Optimism Governance Vote Sparks Controversy: 5.469 Million OP Tokens Redirected from User Airdrop to Ecosystem Fund

According to CoinDesk, a governance proposal in the Optimism community has passed, reallocating 546.9 million OP tokens originally earmarked for user airdrops to the "Strategic Ecosystem Fund" managed by the Optimism Foundation, sparking discussions within the community about governance transparency and user rights. The proposal involves OP tokens accounting for approximately 12.7% of the total supply, valued at around $49.7 million at current prices.

The Optimism Foundation stated that as the ecosystem strategy shifts toward institutional adoption and enterprise partnerships, large-scale user airdrops no longer fully align with the current development direction, and unused tokens can be used for ecosystem incentives, partnership building, and enterprise-level project expansion. The vote ultimately passed with 17.974 million OP in favor and 10.931 million OP against.

The key turning point occurred 16 minutes and 52 seconds before the vote ended, when the Optimism ecosystem core development team Test in Prod (delegate.testinprod-io.eth) cast 8.486 million OP votes in favor, raising the approval ratio from 45.77% to 61.84%, ultimately pushing the proposal through.

Excluding Test in Prod's vote, the proposal's support rate would have been only 46.47%, failing to pass, and the related tokens would have remained in the user allocation pool. The Optimism Foundation previously committed to disclosing cumulative fund usage and related outcomes through annual budget reports. This vote has also reignited discussions about the influence of "large delegated voting power" in DAO governance and the balance of token holder rights.