Breaking ZKSync Shakes Up Crypto Community with 17.5% Token Airdrop

ZKSync has announced the distribution of 17.5% of its ZK token supply through an airdrop. This marks a pivotal step in engaging its community in the protocol’s future development. 

ZKSync, an Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution, enhances scalability and reduces transaction costs using zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs. 

Users Complain Not Being Eligible For ZK Airdrop

The ZK token facilitates network fee payments and allows community voting on protocol upgrades. Moreover, it enables token holders to engage directly with the ZKsync governance system . 

This system is crucial as it permits protocol enhancements such as staking and other functionalities, emphasizing the community’s role in steering ZKsync’s evolution.

“A 17.5% airdrop to 695,232 wallets is the largest distribution of tokens to users amongst major rollups. Airdropped tokens do not have any vesting or lock up periods, and are fully liquid on day one. This amount is larger than the locked allocations for the Matter Labs team (16.1%) and its investors (17.2%),” ZKSync’s Community Blog mentioned .

Read more: Best Upcoming Airdrops in 2024

The strategy behind the distribution aims to empower real, active users within the ZKsync community. Unlike typical airdrops prioritizing sheer wallet numbers, ZKsync’s approach focuses on rewarding those who have interacted with the platform. 

This includes transactions and participation in new decentralized applications (dApps) and DeFi protocols on ZKsync.

However, the airdrop has sparked some controversy. Some users claim that they are not eligible despite using only one wallet.

“How tf am I not eligible? I’m in tears seriously.. been using only one wallet, checked out and used different protocols. Ah, just so dissapointing,” ZKSync community member Ahrlien said .

To counteract the dominance of large stakeholders or “crypto whales,” ZKSync has implemented a cap, limiting allocations to a maximum of 100,000 tokens per address. This cap ensures a more equitable distribution, allowing a broader section of the community to benefit from and contribute to ZKsync’s growth.

Eligibility for the airdrop is divided into two categories – 89% of the tokens are reserved for users who have met specific activity thresholds on ZKsync. The remaining 11% is allocated to contributors who have supported the ecosystem through development, advocacy, or education.

Read more: What Is zkSync?

Community members can check their eligibility now. The claim period opens next week and extends until January 3, 2025. There are also special provisions for GitHub developers and discussion helpers associated with ZKSync.