Looking for free tokens with huge upside potential? LayerZero is one of the major upcoming airdrops, funded by many reputable global enterprises such as PayPal. In this article, we will explain what LayerZero is and what you can do to receive its token airdrop.
Check out our Arbitrum Airdrop Guide for another highly anticipated token airdrop.
Step-by-Step Video Guide on How to Get LayerZero Airdrops
What is LayerZero?
LayerZero is a trustless omnichain interoperability protocol designed to connect multiple chains. Let’s break it down what this means in simple terms:
Underlying Issues of Current Interoperability Techniques
Interoperability has always been an issue for the blockchain space. Since blockchain protocols cannot communicate with other blockchains on a programmable level, this creates a silo effect in which each chain is isolated, limiting users’ options to move liquidity and data between walled ecosystems.
As of now, there are two main approaches to incorporate interoperability between blockchains, but each has its limitations:
Middle Chain
There are protocols that function as the connective layer between blockchains such as Polkadot or Cosmos. Essentially, it is a middle chain that facilitates the exchange of messages between chains. This approach is scalable and fairly inexpensive, but it is less secure. Since the middle chain is solely responsible for providing consensus and validation services, it becomes a single point of failure. If compromised, all liquidity can be stolen on all chains.
On-Chain Light Node (Decentralized Bridges)
Instead of trusted central entities, decentralized cross-chain bridges use on-chain light nodes to communicate between blockchains. For context, a light node stores only a part of the blockchain ledger’s transaction history and is connected to a full node to strengthen verification.
For the purposes of cross-chain messaging, light nodes on a source chain are used to verify block headers (metadata of a block) received from a target chain. Transaction proofs are then forwarded and validated on-chain against the block headers. This approach is a secure way to transmit messages between chains, but it is also extremely costly. You would have to build a seperate bridge for every pair of chains, each requiring its own interface and code.
LayerZero’s Solution to Interoperability
Instead of a middle chain or a layer-2 solution, LayerZero provides a massive infrastructure that would seamlessly enable direct, trustless transactions across all chains. Think of it like this: if blockchains are nations and bridges are immigration, then LayerZero would be a global super-passport and air-traffic control that allows communication between all blockchains at once. It focuses more on the communication problem of the interoperability layer (layer 0) rather than providing a third party solution like a bridge or middle chain.
LayerZero achieves this by using on-chain light nodes in a much more economical way. The team behind LayerZero, LayerZero Labs, coined it Ultra Light Node (ULN). The ULNs are connected to oracles and relayers, both independent off-chain entities in charge of transferring messages from one chain to another.
Instead of keeping all block headers sequentially, block headers are streamed on demand by decentralized oracles, i.e. Chainlink, allowing the ULN endpoints to be small and cost-effective. The relayers are responsible for moving transaction proofs. Initially, LayerZero Labs will run and maintain the relayers, which will soon be fully open-sourced so that anyone can operate their own relayer.
Moreover, the use of an oracle-relayer pair provides additional layers of security since responsibilities are broken up. But if both parties are compromised, LayerZero would be vulnerable to attacks–no easy task, given the progressive decentralization of relayers growing in the network.
Who is the Team behind LayerZero?
LayerZero Labs, a Vancouver-based startup, developed LayerZero protocols to enable omnichain decentralized applications across multiple blockchains The company was co-founded in 2021 by Bryan Pellegrino, Ryan Zarick, and Caleb Banister in 2021. The three have worked together in computer network research labs at the University of New Hampshire.
In March 2022, LayerZero Labs raised $135 million in a Series B funding round from the likes of FTX Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Uniswap Labs, Sequoia Capital, a16z, PayPal Ventures and more. Interestingly, LayerZero is PayPal’s first ever web3 investment. Seeing as that PayPal is one of the world’s leading payment network, this goes to show LayerZero has huge potential that spans beyond the crypto space.
Does LayerZero have a Token?
Currently, LayerZero does not have a token YET. But we know that its token with the ticker $ZRO exists because it can be viewed on their information code. There is no official announcement of $ZRO, but the community expects it to be launching sometime in the near future.
How to Receive Potential LayerZero Token Airdrop?
Stake and Vote on Stargate Finance
Stargate Finance is the first LayerZero protocol that is live and ready to use. It is a liquidity protocol that leverages LayerZero’s generic messaging to enable cross-chain liquidity transfers in native assets. LayerZero Labs believes that Stargate will be integral to any DApp that wants to move cryptocurrency across blockchains. Thus, it makes sense that Stargate users, especially DAO voters, have a very high chance to receive $ZRO airdrops.
You can buy Stargate’s token $STG even as little as $5 on centralized exchanges like Binance, or on decentralized exchanges like Uniswap and PancakeSwap. Then stake your tokens for voting power on Stargate’s staking tab: https://stargate.finance/stake. Finally and most importantly, you should regularly vote on governance proposals on https://snapshot.org/#/stgdao.eth. This will get you in the snapshot that can potentially qualify you for $ZRO airdrops.
Interact with DApps on LayerZero
Apart from Stargate Finance, you can also interact with other DApps on LayerZero including Mugen Finance, Radiant Capital, Omni X or Angle Protocol. You can make small transactions, deposit funds, provide liquidity, swap assets etc. By actively and consistently using the ecosystem, it is highly likely LayerZero will reward users who genuinely interact with the ecosystem.
Use the USDC LayerZero Bridge
You can use the USDC LayerZero bridge (https://usdcdemo.layerzero.network/bridge) to transfer USDC between EVM chains.
USDC Goerli Contract Address: 0x07865c6E87B9F70255377e024ace6630C1Eaa37F
USDC Avax Contract Address: 0x5425890298aed601595a70AB815c96711a31Bc65
Use the Aptos Bridge
Aptos recently launched the Aptos Bridge powered by LayerZero. You can move USDC, USDT, and ETH into Aptos from Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Avalanche, Polygon, and BSC. However, keep in mind there is a 3-day transfer window if you want to withdraw your funds out of the Aptos ecosystem.
LayerZero Airdrop Review
When reviewing an airdrop, there are several factors to consider. First, the likelihood the project will even do an airdrop in the first place. Then, to look at how many tokens the project intends to allocate towards airdrop campaigns, as well as the difficulty in participating in their airdrop. It is also important to look at the utility of the token so that there will be an actual use and purpose in participating in the airdrop in the first place. Finally, a factor to consider when reviewing an airdrop is whether the airdropped tokens are subject to any lockup period.
Likelihood of Airdrop: Details about the LayerZero token have not been announced yet.
Airdropped Token Allocation: The project has not announced how many of their $ZRO tokens would be allocated towards airdrops.
Airdrop Difficulty: The project has not yet released details about its airdrop rules. However, you can interact with Stargate Finance, which is a LayerZero protocol that is ready to use. There are other dApps on LayerZero that are usable, as well as the USDC LayerZero and Aptos bridges. These actions however are not that easy.
Token Utility: The team has not announced what the LayerZero token utility would be.
Token Lockup: There is no announcement on token lockup yet.
