ZKSync airdropping 17.5% of ZK tokens to 695K wallets
Matter Labs' Ethereum-centric Layer 2 solution, ZKSync, is on the cusp of initiating its eagerly awaited ZK token airdrop. As detailed in the announcement made this past Tuesday, a substantial 17.5% of the ZK token's total issuance of 21 billion is slated for distribution to users starting the following week.
This upcoming ZK token airdrop positions itself as the most extensive token giveaway among leading Layer 2 protocols, earmarking close to 3.7 billion tokens for its user base. Pre-launch valuations on the perpetual market by Aevo peg the ZK token at approximately $0.66 each, elevating the airdrop's total nominal value (FDV) beyond $2.5 billion. Over at PancakeSwap, the token's value hovers around $0.7. To put things into perspective, this valuation of the imminent airdrop is triply superior to the cumulative value locked in the ZKSync Era. The current market valuation of the token stands at an estimated $14.9 billion.
Within this scheme, the project dedicates a lion's share—two-thirds of the entire ZK token stash—to its community, with an overwhelming 89% of the airdropped tokens designated for individuals who engaged with either the ZKSync Era or ZKSync Lite platforms before the snapshot on March 24. The balance of 11% is reserved for distribution amongst native projects and their communities.
To mitigate Sybil attacks, ZKSync has introduced seven distinct criteria for eligibility, which include interactions with a minimum of ten smart contracts, trading of ten ERC-20 tokens, or contributing liquidity to a DeFi protocol. The maximum airdrop allocation per wallet is fixed at 100,000 tokens. As per a communiqué from ZKSync, recipients of these tokens will gain immediate access to participate in the platform's governance mechanisms upon claiming their allocation.
Through this airdrop, ZKSync articulates its commitment to prioritizing the community over the Matter Labs team and investors, signifying this move as more than mere symbolism.
"The on-chain behavior of a wallet can divulge considerable insights into the owner's activities. Authentic users typically exhibit a higher tolerance for risk, a trait particularly poignant amongst those who perceive themselves as community members. They actively engage on-chain, dive into new ventures, transact, explore emerging protocols, and maintain speculative assets. In contrast, bots and opportunists maintain a low profile, exerting minimal effort and taking scant risks in their endeavors to assimilate and extract value from the community," according to a declaration from a ZKNation blog entry.
A minor fraction, under 0.5%, of the entire supply will also be bestowed upon various NFT and token communities. This includes enthusiasts of Crypto: The Game, holders of Pudgy Penguins and Milady Maker NFTs, and recipients of DEGEN and BONSAI airdrops.
The residue, constituting the remaining third of the ZK token supply, is poised for equitable division between the investors and the ZKSync development ensemble at Matter Labs. This tranche is expected to unfurl for three years, extending from June 2025 until 2028. Recently, Matter Labs withdrew a controversial attempt to trademark the term 'zero knowledge' following a community uproar. Moreover, the protocol’s developers have also rolled out ZKNation, heralding a new era of decentralized governance within the platform.
