In a blink of an eye, more than half a year has passed, and the market has gradually entered a deep bear market. The gas price has dropped to 7, and even the most active profiteers on the chain have decreased a lot.
The colder the market is, the more you should remind yourself not to slack off, and never say the words "I knew it earlier" when the next airdrop comes.
YourAirdrop.eth has compiled some projects that I have been tracking in the past six months, and analyzed them from the two aspects of technological development and airdrop strategy. Due to my limited personal energy, I cannot write about all the projects in detail. I hope to start a discussion and exchange ideas with everyone.
The projects currently organized cover L2 public chain, modular public chain, infrastructure, cross-chain, zk track, social track, and Binance track. Almost every track will produce big results.
However, time is limited, and there are still many excellent projects like ceremic and caldera that have not been completed. I will continue to update this article after completing the work at hand. If you are willing to give me some motivation, you can mint the NFT of this article on linea, killing two birds with one stone.
1. Popular public chains
zkSync
Technological progress:
zkSync is transitioning from era to Boojum. Boojum is based on the stark proof system, with higher tps and faster sequencer. The upgraded zkSync can also implement a zk stack similar to the op stack, providing zkL2 services to a large number of users.
At the same time, zkSync has been working on building its own NFT market recently, from releasing the first NFT airdrop to recently releasing the first NFT market built by its own sub-team called blockframe. Unlike traditional NFT markets, blockframe will support the privacy transaction NFT function based on zk features.
Conceptually, zkSync is the closest to the zk rollup in native Ethereum development. Its credo manifesto can be placed directly on the Ethereum mainnet without any sense of incongruity. As for why it is nicknamed zkRug, it is also because it does not want to interfere too much in the development of the ecosystem and allows the project to grow freely and wildly.
airdrop:
Lulling one's hair has become a prominent science of web3, and zkSync is even more prominent among the prominent sciences. Currently zkSync has 4 million addresses, far more than the wallets at the time of the arbitrum airdrop. Although no one is sure what the airdrop rules are, judging from the remarks of the founder and related personnel, zkSync’s airdrop will definitely be different from op and arb, and the screening rules will be more intelligent and more beneficial to real users. Creating valuable tx will make your wallet significantly different from the witch wallet.
It is also important to note that you must save your bullets. After upgrading to boojum, zkSync will also update gas payment, on-chain privacy, off-chain computing and other powerful features. Making full use of those features may be the key to the final victory.
Line
Technological development:
Unlike other L2, Linea exudes a special temperament at the beginning of its launch: it not only has the strong background of Consensys and the support of many projects, but also pays more attention to the ecology than other L2, and has the flavor of Ethereum OG - not only focusing on the construction of Ethereum infrastructure, but also focusing on the implementation of theories, such as promoting the implementation of erc6551 to carry out Linea Gas Pass activities, promoting Cancun upgrades, etc.
airdrop:
Linea's temperament is so unique that his airdrop may also rewrite the L2 airdrop model. Yes, it is just a rewrite, it should not be an innovation.
Paying more attention to Linea's various activities may be a shortcut.
https://linea.mirror.xyz/CGSwWvsI_OI4Bw_qptgZ1C3iGFyuKlP2MTRcWZxqles
Starknet
Technological development:
Starknet is a non-evm-compatible L2 using the cairo language. The stark front mechanism used is widely recognized as the most efficient and the most difficult to develop.
For Starknet, there are several development focuses: 1. Cairo language upgrade v2 2. Completion of the zone center sequencer and prover 3. And decentralized validator 4. Capacity expansion 5. Account abstraction
The technology used by starknet is undoubtedly very strong, and the team background is beyond doubt. However, due to the large step, the current performance is only slightly better than the main network, and the stability is not as good as the main network.
Coin issuance:
The rumor that the token will be unlocked in November is true, and the rumor that the institution will unlock it in November is also true. The only unknown is whether Starknet is really ready to officially launch the token in November given its current status. If the timing is not right, the project owner is fully capable of postponing the launch.
I mentioned in my previous tweet that the factors that really determine the issuance of coins are: 1. Chain stability and maturity 2. Ecosystem maturity 3. Investor/institutional patience 4. Regulatory pressure
Currently, Starknet only accounts for 3. As for the delay of the plan in the roadmap circulating on the Internet, it actually has little to do with whether the coin is issued. Reducing fees and fee markets does not necessarily require the use of STRK as a token.
