Bankless: 10 Hot Potential Airdrop Opportunities Not to Be Missed Next

Author: Jack Inabinet, Bankless analyst; translation: Jinse Finance xiaozou

1**、**zkSync

Confidence: High Domain: L2

Introduction:

Era, the latest iteration of zkSync's L2, is a general-purpose rollup whose goal is not only to increase the throughput of Ethereum and reduce transaction fees, but also to fully preserve the basic values of freedom, autonomy, and large-scale decentralization of the blockchain.

Unlike Polygon zkEVM, which publishes all transaction inputs, zkSync only publishes state differences to Ethereum, theoretically reducing costs by further compressing data and reducing storage costs. Account abstraction is a native feature of zkSync Era, opening the door to a host of cold wallet features, such as gas-free transactions and flexible security rules.

Reason for concern:

Matter Labs chief product officer told CoinDesk that while zkSync may be one of the latest zero-knowledge rollups to plan to release tokens, two-thirds of the distributed tokens will go to the zkSync ecosystem, meaning the airdrop could be of great interest It means a lot to early adopters.

It is unclear how or to whom the money will be distributed, but we expect airdrops to distribute most of the tokens. Failure to do so would break L2's precedent and could cause irreparable harm to the relationship between zkSync and its community.

2**、**LayerZero

Confidence: Medium Field: Infrastructure

Introduction:

LayerZero is a chain-wide interoperability protocol that enables developers to securely send any type of data across blockchains.

The protocol is designed to enable all types of trustless direct transactions between chains, and its general messaging technology allows LayerZero to be a building block for various cross-chain use cases, whether it is cross-chain governance or NFT market applications. From a simplified on-chain user experience to reducing liquidity fragmentation, the implications of further development and adoption of universal messaging technologies are manifold.

Reason for concern:

While LayerZero doesn't directly mention the possibility of issuing a governance token in its documentation, there are clear indications that the token can be seen in LayerZero's protocol code, with multiple references to the ZRO token and its inclusion in the protocol. Potential payment usage in Github repository.

A partial distribution mechanism in the form of an airdrop has not been confirmed, but we believe it may be used. There is currently no precedent for a messaging protocol airdropping a token, but the LZO airdrop could help attract more attention and initiate further liquidity for the LayerZero ecosystem, creating a similar network effect to the L2 airdrop.

3**、**Line

Confidence: High Domain: L2

Introduction:

Linea is the next-generation ConsenSys zkEVM, designed to serve the next generation of dApps built on Ethereum while providing developers with a low-fee and scalable blockchain.

The L2 is designed to be as developer-friendly as possible, providing out-of-the-box support for popular tools such as MetaMask and Truffle. Linea's unique prover design ensures faster transactions and lower gas costs without compromising security.

Reason for concern:

In May 2023, Linea announced the start of a 9-week Voyage campaign, similar to Arbitrum's Odyssey. Users can accumulate points by completing Galxe tasks, and top testers can get the right to cast unique NFTs at the peak of Voyage!

NFTs of early-stage projects are often used as the basis for identifying the most loyal users of the protocol. While you can no longer earn these early NFTs, Linea's use of NFTs as rewards for top Voyage participants indicates that it may have an airdrop in the future. It is likely that NFT holders will be eligible for a large distribution, but we also suspect that early adopters of this L2 will also have the opportunity to receive a free LINEA bag.

4**、**Swell

Confidence: High Domain: Liquidity Staking

Introduction:

Swell is a permissionless, non-custodial liquid staking solution running on Ethereum that connects node operators with end users (stakers). The protocol returns 95% of rewards to stakers and 5% to node operators, but at some point in the future, will have the ability to slash the Swell DAO treasury.

By lowering the entry barrier for staking and building a network of high-performance node operators to maximize staking returns, Swell hopes to create a safer, more transparent, and more decentralized financial future.

Reason for concern:

On April 28, Swell announced a series of developments, including time-limited zero-fee staking and the launch of decentralized Voyage, where early users can exchange pearls (pearls) by completing pre-specified tasks (such as minting swETH and providing liquidity). Collecting pearls will qualify you for airdrops!

“Each pearl represents a portion of the SWELL airdrop, which will ultimately provide holders with governance tokens at the end of the wave,” said Swell.

5**、**Base

Confidence: Low Domain: L2

Introduction:

Base is L2 built by the Coinbase team on the open source OP Stack, which means it inherits the security of Ethereum while providing users with faster transaction speed and lower transaction costs than the main network. The Base chain was flooded with meme coins early on, but Base is expected to eventually serve as a service hub for various Coinbase-proprietary dApps, helping the exchange's 110 million authenticated users access Web3.

