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Optimism sees 343 million OP enter circulation by April 2027

Optimism sees 343 million OP enter circulation by April 2027

Optimism's latest budget outlook points to about 2.5 billion OP in circulation by April 2027, with Year 5 releases led by the Ecosystem Fund and no new allocation request.

OP

Fact Check
The primary source (gov.optimism.io Year 4/Year 5 budget post) directly confirms the ~2.504B OP (58.3%) circulating target by April 2027 and a starting circulating supply of 2,160,975,703 OP, yielding an implied ~343M inflow. It also confirms the internal discrepancy: Year 5 category estimates sum to ~272.9M, not 343M. The live official tracker reads 2,286,467,356 OP, differing from the post's 2.161B starting figure, confirming the 'unreconciled schedule' assertion. Independent outlets crypto.news and coinness corroborate the headline figures. All key elements of the claim are supported.
Summary

Optimism's latest budget outlook forecasts about 343 million OP entering circulation in Year 5, from May 2026 to April 2027, taking circulating supply to roughly 2.5 billion tokens, or 58.3% of the total capped supply of 4.295 billion OP. The Foundation said the projected releases remain within the project's original distribution framework and do not require any new token allocation. Year 5 estimates include 200 million OP from the Ecosystem Fund, 47.6 million OP for early core contributors, 15.3 million OP for investors and 10 million OP from the Governance Fund, with no airdrops or Retro Funding expected. The figures were described as directional estimates that could change based on program performance and governance input. In Year 4, commitments totaled about 150 million OP, down from 229.92 million OP in Year 3, as Retro Funding was discontinued during the period, no user airdrop took place, the Grants Council budget was reduced and the Foundation awarded fewer grants. The Foundation also said monthly transactions on OP Mainnet grew by more than 60%, while buyback mechanisms accumulated more than 9 million OP.

Terms & Concepts
  • circulating supply: The portion of a token's total supply that is unlocked and available to trade or use in the market.
  • Retro Funding: Optimism's program for rewarding public goods and ecosystem contributors after their work has already delivered value.