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A16z buys $90 million worth of Optimism’s OP tokens in private deal
Sources report that Andreessen Horowitz has invested nearly $90 million in Optimism’s OP token, affirming his commitment to Ethereum’s layer 2 solution.
THE acquisition features a two-year vesting period, a common practice for large cryptocurrency investments that often includes purchasing tokens at a discount.
Optimism has seen a surge in activity, particularly with the growing use of its OP Stack, which is instrumental to developers in creating and deploying layer 2 (L2) blockchains. In a significant development, the OP Stack was recently selected by the developers of Celo blockchain for their new L2 project.
“The optimism worked quite well. They are still doing airdrops,” a source said of a16z’s investment.
“We are thrilled with the energy and momentum that Optimism is gaining and excited for what is to come,” expressed an Optimism spokesperson.
Second CoinMarketCapthe value of OP Token was around $2.58 as of 9:45 a.m. EDT, reflecting a 10.67% increase over the past 24 hours and a 27.8% decline over the past month.
24 hour chart of OP from CoinMarketCap
The investment marks another strategic move into the cryptocurrency space for a16z, which has previously invested in major crypto entities such as Coinbase. Launching in 2023, Coinbase’s BasicThe exchange’s Ethereum layer 2 solution competes with Optimism for developers and projects within Ethereum (ET) ecosystem.
At the beginning of March 7, the Optimism Foundation disclosed the sale of approximately 19.5 million OP tokens, worth nearly $90 million at the time, to an unidentified buyer. The sale represents an allocation of 30% of OP’s original treasury towards the foundation’s operating budget.
The foundation said: “As this was a private sale, the terms and buyer cannot be disclosed.”
The terms of the sale allow the buyer to delegate their tokens to third parties, allowing participation in Optimism’s governance, although specific details remain undisclosed.