Binance to support Optimism’s network upgrade

• Optimism (OP) surged after Binance announced upgrade and hard fork support

Optimism (OP) price rose by more than 5% on Dec. 27, breaking to intraday highs of $1.89.

The gains for the native token of the layer-2 blockchain network came as the community reacted to positive news. Earlier in the day, Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume, announced it would be supporting the upcoming network upgrade and hard fork of Optimism.

Binance Will Support the Optimism (OP) Network Upgrade & Hard Fork
????https://t.co/LtO3AKJmZm

— Binance (@binance) December 27, 2024

Optimism’s network ugrade and hard fork takes place on January 9, 2025 at 18:00 UTC.

“Starting at approximately 2025-01-09 17:00 (UTC), Binance will suspend the deposits and withdrawals of token(s) on the Optimism (OP) network to support its network upgrade and hard fork to ensure the best user experience,” Binance wrote in an announcement.

OP protocol upgrade

Optimism’s network upgrade is a major milestone for the project as it targets key improvements across user experience, scalability and performance. The project said in an announcement that the protocol upgrade will drive interoperability and innovation in the OP ecosystem.

Binance’s notice of support boosts the overall sentiment around Optimism. According to the exchange, users should note that despite the changes and halting of deposits and withdrawals, OP trading on the network will remain unaffected.

As Binance notes, the exchange will handle all technical requirements for the hard fork for its users. The platform also plans to reopen deposits and withdrawals as soon as the network becomes stable.

OP price reached its all-time high of $4.84 in March 2024, which means the current value is about 61% off that peak.However, upside momentum has seen OP token’s value jump 15% in the past week.