Weekly Project Updates: LayerZero Initiates Sybil Hunt Operation, Eigenlayer Launches First Season Airdrop, Acquisition of Mirror, etc
1. LayerZero: Phase One Network Snapshot Completed, Sybil Hunt Operation Initiate link
On May 2nd, LayerZero Labs announced via Twitter that they had completed the Phase One snapshot at UTC time 11:59:59 PM on May 1st, 2024. LayerZero indicated that more details would be forthcoming soon, suggesting another large-scale project involving airdrops and token issuance. LayerZero Labs secured funding in 2023 with an estimated valuation of $3 billion, with investors including Multicoin, Binance Labs, a16z, and Sequoia Capital.
On May 4th, LayerZero tweeted that token distribution would prioritize loyal users (rather than witch users) in alignment with protocol best interests. For sybil users, two options were presented: voluntarily report witch addresses before May 17th to receive an expected 15% allocation, or risk being flagged by LayerZero’s internal witch-hunting efforts or bounty hunters, after which reporting would be invalid and no tokens would be received. Activities considered witchcraft included minting “worthless” NFTs solely for cross-chain transfers, using popular “witch mining” apps like Merkly, L2Pass, L2Marathon, and repeatedly bridging small amounts like $0.01 across different chains.
Notably, Merkly is listed as part of LayerZero’s ecosystem on their official website. Merkly advisor and KOL CC2 expressed skepticism via Twitter, suggesting that the LayerZero airdrop might be a scam.
2. Eigenlayer Releases Whitepaper on GitHub and Launches Airdrop Claim Page link
Eigenlayer released its whitepaper on GitHub this week, detailing the EIGEN token structure. Additionally, Eigenlayer launched an airdrop claiming page, set to open on May 10th. The total supply of EIGEN tokens is 1.67 billion. The foundation has allocated 45% of the tokens to its community, including staking rewards (15%), community programs (15%), and ecosystem development (15%). Furthermore, 29.5% of the tokens have been allocated to investors, with early contributors receiving 25.5%.
Following the whitepaper release and community feedback, the Eigen Foundation shared plans to distribute additional EIGEN tokens to the community. Users who interacted with EigenLayer before April 29th will receive an extra 100 EIGEN tokens. This additional airdrop will be reflected in allocations applied for after May 10th. After a simple Sybil filtering process, all Season 1 users will receive at least 110 EIGEN tokens. Season 2 users who started staking between March 15th and April 29th will also receive at least 100 EIGEN tokens. Users staking after April 29th are not included.
EIGEN tokens will unlock upon the launch of new features and further decentralization, targeting deployment on the mainnet by September 30, 2024. The community will have the authority to vote and decide on the activation of transferability. Testnet user allocations are forthcoming, with missed testnet user allocations to be updated in Season 1’s second phase.
3. L2 Network Mode Announces Governance Token MODE Launch on May 7 link
Mode, an L2 network built on the OP Stack, has announced the launch of its governance token MODE on May 7. The total supply of MODE tokens is 10 billion, with 5.5% dedicated to the first of two user airdrops. The second airdrop will distribute an additional 500 million tokens from May 5 to September 6. 38% of the token supply is allocated to investors and core contributors, 27% to the foundation treasury, and the remaining 35% to users and developers.
4. BNB Chain Launches Second Quarter Airdrop Alliance Program link
BNB Chain has announced the launch of its second season Airdrop Alliance Program, featuring 7 partner projects including StakeStone, World of Dypians, Cards Ahoy, 4Everland, Ridom, Carv, and Engines of Fury. This program will reward active users in the BNB Chain ecosystem with airdrops. According to the rules, users can qualify for Level 1 by staking at least 1 BNB token on BNB Smart Chain or using the staking migration tool to move BNB tokens from Beacon Chain to BSC before the snapshot time at 8:00 AM Beijing time on May 15. To qualify for Level 2, users need to stake at least 5 BNB tokens on BSC.
