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Tag: 2023

  • Crypto Airdrops Tier List 2023: Discover Rare, Thrilling, and High-Yield Gems to Skyrocket Your Earnings!

    Crypto Airdrops Tier List 2023: Discover Rare, Thrilling, and High-Yield Gems to Skyrocket Your Earnings!

    Welcome to the most comprehensive and up-to-date Crypto Airdrops Tier List for 2023! As the world of cryptocurrencies continues to evolve at a rapid pace, airdrops have become a go-to strategy for both new and established projects to gain traction and reward their communities. In this insightful guide, we’ve meticulously ranked the top airdrops of the year based on their potential rewards, project credibility, and overall excitement. Get ready to uncover hidden gems, maximize your earnings, and be a part of the most lucrative crypto airdrops of 2023!

    Crypto Airdrops Tier List 2023

    Crypto Airdrops Tier List 2023

    We have compiled the top trending airdrops this year into a tier list based on four criteria:

    • Project Credibility — Is the project backed by reputable investors or partnered with well-established, legitimate projects? Is there any public information available about the project team, and do they have prior experience in the blockchain industry?
    • Security — Is it safe to connect my MetaMask or other crypto wallets to the project’s website? Has the project been audited by a third-party security firm?
    • Cost — Does participating in the airdrop require any form of spending or investment, or is it entirely free?
    • Effort — How much time and effort do I need to invest in completing the tasks that qualify me for the airdrop? Are these tasks simple or challenging? Does it require me to be a developer, validator, or just a regular user?

    S Tier Airdrops

    zkSync

    • Project Credibility — zkSync is developed by Matter Labs, a well-known engineering team based in Europe. They have raised $458 million in financing across all rounds, backed by the likes of the Ethereum Foundation.
    • Security — The project has been audited by several top smart contract security firms including OpenZeppelin, Halborn, and Code4rena.
    • Cost — You will need to bridge ETH to the zkSync Era Mainnet via ZigZag Exchange or Orbiter Finance. Swap stablecoin pairs to minimize cost risk. You can also interact with the zkSync Era Testnet using free testnet tokens.
    • Effort — The steps are easy to follow, but it’s recommended to perform them frequently and consistently to be included in the snapshot. Actions involve bridging your funds, swapping and trading tokens, or providing liquidity. The higher the aggregate value, the more $ZKS tokens you can potentially earn.

    Grading Insight: zkSync is the most anticipated airdrop after Arbitrum. Over the past week, crypto users have bridged over $8 million in funds to the network in hopes of qualifying for the airdrop. Moreover, protocols on zkSync will also conduct their own retroactive airdrop, allowing you to earn additional rewards.

    Sui

    • Project Credibility — Sui is developed by Mysten Labs, comprising former Meta (formerly Facebook) executives and engineers. The company has raised $300 million, resulting in a valuation of over $2 billion, with backing from major investors like Coinbase and Binance.
    • Security — Sui’s security architecture is secured by Move, a Rust-based programming language independently developed by Meta. The smart contract code for Sui is publicly available for review and auditing.
    • Cost — Similar to Aptos, you can interact with protocols on Sui with free devnet tokens.
    • Effort — Building protocols on Sui requires coding experience. As a regular user, you can perform simple tasks like staking devnet tokens or minting NFTs until the mainnet launch in Q2.

    Grading Insight: Aptos, also an L1 built by former Meta developers, conducted one of the largest airdrops last year. It is very likely Sui will also follow suit.

    A Tier Airdrops

    StarkNet

    • Project Credibility — StarkNet is developed by StarkWare Industries, an Israeli software company that specializes in cryptography. They have raised $100 million that puts the company’s estimated value at $8 billion. They are partners with some of the biggest names in crypto including ConsenSys and Chainlink.
    • Security — StarkNet is audited by numerous leading security firms like Consensys Diligence and OpenZeppelin.
    • Cost — You will need to bridge ETH to the Starknet Alpha Mainnet via StarkGate. Swap stablecoin pairs to minimize cost risk.
    • Effort — Argent X wallet is required. Bridge and swap assets frequently and consistently to be included in the snapshot. The higher the aggregate value, the more tokens you can potentially earn.

    Grading Insight: StarkNet is one of the highest valued L2 project in the crypto market. More than half of its total token supply will be allocated to community incentives and ecosystem funds.

