The highly anticipated airdrop of the ZK token by ZKsync, a prominent layer-2 blockchain, has commenced with a strong start. Within hours, 45% of the tokens were claimed, propelling the initial market cap to nearly $800 million.
The ZKsync Association, a non-profit entity launched last week by Matter Labs, the development firm behind ZKsync, is overseeing the airdrop. The team announced that 45% of the tokens were claimed by users within just two hours of the launch. “It’s a Monday, don’t you have work?” quipped the ZK Nation X account on social media.
The ZK token debuted at $0.31 and has since decreased by about 31%, currently trading at $0.22, according to CoinGecko. Based on the circulating supply, the market capitalization stands at approximately $800 million, with around 3.7 billion tokens available for distribution. The fully diluted market cap would be $4.5 billion.
Leading cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance, Bybit, and KuCoin have listed the ZK token. Despite an initial delay due to technical issues with their node, Binance confirmed, “Our tech team is fixing it urgently, and will be recovered before trading starts. Deposits will be credited once the block height catches up.”
Matter Labs has outlined the token distribution strategy, which stirred some controversy due to its unconventional design. According to their plans, 89% of the airdrop is claimable by ZKsync users who have met a specific threshold of activity on the blockchain. The remaining tokens are allocated to ecosystem contributors, including ZKsync native projects (5.8%), on-chain communities (2.8%), and builders (2.4%).
Additionally, 16.1% of the ZK tokens are reserved for Matter Labs employees, while 17.2% are designated for investors. These tokens will be subject to a one-year lock-up period, followed by a three-year release schedule.
Despite some users expressing dissatisfaction with the airdrop design, the ZKsync Association is committed to fostering a robust and inclusive ecosystem for its users and contributors.