The average Arbitrum airdrop recipient earns $2,300, but other, potentially larger, airdrops are on the way.

zkSync – a technology designed to improve the Ethereum network – is currently very competitive.

What better way to attract users and build a loyal community than to give them free money?

What is zkSync?

zkSync is a layer 2 solution that uses zero-knowledge (ZK) summarization to speed up transformations and reduce gas fees on the Ethereum blockchain.

ZK-rollups package transactions into batches and execute them off-chain. They store only a minimal amount of data on-chain, making the process faster and cheaper.

As the Ethereum blockchain is used in more and more applications, finding solutions to its inherent scaling issues is absolutely necessary. ZK-rollups are considered one of the most promising technologies poised to solve this problem.

Will zkSync issue coins?

Alex Gluchowski, CEO of Matter Labs, the team behind zkSync, said there are “currently no plans to launch a token.”

He said the team is focused on "further development of the protocol" and that "the token only plays a role in decentralizing the network, which is still far away."

"In a year or more, the network will be decentralized," he added.

Arbitrum follows a similar roadmap. They focus on developing and attracting users, and only launch tokens when the product is hyped.

From this, we can conclude that the ZKS token will be available in about a year.

Why farm zkSync airdrop?

If we are confident that zkSync will eventually release tokens to its users, there are two good reasons why this is an airdrop worthy of mining:

First, zkSync raised one of the largest funds in cryptocurrency history. You can verify this on Cryptorank. The team has raised $458 million from more than a dozen different investors.

More capital means bigger airdrops. For example, Arbitrum raised $123 million in one of the largest airdrops to date.

The second reason is that you are still early. If we believe Gluchowski, the ZKS token won’t be around for another year. This means you have enough time to perform the required tasks, since being early is a very important criterion when looking for airdrops.

Tasks to obtain air investment qualifications

zkSync currently consists of two networks: the original zkSync Lite network and the new zkSync Era mainnet.

(Interacting with the zkSync Era may be more important in token distribution than using zkSync Lite. Do not spend more than 10-20% of your time and volume on zkSync Lite.)

What should you do to qualify for the airdrop?

1. Farm on zkSync Era

  • Send ETH to zkSync Era using the official bridge at bridge.zksync.io

  • Bridge funds to zkSync Era using Orbiter Finance

  • Swap assets and provide liquidity in pools on Mute.io and Syncswap

(Bonus tip: Syncswap is valued at over $23 million, but doesn’t have a token yet. By using it, you could potentially qualify for both the zkSync and Syncswap airdrops.)

  • zkSync on Mint Square Mint NFT on the Era Network

2. Farm on zkSync Lite:

  • Send ETH to zkSync Lite using the official bridge at lite.zksync.io

  • Bridge funds to zkSync Lite using Orbiter Finance and ZigZag

  • Trade on ZigZag Exchange

  • Mint NFT on zkSync Lite:

-> Use an app like Pinata or NFT Storage to create your NFTs

-> Copy the CID number of the created NFT

-> Go to zkSync Lite and connect your wallet

-> Mint the NFT by inserting the CID in the content address field

3. Farm and other tasks

  • Register the domain on the zkSync name service

  • Complete zkSync related tasks on Crew3

  • Donate to your favorite projects on GitCoin using the zkSync network

Tips for maximizing your opportunities

Interact with zkSync smart contracts regularly over a long period of time.

Most people will make a few trades and then they forget about the whole thing. The most important thing about airdrops is showing genuine interest in the protocol by using it consistently.

Get organized. You don't have to execute trades every day. However, if you don’t set aside a specific time during the week to do airdrops, you might forget about it.

Write down the tasks you need to do in an app like Trello, and use reminders on your phone to make sure you stay on track.

The biggest expenses of airdrop mining are gas fees and slippage.

Try different times of the day to find times when your fees are lower. If they are too high on zkSync Era, use zkSync Lite instead.

When swapping, click the gear icon and set the slippage tolerance to 0.5% or lower.

If possible, make a larger deal. What ultimately matters is the total amount of interaction you have.

For example, if you exchange $1,000 worth of ETH to USDC and then back to ETH, the only thing you need to pay is gas fees, and they have nothing to do with the size of the transaction. Therefore, it is worth bridging, exchanging and depositing larger amounts if you can.

Summarize

Although at the end of the day, nothing guarantees you an airdrop, the risk-reward ratio is definitely in your favor.

In my opinion, the amount of work required and money spent on gas fees are low enough to make a big airdrop like zkSync worth pursuing.

Finally, keep in mind that the zkSync protocol is constantly evolving. The guidelines for airdrop farming change slightly as new applications are added to the network.