Key Takeaways

• Optimism’s OP token has been on an recovery lately.
• The Layer 2 scaling solution has seen a growth of interest after Ethereum announced its latest upgrade.
• Can OP build on this?
• One Optimism price prediction says it can reach $4.57 in two years time.

The Optimism layer 2 scaling solution and its OP token have been on an upturn lately. With Ethereum (ETH) getting ready to launch its Cancun upgrade, Optimism has seen some good price action. 

This follows on from a rise in people using the network after it started hosting the hotly-anticipated Worldcoin (WLD) privacy token, more and more people have been using the network.

Indeed, Worldcoin helped Optimism gather more traffic, with its daily transactions topping  one of its biggest rivals, Arbitrum (ARB) in late July. 

Optimism is also getting set for its latest token unlock. This will take place on September 30 and will see about $31 million worth of OP hit the market.

Optimism did not immediately respond to a request for comment

But what is Optimism (OP)? How does Optimism work? Let’s see what we can find out, and also take a look at some of the Optimism Price Predictions that were being made as of September 27 2023.

Optimism Price Prediction

Let’s examine some of the Optimism price predictions being made on September 27 2023. It is crucial to bear in mind that price forecasts, particularly for a potentially volatile asset like cryptocurrency, often turn out to be inaccurate. Additionally, please remember that many long-term crypto price predictions are generated using algorithms, which means they can change at any time.

First, CoinCodex  had a short-term Optimism price prediction which said the token would drop to $1.22 by October 2 before recovering to $1.35 by October 27. The site’s technical analysis was bearish, with 15 indicators making downbeat signals and 11 sending bullish ones. 

Optimism Price Prediction for 2023

DigitalCoinPrice  said Optimism would reach $3.12 in 2023. Bitnation  said OP would stand at $1.96, while PricePrediction.net  had it trading at $2.01 this year. 

Optimism Forecast for 2025

Bitnation said Optimism would get to $4.57 in 2025. DigitalCoinPrice was a little lower in its Optimism price forecast, with it saying it would trade at $4.52. PricePrediction.net said that OP would be worth $4.20 in two years time.

Optimism Forecast for 2030

Moving on to a more long-term Optimism price prediction, PricePrediction.net said the token would be worth $24.92. DigitalCoinPrice thought it would reach $13.33. Meanwhile, Bitnation had an OP price prediction for 2030 that saw the crypto reach $11.09 at the start of the next decade. 

Optimism price analysis

OP has struggled to reach the levels it traded at when it launched uptrend since its release in May last year. The token was sold off soon after coming out, reaching an all-time low in June 2022. It then reached a high of over $3 in February 2023.

 

Since then, though, it has fallen.

If we look at the chart above, we can see that OP has been in a bear cycle since February. In September, the price fell down to around $1.30. If it stays above that level, it could rise in a new bull cycle, which could see it reach $1.80. On the other hand, it might drop down to below $0.90. 

OP Price History

Now, let’s take a look at the Optimism price history . While we should never take past performance as an indicator of future results, knowing what the token has achieved can provide us with some very useful context if we want to make or interpret an Optimism price prediction.

When OP first launched via an airdrop on May 31 2022, it was worth $4.56. Crypto traders thought that this price was, perhaps ironically, optimistic, and the price dropped. The problems were exacerbated when the Celsius crypto lending platform canceled withdrawals and, on 18 June 2022, OP reached an all-time low of $0.4005. 

There was some recovery throughout the rest of the year. It broke past $1 in late July and it hovered around the dollar. OP closed the year at $0.9172.

Optimism in 2023

2023 has been, overall, a better year for crypto so far, but that does not mean that there have not been any challenges. Optimism broke past the dollar in January and reached a high of $3.26 on February 24. This was the highest OP had traded at since the day it launched.

Following that OP dropped down. It suffered in the aftermath of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) suing the Binance and Coinbase crypto exchanges. On June 10, Crypto.com announced that it was suspending its US institutional operations and OP fell to $1.05.

Since then, OP has recovered. In July, the news that a judge had ruled that Ripple’s XRP coin was not a security if it was sold on exchanges gave it a boost. With Optimism benefitting from excitement surrounding the Worldview coin, it rallied to a high of $1.81 on August 8. Although it then dropped to $1.28 on August 17, it soon recovered to about $1.55 on August 23. A further downturn saw it sink to $1.23 on September 11, there were more ups and downs before it reached about $1.30 on September 27.  

At that time, there were 798.5 million Optimism in circulation out of a total supply of 4.2 billion. This gave the token a market cap of around $1 billion, making it the 41st-largest crypto by that metric. 