5. MakerDAO to Launch Two New Tokens: NewStable (NST) and NewGovToken (NGT) link
MakerDAO has announced the launch of two new tokens: NewStable (NST) and NewGovToken (NGT). NewStable represents an upgraded version of Dai, while NewGovToken offers a refined governance approach within the MakerDAO ecosystem. Dai holders can seamlessly upgrade to NewStable, and each Maker token (MKR) can be exchanged for 24,000 NGT. These new features represent an expansion and will not replace the existing Dai (DAI) and Maker (MKR) tokens.
6. Borderless Capital Launches $50 Million Wormhole Cross-Chain Ecosystem Fund link
Wormhole has announced its ecosystem plan, which includes three main components: the Wormhole Accelerator, Cross-Chain Ecosystem Fund, and xGrant Program. Borderless Capital has launched a $50 million Cross-Chain Ecosystem Fund aimed at developing next-generation Web3 applications. The Wormhole Accelerator Base Camp is a 12-week accelerator program designed for projects, protocols, or startups looking to leverage Wormhole, operated by Outlier Ventures. Participating teams can receive funding of up to $200,000. The Wormhole xGrant is open for applications and targets developers or teams seeking support for their projects.
7. Web3 Content Publishing Platform Mirror Announces Acquisition by Paragraph link
Web3 content publishing platform Mirror has announced its acquisition by Paragraph. Despite this, the Mirror team will continue to operate independently, shifting its focus to developing a new application called “Kiosk.” This application combines blockchain technology with e-commerce functionality, built on the Farcaster protocol.
In addition to the Mirror acquisition, Web3 publishing platform Paragraph has raised $5 million in new financing from Union Square Ventures and Coinbase Ventures. Colin Armstrong, founder of Paragraph, will serve as CEO, while Mirror founder Denis Nazarov will take on an advisory role. Reflective Technologies Inc., the parent company of Mirror, revealed that it has raised $10 million from Electric Capital, with additional investments from a16z crypto, Union Square Ventures, and Variant to support the development of the new product, Kiosk.
8. April Bitcoin NFT (including BRC-20) Trading Volume Reaches Approximately $570 Million link
In April, the Bitcoin NFT (including BRC-20) trading volume reached approximately $570 million, marking the second consecutive month with trading volume exceeding $500 million. The number of trading users reached 452,000, setting a new monthly record. The pre-Runes concept Runestone achieved a monthly trading volume of $170 million, surpassing BAYC. Additionally, the multi-chain NFT trading platform Magic Eden recorded a trading volume of $724 million in April, generating $14.6 million in revenue, surpassing Blur and OpenSea. Approximately 60%-70% of the trading volume on Magic Eden was concentrated in Bitcoin-related transactions.
9. MicroStrategy Develops Decentralized Identity Protocol MicroStrategy Orange Based on Ordinals Protocol link
At the annual MicroStrategy World conference held in Las Vegas, MicroStrategy co-founder and CEO Michael Saylor unveiled the open-source MicroStrategy Orange decentralized identity protocol. According to the MicroStrategy Orange documentation, the decentralized identity protocol uses an enhanced method to treat ciphertext as ordinals, storing only data relevant to decentralized identities (DIDs).
10. TokenUnlocks: Large Value Unlocks in May Exceed $3.661 Billion link
In May, there are significant unlocks (unlocks exceeding $10 million) for tokens such as DYDX, ENA, SUI, MEME, GAL, MAVIA, APT, STRK, AEVO, ARB, APE, IMX, ROSE, PIXEL, PYTH, AVAX, ID, YGG, OP, PRIME, and others, totaling an unlocked value exceeding $3.661 billion. Among these, AEVO and PYTH have unlock values exceeding $1 billion each, with the unlocked token quantities exceeding 100% of the current circulating supply for both AEVO and PYTH.
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