In general, it is meaningless for Starknet to speculate on the timing of coin issuance. What we can do now is to complete our operations before November; if we do not issue coins in November, we need to be prepared for a protracted war.
2. Cross-chain
LayerZero
Technological progress:
The difficulty L0 is currently facing is that it is surrounded by enemies from all sides.
It is facing direct competition from Chainlink's CCIP, and other cross-chain companies are launching new ZK cross-chain technologies. It is also embroiled in lawsuits. Its technology itself is not even advanced. It has only caught up with its competitors after the recent integration of Polydedra.
airdrop:
I think the recent lawsuit against L0 by FTX has little to do with the coin issuance. For a company of L0’s size, they should have known through channels that they would be sued and had prepared for it. If L0 already had a coin issuance plan, then the impact of the lawsuit must have been calculated long ago, and they may even need to harvest a wave of leeks to cover the lawsuit costs.
However, the time of L0 coin issuance is still a mystery to everyone. Since returning from his travels, the founder has been releasing news through various channels that he is preparing to issue coins, but the actual coin issuance has not been officially announced.
At present, more and more projects adopt L0 technology. In addition to the traditional Stargate and Crocodile, Sushix Mav TestnetBridge Rndr Tevaera Zkrank L2Marathon are now included in the wallet rating of Nomis. Nomis will definitely not be the standard for airdrops, but it can help users understand the L0 protocol they have used and facilitate subsequent interactions.
Bungee and Li.FI
Both bungee and lifi are small products and are not qualified to be included in this article, but since L0 is mentioned, I will talk about it by the way.
Bungee itself is just an aggregator, which is not very difficult technically, and it has a certain market share, so it is okay not to issue coins. However, in order to keep up with the narrative, they are currently developing a data layer for messaging, which may be able to compete with L0 after completion, so there is still a chance to issue coins.
For users, L0 can be used in the bungee anyway, so it is not difficult to kill two birds with one stone.
Lifi is one of the few cross-chain bridges that has not yet issued a coin. It has recently been connected to zksync, so it can be used occasionally.
3. Modular blockchain
Modular blockchain layout/basic structure
OwnLayer
Technological progress:
EigenLayer (EL) is a recent superstar project, and it has taken the lead in both modularization and LSD. Its main function is to provide security for various projects by re-staking ETH. Based on this feature, EL can provide data availability, decentralized sequencer, light node cross-chain, zk cross-chain, oracle and other services.
Many star projects such as Mantle, Polyhedra, altlayer, Espresso, etc. will adopt or have already adopted EL as an operator.
EL's focus is on AVS (Active Verification Service), whose main task is to verify the integrity and accuracy of data. In subsequent upgrades, EL will enable operators to register with EigenLayer and allow heavy pledge to be delegated to these operators.
Operators will then be able to interact with EigenLayer, enabling operators and re-participants to choose to validate these service modules.
airdrop:
EL is developing in an orderly manner according to its roadmap. The operator's main network deployment will be completed in Q4 this year, and the entire service will be deployed to the main network later next year.
Technically, EL requires native tokens to fully operate, which means that tokens will definitely be issued in the final phase (probably Q1 next year), but the possibility of issuing tokens in Q4 due to lack of money or other factors cannot be ruled out.
The number of airdrops should also be determined by the amount of staking and the time. It is not clear whether it will be a parabola where the more you stake, the smaller the return, so you can try to stake multiple small amounts (more than 0.5 eth).
As for the income, EL's last round of financing was valued at 500 million US dollars. If this amount can be reached when the coin is issued, and the airdropped tokens account for 50% of the total circulation when the coin is issued, it will be a very considerable and stable income.
Celestia
Technological development:
As a modular blockchain, Celestia (cel) has taken a completely different path from Eigenlayer. Cel's goal is to build a scalable data availability layer that verifies the security of data through light nodes on the community. Light nodes do not verify transactions, they only check whether each block has reached consensus and whether the block data is available on the network.
At present, Cel already has a complete development kit to help users launch a modular public chain themselves; at the same time, Cel has also cooperated with OP Stack and Dymension.
Celesitia has just completed their largest Blockspace Odyssey incentivized testnet to date, and the mainnet should be launched within the year.
airdrop:
The internal competition of the test network has ended. If the main network is successfully launched, the airdrop should be available soon.
