Optimism price rises 6% after 24.16 million OP tokens unlocked with investors

• Optimism price is up 6% after the July 30 event, where 24.16 million tokens were unlocked.

• The rally follows strong buyer influx of 93.47K addresses that bought 655.56 million OP tokens at an average price of $1.49.

• The move could be attributed to spot traders who bought the L2 token in anticipation of immediate delivery.

Optimism (OP) price is trading with a bullish bias, a rather unusual occurrence given the increased token supply in the ecosystem. It comes after a token unlocks event a few hours following this publication, where 3.56% of the total supply was unleashed into the market.

Optimism price surges post-token unlocks

The Optimism (OP) coin recorded an upward trend, increasing in value by 6.23% on a day that witnessed the Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) token surpassing the resistance level provided by the 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $1.554. This price increase started on July 27, preceding the token's unlocking event. Many traders engaged in the popular “buy the rumor, sell the news” strategy.

On the morning of July 30, the Optimism network introduced an additional 24.16 million tokens to the total supply. This represents 3.56% of all available tokens. Quite often, a coin's value will experience a downward swing following an event as retail traders take advantage of the “sell the news” tactic. However, in other scenarios, traders seize the opportunity to purchase coins at low prices in order to expand their portfolios. This behavior can help explain the recent uptick in Optimism's price and is largely due to the actions of spot traders.

Spot traders leverage the characteristic ability of spot markets to allow for asset purchases with immediate delivery. This means a trader can buy an asset with their own money and wait for the price to rise. It differs from futures markets, where a trader does not own the underlying asset. While futures trading lets a trader make money in the short term, spot trading is better suited for longer-term traders.

It appears traders are buying OP at a low price in anticipation of their value increasing before selling them. A big move could be imminent for Optimism price.

Optimism price forecast

Optimism (OP) price is $1.589 at press time, with a growing 24-hour trading volume of +30% at press time, suggesting increasing interest for the token. With both momentum indicators heading north, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and the Awesome Oscillators (AO), Op could rally further, potentially breaching the immediate barricade at $1.658 to record a new range high.

OP/USDT 12-hour chart

Data from IntoTheBlocks Global In/Out of the Money (GIOM) shows that Optimism price has robust support downward, offered by 93.47K investors who bought 655.56 million OP tokens at an average price of $1.49. As this price marked the July 29 low, this cohort of investors is already in profit, with more to come if the rally continues.

OP GIOM

Conversely, if the investors succumb to their profit appetite, Optimism price could be rejected from the $1.658 resistance level, as it has happened almost four times before since July 14.

Such a move could see Optimism price flip back below the foothold of the 200-EMA and expose it to a possible retest of the support confluence between the 50- and 100-day EMA at $1.446. Such a move would constitute a 10$% slump.