    Shardeum

    • Project Credibility — Shardeum is co-founded by Nischal Shetty and Omar Syed. Shetty is the founder and CEO of WazirX and Syed is a blockchain architect who previously worked for NASA and Shardus. The project has raised $18.2 million, backed by Jane Street and The Spartan Group.
    • Security — Shardeum ensures security through dynamic state sharding, which makes it challenging to attack due to the random assignment of nodes to shards in the network.
    • Cost — You can interact with the Shardeum betanet with free testnet tokens.
    • Effort — Mint NFTs or swap assets frequently on different Shardeum protocols.

    Grading Insight: Shardeum is developing an innovative sharding technology, and has a very large user base. They confirmed airdropping 25.4 million $SHM tokens to ecosystem users.

    Scroll

    • Project Credibility — Scroll is a globally distributed team filled with experts in zero-knowledge cryptography and distributed systems on blockchain technology. Backed by Polychain Capital, the project has raised a total of $83 million in funding rounds, bringing its valuation to $1.8 billion.
    • Security — Scroll is a hierarchical zero-knowledge proof system, inheriting security from the Ethereum mainnet. The smart contract code for Scroll is publicly available for review and auditing.
    • Cost — Scroll is currently in its Alpha Testnet phase, which means you can use free testnet tokens to interact with the protocol.
    • Effort — Bridge testnet tokens between Goerli Testnet (L1) and Scroll Alpha Testnet (L2) frequently.

    Grading Insight: Scroll is another highly popular Ethereum L2 scaling solution. The team has confirmed creating an incentive mechanism to encourage participation in the network. Start using the testnet now for free!

    MetaMask

    • Project Credibility — MetaMask is the most used Ethereum wallet in the world.
    • Security — All user wallets are secured with client-side encryption. With proper user practice, MetaMask is a reliable and secure option for managing and interacting with Ethereum-based cryptocurrencies and decentralized applications. Their recent audit was conducted in March 2023.
    • Cost — You will need ERC-20 tokens. You can also buy ETH directly on MetaMask using credit cards, Apple Pay or bank transfers.
    • Effort — Bridge and swap ERC-20 tokens regularly with the built-in features in MetaMask.

    Grading Insight: MetaMask is one of the foundations of the Web3 world, which is why its token can be very valuable.

    B Tier Airdrops

    LayerZero

    • Project Credibility — LayerZero Labs is founded by a team of computer scientists from the University of New Hampshire. The project has raised $135 million from the likes of Coinbase and PayPal. LayerZero has a large ecosystem of DeFi protocols including Uniswap and Stargate Finance.
    • Security — LayerZero has commissioned over 35 audits with the most recent audits on Github.
    • Cost — You will need real funds to interact with the protocols on LayerZero. But you can also bridge Goerli testnet USDC between EVM chains using the USDC LayerZero Bridge.
    • Effort — Make small transactions, deposit funds, provide liquidity, swap assets as frequently as you can.

    Grading Insight: LayerZero has a large user base, and is backed by PayPal. It has the potential to be a core infrastructure of Web3 interoperability, which is why its token can be valuable in the future.

    ZetaChain

    • Project Credibility — ZetaChain is built by former Coinbase and Basic Attention Token (BAT) developers. It is backed by Coinbase, Binance, Polygon, and more.
    • Security — ZetaChain employs a novel omnichain approach to mitigate the risks of asset fragmentation and reduce the chances of 51% attacks. The project has been audited by PeckShield, Veridise, and QuantumBrief, and offers a bug bounty of up to $100,000.
    • Cost — The incentivized testnet currently involves testnet tokens.
    • Effort — Request ZETA tokens and swap assets between different chains frequently.

    Grading Insight: ZetaChain is featured on CoinGecko’s list of top airdrops to look out for in 2023. Its points-based system makes it easy for users to track their contribution to the network.

    Mantle Network

    • Project Credibility — Mantle Network is incubated by BitDAO, one of the largest DAOs and partner of Bybit.
    • Security — Its architecture adopts a modular approach to create a seperate, decetralized data availability layer in collaboration with EigenLayer. Smart contract code is regularly audited by the BitDAO community.
    • Cost — The incentivized testnet currently involves testnet tokens.
    • Effort — Bridge Goerli ETH to Mantle Testnet frequently. You can also complete Mantle Quests on Crew3 and Guild for a Discord role.

