zkSync ($ZKS) Token Airdrop Guide: How to Earn Double Rewards!

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27 Dec 2023

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zkSync is a layer-2 scaling solution designed to speed up transactions and lower gas fees on Ethereum. zkSync also has a huge ecosystem of dapps built on it- but no token yet. So, getting ready for a potential zkSync airdrop could entitle you to both a zkSync ($ZKS) and an ecosystem project airdrop! Here’s how to get a potential zkSync ($ZKS) token and ecosystem airdrop and DOUBLE your rewards.

zkSync ($ZKS) Airdrop Step-by-step Guide

Here’s how to receive a potential zkSync ($ZKS) token airdrop:

Add zkSync Era Alpha Mainnet on MetaMask.
Bridge Funds to zkSync Lite and zkSync Era Mainnet.
Interact with zkSync Lite and zkSync Era Mainnet Alpha.
Interact with the zkSync ecosystem.
Complete quests on zkSync’s Crew3.
Join the zkSync Guild
Bonus: Complete zkSync Era tasks on RabbitHole.

zkSync is a layer-2 scaling solution designed to speed up transactions and lower gas fees on the Ethereum network while maintaining high security and privacy for users. It does this through Zero-Knowledge Rollup (ZK-Rollup) — transactions on Ethereum are bundled up to be processed off-chain and then sent back to the main chain after validation.
zkSync is developed by Matter Labs. The company was co-founded in 2019 by Alex Gluchowski and Alexandr Vlasov. Matter Labs has raised over $58 million. Their latest funding was raised on 8th November 2021 from a Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Other major investors include Dragonfly Capital, Placeholder, 1kx, and more.

What is a Zero-Knowledge (ZK) Rollup?

The ZK-rollup is the core element of zkSync. ZK-rollups generate cryptographic proofs (ZK-SNARK or ZK-STARK) to verify transactions without revealing the information itself, hence the name “zero-knowledge proofs.” It maintains privacy by making transaction details such as token amounts anonymous. It is also highly secure because compressed transaction data are stored on-chain.
Unlike other layer-2 solutions, zkSync relies on math instead of third-party validators to scale computation. Validators are known as “operators” or “sequencers” and are in charge of executing, aggregating, and submitting transactions to the main chain, but they do not validate the transactions themselves — the Ethereum smart contract does. By relying on math and cryptographic security, zkSync ensures a truly secure and trustless environment for decentralized finance (DeFi).

What’s the Difference Between zkSync Era and zkSync Lite?

At its inception, zkSync lacked support for smart contracts, preventing activities such as using DeFi or purchasing NFTs, which are common on Ethereum. However, it did provide significant scaling for Ethereum, leading to its nickname “zkSync Lite.”
The zkSync Era represents an upgrade to the network, delivering all the features of Ethereum while also providing more cost-effective and faster transactions.

Does zkSync have a Token?

There is no zkSync token YET. But the ticker will potentially be $ZKS. On 16th February 2023, zkSync launched its Fair Onboarding Alpha, and on 24th March 2023, zkSync Era Mainnet Alpha became open to public. Meanwhile, zkSync 1.0 will be renamed zkSync Lite.

Is there a zkSync ($ZKS) Token Airdrop?

There is no zkSync ($ZKS) token airdrop yet. But zkSync Era Mainnet Alpha is now open to public

How to Receive Potential zkSync ($ZKS) Token Airdrop?

The best chance to receive $ZKS airdrop is to interact with zkSync Lite and zkSync Era Mainnet Alpha. Moreover, many projects in the zkSync ecosystem also do not have a token yet. So interacting with their ecosystem dApps may entitle you to potential airdrops from zkSync and the ecosystem project. Here’s how to receive a potential zkSync token airdrop:

Add zkSync Era Alpha Mainnet on MetaMask.
Bridge Funds to zkSync.
Interact with zkSync Lite and zkSync Era Mainnet Alpha.
Interact with the zkSync ecosystem.
Complete quests on zkSync’s Crew3.

Add zkSync Era Alpha Mainnet on MetaMask

You will need to connect zkSync Era alpha mainnet to your MetaMask. To do this, go to your MetaMask and click on the network button, then “Add network”. Then, click “Add a network manually”. Add the following information and click “Save”:

Network Name: zkSync Era Mainnet
New RPC URL: https://mainnet.era.zksync.io
Chain ID: 324
Currency Symbol: ETH
Block Explorer URL: https://explorer.zksync.io/
WebSocket URL: wss://mainnet.era.zksync.io/ws

Bridge Funds to zkSync Era Mainnet and zkSync Lite

Bridge funds from Ethereum Mainnet to zkSync Era Mainnet at bridge.zksync.io by connecting your wallet. Select the amount you wish to bridge and click “deposit”. Then, swap back to Ethereum Mainnet by clicking the arrows, choosing the amount you wish to bridge back to Ethereum, and click “Withdraw”.
Bridge funds to zkSync Lite at https://lite.zksync.io/ by connecting your wallet. Then, top up your balance using the zkSync bridge. You can also try using other bridges in the zkSync Lite ecosystem such as Orbiter Finance and ZigZag Exchange.

