ZKsync Set to Airdrop 3.675 Billion ZK Tokens to Early Adopters and Contributors
The ZKsync Association is preparing to distribute 3.675 billion ZK tokens to early users and adopters of the Ethereum Layer 2 network, ZKsync, next week. This distribution constitutes 17.5% of the total ZK token supply, which amounts to 21 billion tokens. The airdrop is a one-time event, with users eligible to claim their tokens starting next week and continuing until January 3, 2025. Contributors can begin claiming their tokens on June 24.
In addition to the airdrop, 49.1% of the token supply will be allocated through ecosystem initiatives, 17.2% to investors, and 16.1% to the Matter Labs team. The ZKsync Association emphasized that allocating more tokens to the community than to the Matter Labs team and investors is a significant gesture, reflecting the community’s pivotal role. When the ZKsync governance system launches soon, the community will have the majority of liquid tokens to guide protocol governance upgrades. A total of 695,232 wallets have been shortlisted for the airdrop, based on activity snapshots from ZKsync Era and ZKsync Lite taken on March 24, 2024, the one-year anniversary of the ZKsync Era mainnet launch.
The airdrop's 17.5% share is divided into two groups: users (89%) and contributors (11%). Users are those who have actively transacted on ZKsync, meeting specific activity thresholds. Contributors include individuals, developers, researchers, communities, and companies that have significantly contributed to the ZKsync ecosystem through various means, regardless of their network activity. The remaining community allocation will be distributed over time through ecosystem initiatives managed by the ZKsync Foundation and the ZK Nation governance process to support ongoing ecosystem growth as new users join the network.
A small fraction of the supply, less than half a percent, is reserved for experimental communities. This includes wallets involved in the Degen and Bonsai airdrops, related to activities on decentralized social networks Farcaster and Lens, as well as participants in Crypto the Game and NFT projects like Pudgy Penguins and Milady Maker. The rest of the supply is designated for investors and the Matter Labs team, with their tokens locked for the first year and then gradually unlocked over three years from June 2025 to June 2028.
The community airdrop is based on a points system, where wallets earned points for actions such as interacting with smart contracts, depositing liquidity into DeFi protocols, and trading ERC-20 tokens. Additional points were awarded for activity on ZKsync Lite, including donations to a Gitcoin round and transacting over multiple months before the ZKsync Era mainnet launch. Allocations were adjusted based on assets bridged to ZKsync Era, with minimum and maximum token thresholds ensuring a fair distribution. Addresses with fewer than 450 ZK tokens or more than 100,000 ZK tokens had their allocations adjusted, leading to a minimum allocation of 917 ZK tokens per wallet.
The airdropped tokens will be fully liquid from day one, with no vesting or lock-up periods. Alex Gluchowski, founder and CEO of Matter Labs, emphasized that this airdrop aims to encourage active community participation in governance. He noted that if recipients choose not to engage, it’s better for the tokens to go to those who are genuinely invested in the protocol’s future. The cap of 100,000 tokens per address ensures a community-first approach, prioritizing individual contributors over large investors. Gluchowski acknowledged that while some bots might slip through, the design aims to prioritize genuine human participants, reinforcing ZKsync's commitment to its community.