimism Foundation is putting forward a proposal to align the OP token with growing Superchain demand by directing 50% of incoming Superchain revenue to regular OP buybacks — Optimism (@Optimism) January 8, 2026

If the vote passes, the program will start in February, with 50% of Superchain revenue flowing to Optimism. Repurchases are set to occur over the next year.

The remaining 50% funds will be allocated to ecosystem grants, maintaining flexibility.

As with other models, such as dYdX’s 75% fee buybacks, Optimism aims to buy from the market. However, the tokens go back to the OP treasury rather than direct burns.

If the latter happens, supply reduction will signal confidence in OP and Superchain’s dominance.

“With this buyback mechanism, OP transitions from a pure governance token to a token that is tightly aligned with the growth of the Superchain,” Optimism wrote at the time.

The mechanism targets every enterprise that creates a new chain on the Superchain, with these expected to add to the underlying demand for OP.

#OP | #Optimism
{spot}(OPUSDT)