Transaction volumes on the Ethereum Tier-2 network Optimism fell 70 percent after the previous big increase. The drop in activity coincided with the end of an NFT incentive program called Optimism Quest. However, the altcoin price is up 150 percent in YTD.
Trading volumes on Optimism fell sharply after the rise
Transaction volumes on Optimism, a scaling solution for Ethereum, fell by 70% after a previous big spike. Daily transactions slumped to 238,000 after peaking at around 800,000 transactions per day on January 12, according to data from blockchain explorer Blockscan.
The drop in activity coincided with the end of an incentive program called Optimism Quest, which aims to increase user engagement and educate users about the Optimism Layer 2 network. According to a recent report from The Block Research, the increase in on-chain activity during Quest was said to be related to speculation about a second airdrop by the Optimism team.
Airdrop optimism for altcoin project
In April 2022, Optimism announced an airdrop with a free gift of tokens for initial users ranging from $500 to $10,000 per user. The team also talked about a second, larger airdrop, but no further details were provided. This has led to speculation among users that completing missions during the Optimism Quest program, which rewards participants with Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs), may qualify them for the airdrop.
According to on-chain data, during the four-month Quest program, 450,000 wallets minted more than 3.4 million NFTs after completing tasks involving the use of decentralized applications in the Optimism ecosystem. The program was powered by Galxe, an on-chain credential framework.
At Optimism’s closest competitor, Arbitrum, a similar NFT program called Odyssey was instrumental in increasing the amount of activity on the network, again driven by airdrop speculators. However, in Arbitrum’s case, there has been no airdrop so far. Research analyst Arnold Toh comments:
The uptrend in on-chain activity is a reminder that speculation of a potential airdrop can sometimes be used to boost on-chain activity, just as Arbitrum Odyssey led to an increase in on-chain activity for Arbitrum.
Meanwhile, despite the drop in transactions, Optimism’s native token OP has outperformed recently. According to CoinMarketCap data, the altcoin has risen nearly 150% since the start of the year. At press time, the OP is trading at $2.21, down 10% on a daily basis. The altcoin project hit an all-time high at $4.57 about 8 months ago. However, it has lost value in the bear market and currently stands at 52% below its peak.
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