Interact with zkSync Lite and zkSync Era Mainnet Alpha

Any user can now use zkSync Lite (formerly known as zkSync 1.0) and zkSync Era Mainnet Alpha. This can be a potential way for users to get a zkSync airdrop even though they missed the whitelist. To interact with zkSync Lite, connect your L1 ETH wallet on zkSync Lite (note the single-time account activation fee of 1.279 USDT). Then, interact by moving your balances from L1 on zkSync Lite by depositing ETH or USDT. Or, withdraw your funds back from zkSync Lite to L1.

Interact with the zkSync ecosystem

zkSync has an entire ecosystem of protocols. Here are some top zkSync ecosystem projects you could interact with to maximise your chances of a potential zkSync airdrop and even double your rewards:

Orbiter Finance
ZigZag Exchange
Bungee
Onchain Trade
SyncSwap
SpaceFi
Tevaera
Velocore
iZUMi Finance
Mute
GameSwift

Orbiter Finance

Orbiter Finance is a decentralized cross-rollup layer-2 bridge that supports zkSync as well as Arbitrum. You can send ETH, MATIC, BNB and other tokens to zkSync and other layer-2 blockchains via the bridge. However, these are mainnet tokens (with value) since the bridge is live, but you can always bridge them back to Ethereum.

ZigZag Exchange

ZigZag Exchange is an orderbook decentralized exchange (DEX) powered by ZK-rollups. You can trade or swap on ZigZag Exchange. Do 1 buy or sell transaction between ETH and USDC every week (gas fees are less than US$0.25). Here’s how to interact with ZigZag Exchange:

Deposit funds to https://lite.zksync.io/. Note you will need to deposit at least US$3 worth of ETH or USDC in order to pay the 1-time activation fee on Zigzag (around US$2.6).
Connect your wallet to https://trade.zigzag.exchange/?market=ETH-USDC&network=zksync.
Do 1 buy or sell transaction between ETH and USDC every week (gas fees are less than US$0.25).

Bungee

Bungee is a tool powered by Socket that helps people find the best way to move a digital token from one blockchain to another. Bungee has recently gone live on zkSync Era. So sending tokens to and from zkSync Era (and especially using the Stargate route) could position yourself for potential zkSync, Bungee, Socket, Stargate AND LayerZero airdrops!

Onchain Trade

Onchain Trade is a money market and perps DEX offering up to 50x leverage. Connect your wallet to their protocol and test out their features!

SyncSwap

SyncSwap is a DEX built on zkSync and has recently announced its launch on zkSync Era testnet. It is predicted they will be one of the first protocols to launch on zkSync Era Mainnet since they are one of the first protocols built on zkSync. Therefore, interacting with SyncSwap will put you in a good position to get a potential zkSync token airdrop (and possibly a SyncSwap airdrop too)! Here’s how to interact with Syncswap:

Connect your wallet to Syncswap.
Go to their Swap page. Choose the type and amount of tokens and click “Swap”.
Deposit liquidity to their Pools. On the top bar, click the down arrow, “Positions” and “New Position”. Select USDC and ETH and click “Enter Pool”. Then click “Deposit” located on the left-hand side of the screen and deposit both USDC and ETH. Then, unlock your tokens and deposit them into the pool.
Join their Discord.
Go to their Guild page and complete the tasks.

Interacting with SyncSwap is one of the best ways to maximize your potential airdrop with the least amount of fees.

SpaceFi

SpaceFi allows users can trade, earn, mint, stake, sell, create, and invest in a variety of projects. With SpaceFi, users can also swap assets, farm rewards, mint, and stake Planet NFTs, join or create a spacebase, and invest in new projects. SpaceFi has already launched 30 million $SPACE on Evmos mainnet, and will be launching 30 million $SPACE on zkSync 2.0 (i.e. zkSync Era) when mainnet goes live. The team has also confirmed they will be doing an airdrop.
Since the protocol is already live on zkSync testnet, it may be a good idea to interact with SpaceFi in anticipation of when zkSync Era mainnet goes live. To interact with SpaceFi, request testnet tokens here. Then connect your wallet to Space.io, swap some $tSPACE tokens. Then, add liquidity to their pool. Finally, join the SpaceFi Discord and their Crew3. You can also complete the tasks on Crew3 which include joining their guilds, adding them to your CoinGecko watchlist or inviting friends to their Discord.

