Optimism Foundation Forecasts 343 Million New OP Tokens to Enter Circulation in the Next Year

Huo Xing Cai Jing reports that the Optimism Foundation has released its fifth annual budget update and outlook (May 2026 to April 2027). According to the Foundation’s projections, the circulating supply of OP will increase from the current approximately 2.161 billion to about 2.504 billion, representing 58.3% of the total supply, with approximately 343 million new OP tokens entering circulation during this period. Breakdown by category: The ecosystem fund is expected to add 200 million OP, early core contributors 47.6 million, investors 15.3 million, and the governance fund 10 million; no tokens are allocated for airdrops or Retro Funding. The Foundation stated that all tokens originate from the initial allocation framework, with no request for additional token allocations; this update is solely intended to enhance transparency. Token deployment will continue to focus on two strategic objectives: growth of the OP mainnet and acquisition of enterprise clients for OP Enterprise. Reviewing the fourth annual period, Optimism committed approximately 150 million OP in new expenditures, a reduction of about one-third compared to the third annual period. OP Enterprise launched in January 2026, with early clients including Bitpanda, Ink, Dunamu, and Ether.fi. Monthly transaction volume on the OP mainnet increased by over 60% during this period. The governance-approved 12-month buyback program allocates up to 50% of Superchain revenues toward monthly OP buybacks, with over 9 million OP already repurchased.