Proposal for Enhancing $OP Token Liquidity Across Superchains with Official and Trusted Initiatives
Executive Summary
This proposal urgently calls for the establishment of official, trusted mechanisms to improve the liquidity of the $OP governance token across the Optimism network and various superchains. As Optimism is central to enhancing Ethereum’s scalability, it is imperative to ensure $OP tokens are broadly available and accessible in a secure manner. The upcoming bull market and strategic movements by platforms like Coinbase to direct new users towards their L2 solution, Base, amplify the necessity of this initiative. Addressing this need is vital for fostering a positive user experience, securing the ecosystem, and preparing for an influx of users to superchains.
Context and Rationale
The scalability solutions provided by Optimism, through optimistic rollups, have catalyzed the growth of an ecosystem that includes significant projects like Mode and Coinbase’s Base. The constrained liquidity of $OP tokens across superchains, paired with the potential for unofficial and insecure liquidity pools, presents a substantial risk to users—especially newcomers to the blockchain space. There are already liquidity poos being created on Aerodrome that have axlOP as a pair with extremely low liquidity ($90K) and there is also the risk that malicious actors will create liquidity pools with fake $OP tokens to try and scam newer users. The anticipation of a bull market and Coinbase’s initiative to onboard new users to Base underscores the urgency to develop official and trusted liquidity solutions for $OP tokens. These steps will ensure user safety and enhance the overall user experience across the Optimism ecosystem.
Potential Solutions
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Native $OP Support on Superchains: Investigate the feasibility of natively integrating $OP tokens across superchains. This could involve foundational research and development, potentially funded by the Optimism Foundation, to explore secure, efficient mechanisms for $OP token interoperability.
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Official Bridge Partnerships: Identify and collaborate with a select number of bridge partners, such as Axelar and LayerZero, to facilitate $OP token transfers. Providing substantial liquidity to these bridges can ensure a secure, seamless experience for users moving between chains.
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Sponsorship of Official Liquidity Pools: Either directly sponsor or incentivize the creation of official liquidity pools for $OP against popular stablecoins like USDC and major assets like WETH on all L2 solutions within the Superchain ecosystem. This approach would guarantee reliable, safe access to $OP tokens for users across different platforms.
Conclusion
The need for official and trusted $OP token liquidity solutions has never been more pressing, with the anticipated bull market and strategic user onboarding initiatives by platforms like Coinbase. By prioritizing native support, official bridge partnerships, and sponsored liquidity pools, Optimism can safeguard its ecosystem, enhance user experiences, and solidify its position as a leader in scalable blockchain solutions. Implementing these strategies will prepare the Optimism ecosystem for the influx of new users, ensuring security, trust, and ease of access to $OP tokens across superchains.