Tevaera

Tevaera aims to build an EVM-compatible on-chain gaming ecosystem on zkSync. Their mainnet is now live on zkSync Era.

Connect your wallet to log in. Make sure you are on the zkSync Era network.
Mint your Tevan ID and Guardian NFTs.
Connect your citizen ID to Discord.
Play Teva Run to earn Karma Points.
Complete tasks on Tevaea’s Zealy Questboard.
Mint ONFTs by going onto your portfolio and clicking “Mint ONFT bundle”.
Bridge one ONFT from zkSync Era to Arbitrum network.
Optional: Add KP (Karma) to your web3 vault. Note that 1KP is around 0.021 USD.

Velocore

Velocore is the first ever ve(3,3) DEX on zkSync. They have a native token $VC, so there may be a chance of a Velocore airdrop too? Here’s how to interact with Velocore:

If you don’t have funds on zkSync Era yet, use Orbiter.finance to bridge funds to zkSync Era.
Connect your wallet to Velocore’s swap page and swap some tokens. You can swap any token pairings e.g. ETH to USDT, ETH to VC etc.
Go to their Liquidity Pools and add liquidity. There are 30 pools to choose from!
Keep an eye on their Launchpad for upcoming projects and join in.

iZUMi Finance

iZUMi Finance is a multi-chain DeFi protocol that provides One-Stop Liquidity as a Service (LaaS). iZiSwap, a next-generation DEX on Multi-Chains, is live on zkSync Era and provides concentrated liquidity AMM and generates extra income for your assets. They also have their own $iZi token. In addition to doing their own airdrop, they have also promised to distribute 50% if any zkSync and Linea airdrops they receive! Here’s how to interact with iZUMi Finance:

Swap $iZi tokens.
Add liquidity.
Earn iPoints.
Complete Linea Voyage Week 8.

Mute.io

Mute.io is a AMM DEX with limit orders, a farming and Bond platform. They are live on zkSync Era. Although the mute.io team have confirmed the will NOT do an airdrop, interacting with this protocol may nevertheless be helpful in getting a zkSync airdrop. Here’s how to interact with Mute.io:

If you don’t have funds on zkSync Era yet, use Orbiter.finance to bridge funds to zkSync Era.
Connect your wallet to their Swap page and swap any amount of tokens.
Go to their Pools and add liquidity. You can earn fees for doing this! Click “Manage” and choose the amount of liquidity you wish to add. You can also withdraw your liquidity and check your rewards at any time.
As an optional task, you can buy their $MUTE token and lock it up here.

GameSwift

GameSwift aims to be a one-stop web3 gaming ecosystem based on a modular chain and zkEVM technology. From 28th September 2023, GameSwift will be hosting a GameSwift Multiverse Expansion campaign which will last for 6 weeks. In particular, week 3 of the campaign which goes live on 12th October 2023 will involve bridging to zkSync! So completing the tasks for week 3 may position yourself for a potential GameSwift and zkSync airdrop! Here’s how:

Swap USDC for $GSWIFT.
Bridge 10 $GSWIFT from Arbitrum Chain to zkSync Network.
Go to the “Burn” tab, switch to zkSync network on your wallet and burn 10 $GSWIFT.
Return to the GameSwift Galxe page and claim your Infinity Stone.

GameSwift also has tasks for interacting with the LayerZero network. So, there is a chance to also get a potential LayerZero airdrop too by doing these tasks!

Donate on Gitcoin

Gitcoin is a community platform that funds and coordinate new open-source developments. To donate, go to the “grants” page. Pay via the zkSync network for lower transaction fees.

Complete quests on Crew3

Go to zkSync’s Crew3 Questboard and complete the quests. Tasks include following them on social media, reading their articles, and completing quizzes.

Join the zkSync Guild

Connect your wallet and Google and Discord accounts to https://guild.xyz/zksync-era. Note you will also need at least 20 points on Gitcoin Passport. To check the number of points you have on Gitcoin Passport, connect your wallet to https://passport.gitcoin.co/#/dashboard. On the same page, you can also connect your other accounts to gain more points. However, some accounts require more than just having an account. For some, there are requirements to have a certain age/status/role or completed tasks in those accounts in order to qualify, which will make it difficult. Here’s a list of the easiest/ least requirement accounts to sign up for in order to get 20 points: Twitter, Discord, Google, Github, Facebook, LinkedIn, ENS, BrightID, Proof of Humanity, ETH, zkSync, Gnosis Safe, Trusta Labs.