Optimism price analysis

OP has struggled to reach the levels it traded at when it launched uptrend since its release in May last year. The token was sold off soon after coming out, reaching an all-time low in June 2022. It then reached a high of over $3 in February 2023.

Recent Updates from Optimism

Optimism has seen some pretty notable developments recently. Firstly, the announcement that Worldcoin would be based on the platform saw an upturn of interest. Not only that, but Ethereum’s recent announcement of its Cancun update meant that more people took an interest in layer 2 platforms.

More OP should be arriving on the open market at the very end of September.

Is Optimism a Good Investment?

It is hard to say. On one hand, OP appears to be in something of a bull cycle at the moment. The token has risen considerably over the last six weeks or so. The news that the platform has, at various points this year, enjoyed more daily transactions and cheaper fees than Arbitrum will also encourage investors. 

On the other hand, we don’t know whether Optimism will be able to build on recent, Worldcoin-related, growth. There is also the elephant in the room. Ethereum has run on a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism since September last year, so we have to wonder whether the era of layer 2 scaling solutions is coming to an end. 

As ever with crypto, you will need to make sure you do your own research before deciding whether or not to invest in OP.

Will Optimism go up or down?

No one can really tell right now. While the Optimism crypto price predictions are largely positive, price predictions have a well-earned reputation for being wrong. Keep in mind, too, that prices can, and do, go down as well as up. 

Should I invest in Optimism?

Before you decide whether or not to invest in Optimism, you will have to do your own research, not only on OP, but on other, related, coins and tokens such as Arbitrum or Mantle (MNT). Either way, you will also need to make sure that you never invest more money than you can afford to lose.

From the Whitepaper

In its technical documentation, or whitepaper , Optimism says that it is, in effect, something called an optimistic roll-up. 

It says: “Optimism is an “Optimistic Rollup,” which is basically just a fancy way of describing a blockchain that piggy-backs off of the security of another “parent” blockchain. Specifically, Optimistic Rollups take advantage of the consensus mechanism (like Proof-of-Work or Proof-of-Stake) of their parent chain instead of providing their own. In OP Mainnet’s case this parent blockchain is Ethereum.”

Optimism (OP) Explained

Although the Ethereum blockchain is the second largest crypto platform, behind only Bitcoin (BTC), it has not been without its problems. In the past, Ethereum was notorious for slowing down when the network was busy. This cost people time and, perhaps more importantly, money.

A range of layer 2 scaling solutions, programs which take a transaction off the main blockchain, carry it out elsewhere, and put it back on the system, were founded to solve this problem. 

Optimism , proposed in 2019 by Jinglan Wang, Ben Jones, Karl Floersch and Kevin Ho and released in 2021 is one such layer 2 scaling solution.

The OP token, which came onto the open market in 2022, supports the platform.  

How Optimism Works

Optimism uses something called optimistic roll-ups to verify transactions. This means that transactions are treated as being valid, with all verifications taking place on the blockchain. 

The OP token is used to pay for transactions on the platform. Holders can also vote on changes to the Optimism protocol. It can also be bought, sold, and traded on crypto exchanges. 

Since Optimism is based on Ethereum, it is a token, not a coin. You might see references to such things as an Optimism coin price prediction, but these are wrong. 

FAQs 

How many Optimism are there?

On August 23 2023, there were 716.7 million Optimism in circulation out of a total supply of 4.2 billion.

Will Optimism reach $10?

It might do but, if it does, that won’t happen for a little while. PricePrediction.net and Bitnation both think it will happen in 2028, while DigitalCoinPrice says OP will get there in 2029.

Keep in mind that Optimism has never traded at $10 before, with its highest price of $4.56 coming on its launch day, May 31 2022. 

What is Optimism used for?

OP token holders can vote on changes to the Optimism crypto platform. People can also buy, sell and trade OP on exchanges. 

Further reading

Moonbeam Price Prediction 2023: What is Moonbeam (GLMR)?

Terra Classic Price Prediction 2023: What is Terra Classic (LUNC)?

Kaspa Price Prediction 2023: What is Kaspa (KAS)?

Disclaimer 

Please note that the contents of this article are not financial or investing advice. The information provided in this article is the author’s opinion only and should not be considered as offering trading or investing recommendations. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, reliability and accuracy of this information. The cryptocurrency market suffers from high volatility and occasional arbitrary movements. Any investor, trader, or regular crypto users should research multiple viewpoints and be familiar with all local regulations before committing to an investment.