    Grading Insight: Developed by BitDAO, Mantle is a fully community-driven project. As such, value to the project is rewarded back to loyal supporters and users.

    Polyhedra Network

    • Project Credibility — Polyhedra Network is built by leading engineers, developers, and researchers from UC Berkeley, Tsinghua University, and Stanford University. The project recently raised $10 million in funding, backed by Binance, Animoca Brands, and Polychain Capital.
    • Security — Its infrastructure uses zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) to provide privacy extensions for Web3 with stealth address models.
    • Cost — Only testnet tokens are needed to cover gas fees.
    • Effort — Use Polyhedra CreatorTool to mint your own NFT and bridge them to other testnet blockchains. Repeat the process on different chains to enhance visibility of your on-chain activities.

    Grading Insight: Polyhedra just recently launched its testnet, which means early users are in a good position for a potential airdrop.

    C Tier Airdrops

    Fuel Network

    • Project Credibility — Fuel Network raised $80 million in funding, backed by Blockchain Capital and Stratos Technologies.
    • Security — The system is based on a fraud- or validity-provable computation system that leverages a modular blockchain for data accessibility.
    • Cost — Their Beta-2 Testnet is live. No real funds are used.
    • Effort — Fuel Wallet is required. Swap and trade tokens on SwaySwap frequently. You can also interact with other ecosystem DApps.

    Grading Insight: Fuel has not confirmed a token launch yet. But it is likely it needs a token to support its ecosystem and facilitate the functioning of the platform.

    Celestia

    • Project Credibility — Co-founder of Fuel Network, John Adler, also co-founded Celestia. The project has raised $55 million in funding, backed by Coinbase and Polychain Capital. Its total valuation is over $1 billion.
    • Security — Modular architecture is similar to Fuel Network. Celestia offers shared security to blockchains deployed on it by providing consensus and data availability inherited by all utilizing chains.
    • Cost — Its incentivized testnets require a node with decent internet connection. You will need to set up a development environment to run the Celestia node.
    • Effort — This is more suitable for developers or validators rather than users.

    Grading Insight: Limited access to general users.

    D Tier Airdrops

    Blur

    • Project Credibility — Blur is the fastest growing NFT marketplace on Ethereum, backed by Paradigm. Many Bored Ape holders and NFT whales have moved from OpenSea to Blur.
    • Security — Blur is audited by Code4rena and Dedaub. It uses multi-signature contracts for token transfers. However, Blur has a smart contract risk in its execution module, which only checks if the caller can transfer tokens. Contract owners may add addresses as callers for token transfers, so users must trust Blur before trading NFTs on it.
    • Cost — You will need ETH to bid or list on Blur. The more the better.
    • Effort — The difficulty for the Season 2 airdrop may increase due to heightened competition.

    Grading Insight: Since Blur tends to favor NFT and ETH whales, it might not be the most suitable choice for those looking for cost-free airdrops.

    Key Takeaway

    It is important to note that lower tier rankings does not mean that the airdrop is not good. It is simply because they are not as accessible as the higher tiered ones to everyday users. All of these crypto airdrops are the most trending this year, offering high value to early users.

  • Sovereign Labs: Unlocking the Potential of ZK-Rollups in 2023 – Why This Project Should Be On Your Watchlist

    Sovereign Labs: Unlocking the Potential of ZK-Rollups in 2023 – Why This Project Should Be On Your Watchlist

    ZK-rollups could be one of the strongest performing sectors in 2023, as demand for Ethereum scaling solutions is increasing. As such, Sovereign Labs is one of the most promising upcoming projects in the ZK-rollup space. The team is well-funded and the development is on track to be completed in Q2 2023. As such, Sovereign should definitely be on your watchlist for 2023.

    Check out our zkSync article for another highly anticipated ZK-rollup project this year.

    What is Sovereign?

    Sovereign Labs, the team behind Sovereign, is creating an open, interconnected rollup ecosystem to make it easier for developers to deploy interoperable and scalable rollups on any blockchain. It’s been compared to Cosmos ($ATOM), but instead of layer-1 chains, Sovereign uses their software development kit (SDK) and inter-blockchain communication protocol (IBC) for ZK-rollups.

