Airdrop Hunt [ 1/n] — zkSync — ZigZag
My take on Airdrop Hunting
I’m always on the hunt for new blockchain projects, especially in the DeFi and Bridge space. More often than not, these new projects reward their early users with airdrops when (or if) they launch a token — think UNI and DYDX, two recent high-value airdrops. This in turn incentivizes curious users to research and test new protocols, both with the hope of discovering a useful tool and of being rewarded in the future. For me, Airdrop Hunting is a fun way to discover new protocols. I put in a little effort (and money) to learn how they work and how to use them.
In this short series, I’ll show you the most promising projects I’ve found in terms of airdrop possibilities and value proposition. I suggest you take this as an introduction to areas you’re not necessarily familiar with: Layers (0, 1, 2…n), DeFi protocols, Bridges, Wallets, Portfolio tracking and so on.
Disclaimer
In no way do I claim that the projects covered in this article will airdrop tokens at some point in the future. You should approach Airdrop Hunting as a game; a way to learn and become a savvy user of blockchain technology. Always take time to do your own research about the projects covered here and to assess how confident you are about signing transactions from your crypto wallet. By the way, it might be a good idea to generate a new wallet to dedicate to these hunts. Keep the funds on it to a minimum and learn how to revoke token spending permissions so that the protocols you interact with can’t harm your wallet.
zkSync
- Niche: L2, ZK-Rollups.
- Difficulty: easy.
- Cost: $.
TLDR — Bridge some ETH/ERC Tokens to L2
zkSync is a Layer 2 scaling solution on Ethereum by Matter Labs. Look up ZK-Rollup to learn more about Zero-Knowledge proofs and how they compare to other solutions chosen to scale up the Ethereum network.
The team explicitly announced there will be a token and the wallet is up and running on mainnet.
The play here is quite easy: bridge some ETH or ERC tokens like USDC/USDT (choose from the 100+ available) from Ethereum to zkSync.
- Go to the zkSync online wallet bridge at https://wallet.zksync.io/account, connect your MetaMask and click on “Add Funds”.
- Choose the token you want to deposit from your wallet and the amount and then click on “Add Funds”. The deposit is usually quite fast, it takes less than a minute.
Once your funds are bridged to zkSync, you can transfer them to another wallet and enjoy the ridiculously low fees (less than 20 cents for ETH in April 2022) or withdraw them back to L1 (the Ethereum network). The withdrawal transaction costs between $10 and $20 depending on the Ethereum network fees and takes between 10 minutes and 7 hours, depending on the zkSync usage. The more it is used, the less time the transfer takes because rollups happen more often then.
But now that you have some funds on zkSync, why not try some dAPPs (decentralized Applications) like…
ZigZag Exchange
- Niche: DEX, L2, ZK-Rollups
- Difficulty: medium.
- Cost: from $ to $$$.
TLDR — Trade on the DEX
ZigZag is a DEX (Decentralized Exchange) built on ZK-Rollups, this means once your funds are on zkSync, you can enjoy very low fees on ZigZag compared to L1 DEXes. Think $0.20–0.80 per trade instead of $10–100!
For those familiar with CEXes (Centralized Exchanges), ZigZag feels similar. You can see the order book and place limit orders — although only one at once at the time of writing.
The play here is to simply connect a wallet which has some zkSync funds on it and make a few trades.
Hint — ZigZag wrote an article comparing 7 exchange coins. This is their conclusion:
If you’re going to take inspiration from one exchange coin in 2022, the example of DYDX might offer this as a lesson: incentivize the early traders and market makers; give them reason to stick around; add a dash of inflation to encourage a search for yield (which, in turn, produces DAO participation); and take care of the rest offline. [Ref]
I believe the ZigZag team makes it clear they like the dYdX reward method. The airdrop, if there is one, should be proportional to the amount traded (and thus the fees spent).
Tip jar
If you found that article useful, you can leave me a tip here (ERC, Polygon, BSC, Avalanche…) Thank you!
0x5335bf025237742Aa5623f467a14886087610d19
Disclaimer
The content in this article is for informational purposes only. Nothing in this article constitutes professional and/or financial advice. Always do your own research before investing in any project.