Bonus: Complete zkSync Era tasks on RabbitHole

RabbitHole now offers the first zkSync Era quests, which include SyncSwap, EraLend, and Maverick. Completing each quest earns users NFT rewards and helps build their onchain history in the zkSync ecosystem. The more quests you complete, the more quest rewards you become eligible for. Note that even if you have done similar tasks before, you will need to do them again to be eligible on RabbitHole. Here’s how to complete the tasks on RabbitHole:

Make sure you are on the Ethereum network and connect your wallet to RabbitHole.
Swap on Uniswap on Optimism.
Deposit on Exactly on Optimism.

Best zkSync Airdrop Routes?

Here’s some of the best zkSync Airdrop routes so you can make the most of the potential zkSync airdrop and interact with other protocols and possibly get those airdrops too!
Time needed: 1 hour
Typical zkSync airdrop route

Swap ETH for USDC
Swap ETH for USDC using Syncswap
Swap USDC for WETH
Swap USDC for WETH using Mute.io
Swap WETH for USDT
Swap WETH for USDT using Symbiosis
Swap USDT for USDC
Swap USDT for USDC using SpaceFi
Swap USDC for ETH
Swap USDC for ETH using Maverick
Swap ETH for BUSD
Swap ETH for BUSD using Velocore
Swap BUSD for ETH
Swap BUSD for ETH using KyberSwap

How to identify and avoid zkSync airdrop scams

zkSync has not announced its official token yet. However, this has not stopped scammers from enticing unsuspecting victims with airdrops in order to steal their cryptocurrencies. Here are some ways in which you can identify and avoid zkSync airdrop scammers.
Look at social media handles
Many scammers will use social media (e.g. Twitter, Telegram) handles that are confusingly similar to the official ones. For example, spelling the project name incorrectly or using different fonts and hidden characters in the handle. Other fake accounts may have spelled the project name correctly, but has other words behind it e.g. zkSync (@ freetokens). Always check the official zkSync website.
Impersonating admins or mods
Scammers have been known to impersonate admins or mods on zkSync’s official channels. They may send DMs asking for users’ private information in order to “participate” in airdrops, or send you a link asking you to connect your wallet and drain your funds. zkSync admins or mods would not DM users first.
Fake accounts tweeting zkSync airdrop info
There are fake accounts tweeting zkSync token airdrops. However, there is no official announcement yet. Always check the official channels.

ZkSync 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: There is no official announcement for a zkSync $ZKS token airdrop. However, an airdrop is extremely likely given the success of the Arbitrum airdrop.
Airdropped Token Allocation: The tokenomics of their $ZKS token are unknown.
Airdrop Difficulty: The project has not yet released details about any airdrops. However, interacting with their testnet and zkSync Era Mainnet Alpha may give you a chance to get airdrops.
Token Utility: The $ZKS token utility is unknown.
Token Lockup: The $ZKS token lockup period is unknown.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do I participate in the zkSync Airdrop?
Here are some ways to participate in a potential ZkSync airdrop:
1. Add zkSync Era Alpha Mainnet on MetaMask;
2. Bridge funds to zkSync;
3. Interact with zkSync Lite (formerly known as zkSync 1.0) and zkSync Era Mainnet Alpha;
4. Move funds to Orbiter Finance;
5. Trade on ZigZag Exchange;
6. Set up and use Argent Wallet;
7. Test out the Onchain Trade protocol;
8. Donate on Gitcoin; and
9. Complete quests on Crew3.
How many tokens can I get from the zkSync airdrop?
zkSync has not announced details of any potential airdrop yet.
Is there a minimum amount of tokens I can receive from the ZKSync airdrop?
This will depend on the rules of the zkSync airdrop campaign, which has not been announced.
Is there a fee for participating in the ZKSync airdrop?
No, the actions we have listed do not require you to pay any fees.
When is the zkSync airdrop?
zkSync has not announced an airdrop yet, but it is worthwhile to start doing some of the actions now in case zkSync rewards participants retroactively.
Will zkSync do an airdrop?
There is no official announcement for a zkSync $ZKS token airdrop.
How do I prepare for a zkSync airdrop?
Projects often reward early users. Follow our guide to prepare for a potential airdrop.
Does zkSync have a token?
There is no confirmed date for the zkSync token yet, but it is speculated that it would be called $ZKS.
I missed the zkSync whitelist, how can I potentially get a zkSync airdrop?
Currently, only whitelist addresses can deposit on mainnet. However, anyone can use zkSync Lite, add zkSync Era on MetaMask or use its ecosystem. These can be potential ways to get a zkSync airdrop even though they missed the whitelist.
Is there a zkSync ($ZKS) token presale?
There is no official announcement for a zkSync $ZKS token presale.