    Current Problems of Blockchain Scaling Solutions

    The current blockchain scaling solutions including application-specific layer-1s, optimistic rollups and ZK-rollups, all have their own drawbacks:

    1. Application-specific layer-1s are the easiest to design and implement, but require large amounts of capital from validators to secure the blockchain. This approach is only viable for a few well-funded blockchain apps.
    2. Optimistic rollups produce fraud proofs to prevent misbehavior. However, during an attack, fraud proofs can be censored, leading to long finality delays. This makes bridging out of optimistic rollups slow and costly.
    3. ZK-rollups share the advantages of optimistic rollups, but without the long finality delay. Large batches of transactions can be finalized with validity proof in a matter of seconds. However, ZK-rollups are incredibly difficult to build because it involves a very high level of cryptography and protocol engineering.

    Out of the three blockchain scaling solutions, ZK-rollups prove to be the most promising scaling paradigm despite the massive undertaking it requires to build them. As such, Sovereign aims to make it easier for developers to create secure and interoperable ZK-rollups, just like the Cosmos SDK did for layer-1 chains. As a result, developers do not need to be experts in cryptography to write their apps, allowing them to focus on the business logic of their chain.

    Who is the Team behind Sovereign?

    Sovereign Labs is co-founded by Cem Özer (CEO) and Preston Evans (CTO). Özer had worked as a smart contract and protocol engineer in ConsenSys, the company behind MetaMask. On the other hand, Evans had worked as a software engineer in Amazon, and has years of experience in computer science and machine learning.

    Sovereign aims to make scaling simple, supporting billions of blockchain users without sacrificing security. In late January 2023, Sovereign Labs raised $7.4 million in seed funding led by Huan Ventures with participation from Maven 11, 1KX, Robot Ventures and Plaintext Capital. According to CoinDesk, a spokesperson from Sovereign stated the fundraise puts the company’s valuation in the “eight-figure” range. The fund will be used to build the SDK and hire protocol and researchers with expertise in blockchains and cryptography.

    Properties and Key Features of ZK-Rollup SDK

    The Sovereign SDK will provide a set of default modules, a peer-to-peer network, a database, and an RPC node, and will abstract away the details of zero-knowledge. This way, developers can write their apps in Rust or C++, and the SDK will automatically compile it to an efficient zero-knowledge virtual machine.

    It will also use a novel bridging technique based on proof aggregation to allow rollups on a shared L1 to bridge back and forth at minimal cost without a trusted third party. Off-chain relayers can combine the proofs of all the peer rollups into one proof, which can then be verified on the chain. As the state transitions are proven to be valid, there is no need to pay fees to a liquidity provider or wait a week for transactions to be completed. This means that bridging can be done immediately with no drawbacks.

    Source: Sovereign

    The biggest feature here is that Sovereign SDK Rollups are able to be used on any blockchain, as the responsibility of verifying proofs is given to the user, not the original blockchain. This is what sets them apart from smart-contract rollups. As the data availability layer does not need to be able to check proofs, SDK rollups can be used on any blockchain without needing to be rewritten. This makes them incredibly versatile, creating an ecosystem of interoperable and scalable rollups that can run on any blockchain.

    When is Sovereign Launching?

    Sovereign is currently in the process of developing the SDK, which includes designing the default storage module, cryptoeconomics, and core APIs. They are also working on a research prototype which is currently integrating with modular blockchain Celestia for data availability and ZK virtual machine Risc0 for the proving system. This phase is expected to be complete around Q2 2023.

    Initial implementation of the SDK will begin afterwards, which they will implement a peer-to-peer network, RPC node, core APIs, default storage and sequencing modules. Once this feature is complete, the SDK will be repeatedly stress tested and audited for about six months until it is ready to be deployed across all mainnet chains.

  • The Flippening: Will Ethereum Overtake Bitcoin in 2023?

    The Flippening: Will Ethereum Overtake Bitcoin in 2023?

    The Flippening Narrative: Bitcoin vs Ethereum

    The concept of the “Flippening” has been increasingly gaining traction in the crypto space. It refers to the hypothetical moment when Ethereum (ETH) surpasses Bitcoin (BTC) as the most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization. The Flippening is important because it would signify a major shift in the overall direction of the crypto landscape, signalling a change in investor sentiment and adoption patterns.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lQ8bz9QRBo

    While the Flippening is not set in stone, there are compelling data that indicate it is coming, and sooner than you think… Here’s why:

    The Case for Bitcoin

    Being the world’s first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin has maintained its throne on the crypto market since its genesis block in 2009. It is often considered as the safest digital store of value by investors, with its limited supply structure similar to the scarcity of gold, hence its nickname “digital gold.” As such, Bitcoin is usually the primary choice of cryptocurrency for financial institutions looking to get involved. As far as mainstream adoption goes, Bitcoin has led the way so far.

