The primary developer of the layer-2 network ZKsync period, Matter Labs, has formally revealed the requirements for its eagerly anticipated ZK token airdrop. In accordance with the strategy unveiled on Tuesday, users will start receiving 17.5% of ZK’s 21 billion total token supply via airdrop starting “next week.”
Similar to other layer-2 networks, ZKsync Era markets itself as an inexpensive and efficient means of sending Ethereum transactions. With just less than 3.7 billion tokens flowing to consumers, Matter Labs claims that the ZK airdrop would be the “largest distribution of tokens to users amongst major L2s.”
The fully diluted value (FDV) of the airdrop would be above $2.5 billion according on pre-market prices from Aevo, a cryptocurrency perpetuals exchange that currently values ZK at $.66. This is almost quadruple the current total value locked (TVL) of $815 million for ZKsync Era.
As per the distribution plan, ZKsync users—defined as everyone who has transacted on ZKsync and fulfilled a specified activity criteria—will receive 89% of the airdrop (a precise threshold was not supplied). The remaining 11% will be distributed to ecosystem participants, including as builders (2.4%), on-chain communities (2.8%), and zkSync native projects (5.8%).
The airdrop news comes as Matter Labs continues to receive backlash from its layer-2 peers over its decision to trademark the term “ZK,” which is shorthand for “zero-knowledge” cryptography, the core technology underlying ZKsync and a plethora of other blockchain projects. After criticism from the crypto community, Matter Labs withdrew its trademark application, which it originally said it pursued to protect its users from similarly-named projects and token tickers.
:format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/coindesk/BN5WOEQGFJE2PJF2AKDVBIW5ZI.png?w=1170&ssl=1)
According to Matter Labs, the airdrop will cap the total number of tokens that any particular address can get at 100,000. Matter Labs stated in a news release obtained by CoinBrit that “by capping whales, the ZK airdrop fairly rewards community members that contribute to ZKsync in different ways.” (“Whales” is the cryptocurrency jargon for exceptionally wealthy traders.)
The team also disclosed that investors in Matter Labs will receive 17.2% of ZK tokens, while staff members will receive 16.1%. After a year of lockdown, those tokens will be freed throughout the next three years.
As part of its new governance plans announced on Monday, ZKsync’s new “Token Assembly” would receive 29.3% of the remaining token supply, with the remaining 19.9% going to other Ecosystem Initiatives.
:format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/coindesk/YLUGEOHNOZE7HLKKP7BLRUSDT4.png?resize=811%2C454&ssl=1)
“Awarding more tokens in the airdrop than to the Matter Labs team and investors is more than a symbolic decision for the community,” Matter Labs wrote in a statement shared with CoinBrit. “When the ZKsync governance system launches in the coming weeks, the community will have the largest supply of liquid tokens to direct protocol governance upgrades.”
Airdrop politics
The airdrop follows a series of other airdrops, like those from StarkNet and EigenLayer, which outraged some users who expected to receive larger allotments of tokens. In the case of EigenLayer, in particular, some users took issue with the team’s decision to strictly bar airdrop claimants from the U.S. and a long list of other countries.
“We have put a lot of thought into the design of the airdrop,” Alex Gluchowski, the CEO of Matter Labs, told CoinBrit in an interview. “No matter what you do, some people are going to be disappointed, but we have looked into others,” he said.
Among the “key pillars” Gluchowski’s team used to inform its distribution plan, “number one” was to “prioritize community heavily,” said the Matter Labs CEO.
Gluchowksi mentioned in the interview that “certain jurisdictions are excluded because they are either banned by sanctioned regimes or are just not welcome, unfortunately for crypto projects doing airdrops, so we have to be compliant and respect those laws.” He did not specify what countries would be allowed to claim tokens, and he didn’t say what methods ZKsync would use to enforce its region restrictions.
ZK drama
The announcement of the airdrop requirements comes after Matter Labs ran afoul of rivals Polygon and Starkware over its attempts to trademark the term “ZK.” Considering how many teams in the Ethereum ecosystem use ZK technology and the moniker ZK, the trademark application was interpreted as Matter Labs’ attempt to take control of a “public good.”
When Gluchowski spoke with CoinDesk this week, he was defiant.
Gluchowski claimed, seemingly making reference to Starkware, that “the guys who have accused us filed “STARK” as a trademark. (Starkware co-founder Eli Ben-Sasson invented the “STARK,” a kind of zero-knowledge proof that is currently widely used by Ethereum layer-2 teams.)
“I mean, what are we discussing? Everybody has trademarks registered for their goods, tokens, or other purposes,” Gluchowski went on.
However, Gluchowski clarified that they choose to rescind their trademark application after hearing feedback from the community. He said to CoinBrit, “We did not want to give the slightest impression that we are trying to manipulate the system to our advantage.”
