The layer two (L2) Ethereum scaling project Optimism has announced the launch of Optimism Collective, “a large-scale experiment in digital democratic governance” managed by the newly created Optimism Foundation. In addition to the governance collective, the plan is to launch a token called “OP” that aims to “govern protocol upgrades and project incentives.”
Ethereum Scaling project to launch the Optimism collective system
On Tuesday, Optimism announced the launch of a governance system called Optimism Collective. Optimism is an L2 scaling solution that leverages zk rollups so users can quickly transact with Ethereum profitably. The collective was launched by the newly created Optimism Foundation and will be “governed equally by two houses,” the team’s blog announcement details. In a Twitter thread on Tuesday, the official Optimism account said:
The Optimism Collective will be governed co-equally by two houses — Citizens’ House and the Token House. Together, they will drive rapid, sustainable growth in Optimism, Ethereum, and the new internet. The Citizens’ House will govern public goods funding, creating a flywheel of protocol development.
The Optimism blog post notes that Citizens House citizenship will be a non-transferable non-fungible token (NFT) asset. “Citizens House will keep the network in check against plutocratic capture,” the Optimism Twitter thread added. Next, the Token House will incorporate a token called “OP”. Additionally, the Optimism team hinted at a number of airdrops.
“It governs protocol upgrades, project incentives, and more. It drives growth — There’s not just one airdrop. There will be *many* airdrops,” Optimism’s Twitter account said on Tuesday. Optimism also published how the airdrop will be distributed and eligibility details. The purpose of the new collective is to “produce strong public goods infrastructure for OP, increasing the utility of the L2, and creating a useful economy to build on,” the team explained.
The initial airdrop will “come in Q2” and the newly created foundation will be led by two of Optimism’s founders. “Airdrop #1 is coming in Q2 and hasn’t happened yet – anything claiming you can get OP today is a scam,” the Optimism Twitter account pointed out. According to the Optimism team, more than 250,000 addresses are eligible for the initial airdrop.