    However, Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus model is highly energy-intensive, sparking criticisms of the network’s impact on the environment. Additionally, the usage of Bitcoin is only limited to exchanging and storing value. This is where Ethereum has much more to offer.

    The Case for Ethereum

    As the second most valuable cryptocurrency, Ethereum is designed to be used as the foundation of a decentralized, blockchain-based internet — an idea that is become known as Web3. Apart from exchanging and storing value, Ethereum introduced smart contract functionalities that allows developers to do all kinds of innovative and creative things on the network. This brought about a proliferation of financial products that have enabled a much broader range of investors.

    Ethereum earned its nickname “digital oil” because it is a utility-based asset like oil, fuel or gas, and its value is largely dictated by supply and demand mechanisms. Similar to how the world’s global supply chain is fueled by crude oil, Ethereum lays at the heart of the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) space as well as GameFi and Non-Fungible Token (NFT) market. And as the Web3 landscape progresses, demand will increase as more and more people are recognizing the potential of a decentralized internet. It is only a matter of time when Web2 evolves to Web3, and Ethereum is at the centre of that.

    Do “Ethereum Killers” Hinder the Flippening?

    It is worth noting that Ethereum faces competition from other prominent layer-1 blockchains such as Aptos, Cardano, Solana, BNB Chain, Polkadot, and Avalanche. There is a trending “Ethereum Killer” narrative in which user adoption will be distributed amongst these blockchains instead of focusing on Ethereum only. However, most of these blockchains in fact depend on Ethereum, as one way or another they are associated with the network’s smart contract. As shown in the image below by Cryptowatch, all of the top layer-1 blockchains are closely correlated with Ethereum’s price action.

    Source: Cryptowatch

    Comparing Market Share between Bitcoin and Ethereum

    As of 11th January 2023, Ethereum’s market share increased by 3% among global crypto assets, signalling its dominance on the rise. According to Coinmarketcap, Ethereum’s market dominance is at 19%, valued at around $856 billion. On another note, Coingecko’s metrics were slightly different, indicating Ethereum’s dominance at 18.3%. But both aggregation websites show that Bitcoin’s market dominance is decreasing, from 40% to 38%.

    It is unclear whether this trend will continue, but according to data sourced from Blockchain Center, the Flippening has been on an uptrend since July 2021. And we are nearly halfway for it to happen. It is also worth noting that Ethereum came closest to the Flippening in 2017, when Bitcoin’s market dominance’s dropped by 40.6% and Ethereum took over 32% of the market amidst the situation.

    Source: blockchaincenter.net

    In reference to the data provided by Blockchain Center, there are also other metrics apart from market cap that determines the Flippening. As of now, Bitcoin is still by far superior in trading volume, which is a crucial metric for adoption usage. However, Ethereum has Bitcoin beat in active addresses, transaction count and volume, and total USD transaction fees.

    Outperformance of Ethereum will be primarily driven by the strength of its post-Merge fundamentals. The upcoming Shanghai Upgrade will significantly reduce the risk and opportunity cost of staking ETH, which is likely to attract participation from more crypto users.

    Key Takeaway

    Despite Ethereum’s increasing adoption and market dominance, Bitcoin still reigns supreme in the crypto space. In fact, Bitcoin saw significant adoption in 2021-2022 from retail and institutional investors, public companies, and even countries. As of now, El Savador and the Central African Republic (CAR) have adopted Bitcoin as a legal currency. This is a monumental step towards mainstream adoption.

    But that is not to say the Flippening will never happen — it is certainly a possibility. After all, both Bitcoin and Ethereum have different visions. Bitcoin aims to become the global reserve currency, whereas Ethereum aims to become the infrastructure of a global digital economy. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) applies to both assets, but it all comes down to supply and demand mechanisms. If demand in digital money is higher, then Bitcoin dominates. But if demand in utility-based asset in building out a decentralized ecosystem is higher, then Ethereum is generally favored.