IV. Infrastructure
aztec
Technological progress:
After the withdrawal of zkmoney, many people are concerned about the progress of aztec. I have been tracking this privacy L2 that has raised more than 100 million yuan. At present, it seems that the project is still a long way from the completion of the project.
Aztec has designed 10 milestones for itself, and only the first one is close to completion, while the rest are progressing slowly. At least the fee estimation/calculation part must be advanced before the token can be issued. At present, although there are some sporadic projects entering the development and deployment of the Aztec network, it is too early for ordinary users to enter the market.
airdrop:
As the only privacy L2, aztec is still worth watching, but I personally estimate that it will take at least Q1 next year for ordinary users to enter the market. This is also good, there are too many L2s to handle, and the next heavyweight airdrop should come later.
lit protocol
Lit raised 13 million yuan. It is an encryption protocol that is ignored by many people. It is mainly used to read and write data between blockchains, state machines and off-chain platforms, and has conditional decryption and programmatic signatures. It sounds abstract, right? So he was ignored...
Generally speaking, LITE provides MPC wallet technology that can store personal privacy information. Any developer can use this technology to create an MPC wallet or support LITE's MPC technology on their own protocol. The use cases are as follows:
DeFi: Conditional trade execution, recurring payments, liquid staking solutions, and more.
Infrastructure: cross-chain bridges, off-chain data oracles, privacy-preserving transactions, and AA wallet signers.
Sovereign Data: Verifiable credential issuance and selective disclosure of user data.
Web3 Social: Private data in social applications, token-gated video streaming, decentralized chatbots, and on-chain reputation building.
Games: Wallet abstraction, conditional rewards, and private data in multiplayer games.
**Token Gating for Web2 Applications:** Token-based access control for Shopify, Zoom, Google Drive, and WordPress.
airdrop:
Currently, LITE is preparing to complete the final decentralization work. In addition to participating nodes, LITE currently seems to have only released a genesis NFT, which may have some value.
Updated information on September 12
Espresso
Technological progress:
Espresso was originally a privacy network with 300 million in financing. It may be due to regulatory issues or it may be that they found that sequencers have more prospects. In short, they have now switched to decentralized sequencers. Although public chains such as op arb zksync will have their own decentralized sequencer solutions, there will be many L2s that will need decentralized sequencers in the future, so this direction is definitely not wrong.
Espresso has launched a decentralized sequencer testnet based on op stack and poly zkevm. Aztec's sequencer also considered Espresso before, but finally chose to do it themselves.
The sequencer is a very complex system that requires both the participation of nodes and a certain amount of ETH staking, so we also saw Espresso’s collaboration with eigenlayer and raas service provider Caldera.
How the Espresso Sequencer Works
airdrop:
Projects that build decentralized sequencers will definitely issue coins. Possible ways to participate are to become service area nodes and stake ETH. It is relatively early to do so. We will look at the progress of the project at the beginning of next year.
5. zk track
Polyhedra
Technological development:
This project was integrated by L0 shortly after I introduced it in detail on Twitter, which shows that its technology does have certain advantages.
There is not much change in the project progress, the main thing is to improve their original technology.
airdrop:
The conditions for issuing coins are already met, so the project team probably just wants to pick a good time. Unless there is some inside information, there is no need to guess the specific time.
The way to participate in this project is also very simple, just fuck galxe hard.
zklink
Technological progress:
This is a small zk rollup that is highly customized for transactions. The project has raised 20 million in financing. It has now launched its mainnet and started a five-week galxe event. The project will most likely issue coins shortly after the event ends, that is, before the end of the year, and it should be issued simultaneously by zklink and zkex under the ecosystem.
airdrop:
The zklink airdrop focuses on three aspects:
Galxe points, currently the easiest way to get high scores is to increase transaction volume, but it causes greater wear and tear.
Generally, exchanges prefer this type of airdrop that is related to transaction volume, so this part will most likely be linked to zkex.
Weekly blind box, zklink has a total of five weeks of tasks. After each weekly task, a blind box will be given to users who hold oat that week. The blind box is divided into 5 levels. The higher the level, the higher the airdrop value should be.
