Polygon may soon be releasing an airdrop to the community that supported the zkEVM infrastructure in the initial launch phase.
In this article, we look at how to qualify for the much-discussed airdrop.
Spoiler: in two weeks’ time, the Polygon Labs team will be talking about the evolution of its ecosystem and whether or not to introduce a new governance token, so be prepared.
Full details below.
Summary
What is Polygon zkEVM? New airdrop on the way?
Polygon zkEVM is a rollup layer 2 scaling solution that combines the security of Ethereum with the scalability of zero-knowledge technology.
Transactions made on the zk network pass through Ethereum but are confirmed off-chain to enable high transaction throughput.
EVM compatibility is one of the factors that benefits and incentivises developers to build dApps on top of this layer 2 and migrate existing platforms with little effort.
The infrastructure was launched in March 2023, but already has an LTV of USD 42 million, according to L2beat data.
The chain, developed by the Polygon Labs team, is attracting a lot of attention given the hype surrounding zk-themed projects in the web3 world.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin was the first person to make a transaction on the scaling solution, showing his support for the revolutionary technology.
Rumour has it that the Polygon Labs team will most likely create a governance token, which will also be used as a token to pay for gas fees.
This theory is supported by the fact that several venture capitalists such as Sequoia Capital, Animoca Brands and DragonFly Capital have backed the development of the chain to the tune of $451 million.
An airdrop would be the best way to reward investors and provide liquidity for early stage development.
A few days ago, the project’s official Twitter page also published the basic principles for the future of the Polygon 2.0 ecosystem and the zkEVM chain.
The blog post, which anticipated the next layer of the Internet of value to the world, marked dates where insiders will delve into some of the main topics of this transition, such as the concept of a second token for Polygon after MATIC.
During the week of 10-17 July, this will be discussed, as well as whether or not an additional token should be introduced within the future logic of Etherum Layer 2.
In addition, the co-founder of Polygon has already teased a few weeks ago that the airdrop might consist of the distribution of a portion of the MATIC tokens that are currently in the hands of the Treasury.
These are his words:
“There are no rules that preclude a substantial airdrop of an existing token.”
How to be eligible for the Polygon ZkEVM airdrop: bridge from the mainnet
New token or not, an airdrop for the Polygon zkEVM seems very likely, so let’s take a look at all the steps you can take to get ready and be eligible with your address.
As with any self-respecting airdrop strategy using layer 2 infrastructure, the first thing you need to do is bridge some funds from Ethereum’s mainnet to Polygon’s new network.
You can do this here.
Immediately after connecting your non-custodial wallet and selecting “native bridge”, you will need to choose which cryptocurrency to send to the zkEVM network.
Available tokens include ETH, DAI, USDT, USDC, MATIC.
The cost of the transaction is variable: currently $10-15 of gas fees should be enough to bridge.
If you do not want to spend a lot on fees, you can opt for a cheaper solution: there are many third-party protocols that allow you to move interoperably between compatible evm chains, such as Polygon’s ZkEVM built with the Ethereum framework.
Specifically, the advantage is that you can deposit funds starting from your preferred layer 2, such as Optimism, Arbitrum, ZkSync Era, Starknet and Loopring, effectively avoiding the high costs of the Ethereum network.
Platforms such as Orbiter Finance, Rhino.fi, LayerSwap and XY Finance are all good alternatives to native bridging that will save you a lot of ether.
However, using such third party solutions may exclude your address from receiving the Polygon ZkEVM airdrop, as you are supporting a secondary protocol rather than the carrier infrastructure itself.
The advice is to use the native bridge at least once. Sacrificing a few dollars in fees could give you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in benefits.
Anyway, you can find links to all the alternative bridges we’ve listed directly on the Polygon Zk EVM Bridge page, right next to the “native bridge” option.
Safe travels.
Other actions to be taken: providing liquidity and creating trading volumes
Of course, immediately after depositing funds on the Polygon ZkEVM network, it is time to move some volume and provide liquidity to the protocols of the Zk ecosystem, in order to be active users of the community and be rewarded with a welcome airdrop from the Polygon Labs team.
When a project decides to incentivise the community with these marketing strategies, it usually allocates a good portion of the capital to be distributed to those who move volume on the exchange platforms, precisely because it is from these operations that the infrastructure earns commissions and can become self-sustaining.
A Layer 2 network with no exchange activity is worthless as it cannot generate volume and earn fees.
Coming back to us, the best known DEXs in the ecosystem that execute transactions and generate exchange volume are Quickswap, Kokonut Swap, Antfarm and Dovish.
However, given the low volumes recorded by the smaller platforms, the advice is to only use Quickswap, which has higher historical and security standards.
The aim is to execute around 20-30 swaps in at least 3-4 different months. Obviously, the more trades you make, the more advantage you have and the higher the probability of receiving an airdrop.
At the same time, the more volume you move, the higher your allocation and therefore your final profit will be.
Finally, you will need to interact with other dapps in the Polygon zk EVM ecosystem to be able to airdrop.
While you can try out all the existing platforms, both DeFi and NFT, it is advisable to spend most of your time (and money) on providing liquidity to decentralised protocols.
The most attractive in this regard is 0vix, a lending tool on which you can already count on $900,000 in deposits and $250,000 in loans.
If you are an experienced user in the world of decentralised finance, you can also try borrowing on the platform.
All you have to do is deposit a minimum of $100 (you can choose between the ETH, MATIC, USDT and USDC cryptocurrencies) and leave it there for at least 1 month.
