Optimism Price Forecast: Could the Arbitrum airdrop send OP 12% south as market rival makes headlines?

Optimism price (OP) has been moving horizontally within a fixed supplier congestion zone and could break out soon. The expected trajectory for OP comes amid an alt season with rival Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) token Arbitrum holding its airdrop event. If event-related hype stirs things in the OP market, the altcoin could finally make the much-awaited run.

Optimism price could dip 12% amid Arbitrum-related hype

Optimism price could respond to the hype around Arbitrum’s ARB token airdrop, causing it to lose more value and record losses for investors. The expected directional bias comes as the two tokens are key players and tight competitors as the largest L2s using Optimistic roll-up technology to scale Ethereum. 

Investor interest around Arbitrum’s new milestone could inspire an increase in selling pressure in the OP market as investors opt to switch to ARB. Such interest would come, presumably, because of the ‘Coinbase effect’, where token listing causes a bigger price pop for ARB.  Traders looking to take advantage of the expected rally in the Arbitrum market would sell their OP positions in favor of ARB, causing Optimism price drop.

In such a move, Optimism price could shatter below the immediate support at $2.428. Such a move could send the altcoin to a cliff, with the next shed expected around the 2.288 support level.

Optimism price could plunge further in extreme cases, tagging the March lows around $2.150. Such a move would denote a 12.83% drop from current levels.

OP/USDT 4-hour chart

Conversely, if the hype around the Arbitrum airdrop draws investors towards L2 tokens, this could inspire a northbound move. In this regard, the Optimism price could rise above the immediate psychological resistance around $2.532.

If bullish momentum increases above this level, the token could shatter the resistance confluence between the horizontal and the downtrend lines at $2.613. Breaching past this supplier congestion zone could lay out the path for the altcoin to rally north toward the psychological resistance level at $2.910.

Optimism price could recover the February highs around the $3.020 resistance level in highly bullish cases. Such a move would constitute a 23.01% ascent from current levels.