Blind boxes are likely to be linked to zklink. Currently, the most expensive blind box is about 10u
Mission oat, you can get it by completing the mission, this is probably the least valuable
In addition to this Odyssey event, the project will also convert the following old points into new points: Old Loyalty Points, Old Loyalty NFTs, Zealy Points Weekly quizes, OATs Sograph, OAT Dunkirk, OAT on Galxe Dunkirk, OAT on Aki Network Community Calls and AMA OATs
In other words, the old oat will have a certain value, and should be more valuable than the new batch, because the value of the new oat has been diluted by points and blind boxes.
6. Binance Investment
Although Binance does not have particularly strong investment capabilities, as the launchpad and launchpool of the strongest cex in the universe, it still has a strong money-making effect, so we will talk about many projects that Binance has invested in and may be listed on the exchange.
Dappos
Technological progress:
The Dappos team may not be the most technically advanced, but they are definitely the best storytellers. The project has gone through two major versions. When it was first launched, the narrative of Dappos was to break the pattern of users switching back and forth between multiple chains. Through SDK, virtual wallets and dApps, it not only provides developers with one-click multi-chain deployment, but also helps users easily access any dApp. This narrative quickly became outdated. In the newly launched V2 version, Dappos updated the idea and became the first intent-centered (derived from the paradigm paper) operating protocol. Users can use a multi-chain unified account to confirm complex and interdependent transactions on different chains with a single signature.
The project’s intention to issue coins is very obvious. It is highly likely that the coins will be issued this year, and it is possible that they will be directly listed on Binance.
airdrop:
Currently, v2 only integrates one perp, which has some minor bugs in gas usage and high handling fees. So there are two options for those who want to play with the game:
The bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish.
When the version is optimized, there may be Odyssey
Both options have their own advantages and disadvantages. If you have money, it is always a good idea to just go for it.
Helio
Technological progress:
Stablecoin projects invested by Binance, decentralized/volatile coin projects. Their value is adjusted through over-collateralized assets.
airdrop:
This project is also very simple. You just need to participate in galxe. The required funds are not high. If you use dappos, you can just put the funds into bsc and kill two birds with one stone.
7. Social Track
Lens
Technological progress:
The construction of Lens feels a bit slow. When the whole project was released last year, it only had some basic functions. Now V2 has powerful functions such as Open Actions, Collective Value Share, 6551 Wallet, etc. The Lego building block function of socialfi has taken shape.
airdrop:
Lens also has some problems. Although there are already many dapps in the Lens ecosystem, most of the projects seem to be targeting grants and financing, and are not built with care.
Therefore, there are indeed some projects that can interact and will definitely issue coins, such as Phaver, Orb, etc., but for a project of Lens's size, none of them can drive the operation of the entire ecosystem. Before the project that builds the "Lego" system comes out, the possibility of issuing coins is very small. Personally, I estimate that Lens may need another round of financing before issuing coins.
Farcaster
Technological progress:
Farcaster is generally very low-key and introverted. It is currently like a small circle of web3 geeks, and vitalik is also very active in it. Since it is still in the beta stage, I don’t have more information and can only wait for the project to be further opened.
For those who have applied for an account, they can participate in projects under the ecosystem.
Friend Tech
Technological progress:
Friend Tech is so popular that it not only has a money-making effect, but also has airdrop PUA.
There are various ways to use it to make a profit. I have summarized the following:
Prioritize buying from new entrants, followed by new super KOLs
Small trumpet mutual brush
Find the native KOLs on FT and hodl them
The following is a tool set, which is very useful
Finally, let me make a bold guess. Friend Tech is currently just an application, but if we want to get to the bottom of it, will it come up with some new ways to play? For example, the current so-called 33 gameplay is all spontaneously created by players. If Friend Tech launches their own ve33 to provide composability for SocialFi, it will probably be more interesting.
airdrop:
Focus on points. The current points rules are as follows:
Conclusion
Finally, a few words not related to airdrops.
In the last bull market, we saw the Lego building block gameplay of DeFi, where different DeFi protocols were nested with each other, creating huge leverage and wealth.
What will we see in the next bull market? I see different infrastructures of blockchain combining and collaborating with each other at a lower level. If one day we see a patchwork of eigenlayer+espresso+zk stack+lens+friend tech, don’t be surprised or doubt it. Go in boldly. That’s how the bull market comes.