Reason for concern:

While Coinbase has made it clear that they currently have no plans to issue network tokens, future regulatory clarity on token airdrops may clear the way for BASE tokens. While there is currently no airdrop program, you can still qualify yourself for an airdrop.

6**、**OwnLayer

Confidence: Midfield: Repledging

Introduction:

EigenLayer brings an innovative cryptoeconomic security primitive to Ethereum - restaking! There are two ways to restake with EigenLayer. Easily restake whitelisted liquid staking derivatives (rETH, stETH, and cbETH) with EigenLayer, or spin up an EigenPod to run your own validators while restaking.

Staked ETH can be re-staked to secure a wider range of applications and earn additional rewards. EigenLayer will create a marketplace for the security of these applications and increase capital efficiency by allowing multiple applications to be secured simultaneously with one source of funding!

Reason for concern:

We’ve seen a lot of protocols distribute huge percentages of tokens to their earliest users before, and with EigenLayer just launching on mainnet, now is an excellent time to take the first steps to maximize the value of EigenLayer’s airstakes! While EigenLayer has yet to confirm whether it will issue a token, the eventual decentralization of the protocol’s governance controls will be critical to its success. By choosing to distribute tokens back to the community via an airdrop, EigenLayer will further align with Ethereum's values, helping to build support in a community that is deeply concerned about the potential risks of rehypothecation.

7**、**Starknet

Confidence: High Domain: L2

Introduction:

Starknet is a permissionless decentralized Validity-Rollup (commonly known as zkRollup). It operates as an L2 network on Ethereum, enabling any dApp to achieve unlimited computational scale without compromising the composability and security of Ethereum. Ethereum and most smart contracts on L2 are written in Solidity, but Starknet uses Cairo, a Turing-complete programming language designed for STARK proofs.

Reason for concern:

The Starknet team confirmed the details of its token economics in a July 2022 Medium post, revealing that 8.1% of the token supply has yet to be allocated. These tokens will be used to "further support the Starknet community in a community-determined manner," and will likely be distributed in part to early Starknet participants via an airdrop. Failure to do so breaks the L2 precedent set by protocols like Arbitrum and Optimism.

8**、**Polygon zkEVM

Confidence: Mid Field: L2

Introduction:

Polygon zkEVM is the EVM equivalent zero-knowledge rollup. It is different from the Polygon Proof of Stake chain, which will undergo a major zkEVM validium upgrade and will continue to rely on the MATIC validator set for data availability. In contrast, Polygon zkEVM, like other rollups, relies on Ethereum L1 for data availability.

Reason for concern:

While many initially believed that Polygon zkEVM would not airdrop tokens to early adopters, given the existence of MATIC, founder Sandeep Nailwal hinted at a possibility. In a tweet, Nailwal suggested that tokens could be airdropped to early adopters of the Polygon zkEVM, noting that “is there no rule that existing tokens cannot be airdropped at scale?”

On July 12th, Polygon launched Polygon 2.0 and announced the transition of the governance token from MATIC to POL. In addition to various technical upgrades, the POL white paper also states that the distribution of tokens will go directly to the community treasury. If the POL community wishes to incentivize the use of the Polygon zkEVM, an airdrop may be the best way to do it.

9**、**MetaMask

Confidence: Middle field: Wallet

Introduction:

MetaMask is the leading Ethereum self-custodial wallet solution developed by Consensys, with browser and mobile integration. Through MetaMask's in-app exchange function, users can easily send orders between DEXs, aggregation platforms and market makers to get the best fill price possible; through MetaMask Portfolio, users can access an intuitive interface, one-stop tracking, Buy, exchange, bridge and invest in digital assets.

Reason for concern:

While some airdrop pundits have long proclaimed that a MetaMask airdrop is imminent, Consensys has given no indication that a MetaMask token will be issued.

Having said that, if Consensys goes the token route, early adopters may get airdrops. Using MetaMask today has the potential to translate into free shares of one of the most widely used crypto products.

10**、**Silver

Confidence: High Domain: Wallets

Introduction:

Argent is a wallet provider with a range of products for zkSync Era (Argent), Ethereum (Argent Vault) and Starknet (Argent X), allowing users to create non-custodial wallets without seed phrases using the guardian account concept. Argent can be downloaded on iOS or Android, and Argent X is a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox.

Reason for concern:

On May 2, Argent announced the launch of the Starknet Xplorer event. The deadline for claiming NFTs has passed, and a total of 8 NFTs will be issued.

The project team has previously used NFTs distributed to early ecosystem participants as the basis for future airdrop distributions, and it looks like the Argent team may follow a similar route. While you can no longer get NFTs of these early ecosystem participants, their existence bodes well for possible Argent airdrops in the future.