Optimism's Fourth Airdrop Rewards NFT Artists with Over $40 Million
During the airdrop, users who crafted NFT art between January 10, 2023, and January 10, 2024, were considered.
Optimism, the developer behind the Ethereum Layer 2 OP Mainnet, has recently concluded its fourth airdrop, focusing on incentivizing NFT artists within the web3 community. The airdrop, which distributed over 10.3 million OP tokens, valued at approximately $40.8 million, targeted 22,998 addresses, as announced in an official release.
This initiative aimed to acknowledge and reward the contributions of artists who have been instrumental in bringing creativity onto the blockchain. Eligible recipients included individuals who had created engaging NFTs on either the Ethereum Mainnet or Optimism’s Superchain before January 10.
During the airdrop, users who crafted NFT art between January 10, 2023, and January 10, 2024, were considered. Rewards were calculated based on the amount of gas expended by other users while minting or trading their NFTs. Essentially, the popularity of the NFT projects determined the rewards for the creators. For instance, 1 ETH worth of gas on Optimism's Superchain resulted in a reward of 5,000 OP, while the same gas expenditure on the Ethereum mainnet yielded 50 OP. The maximum rewards capped at 6,000 OP per address, equivalent to about $23,640.
Bonus eligibility criteria were also established, allowing users to potentially increase their token allocations by 50% or more. These bonuses were awarded based on various factors, such as the creation date of the NFT contract, the date of NFT transfers, and the level of activity on the Superchain.
Optimism's commitment to rewarding its community through airdrops has been ongoing, with previous distributions occurring on May 31, 2022, February 8, 2023, and September 13, 2023. Notably, the third airdrop allocated 19.4 million OP tokens, valued at $26 million at the time, to nearly 32,000 addresses involved in the delegation activities of the Optimism Collective, the platform's DAO.
With approximately 560 million OP tokens remaining for future airdrops, Optimism expressed its dedication to refining this mechanism to encourage positive-sum behavior within its community.
As of February 20, the OP token was trading at $3.94, reflecting a 0.71% increase in the past 24 hours. With a circulating supply of 957.4 million and a total supply of 4.3 billion, the OP token continues to be a significant asset within the Optimism ecosystem.
