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Dear Bankless Nation,
Optimism token was announced a few weeks ago with details surrounding the airdrop.
zkSync confirmed their token on their website.
We’ve now checked off two out of the big four Layer 2s tokens.
Arbitrum and StarkNet are next.
While nothing has been confirmed yet, there’s a very strong chance that both of these protocols will follow with their own native tokens in the coming future.
And with token launches, retroactive airdrops have become standard practice.
People have made a lot of money from this by becoming early users.
So how can you make sure you qualify for the next big airdrop?
William speculates on how you could potentially qualify if Arbitrum launches a token.
- Bankless
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Tactic Tuesday
Bankless Writer: William M. Peaster, Bankless contributor and Metaversal writer
How to prepare for Arbitrum airdrops
Arbitrum is Ethereum’s most popular scaling solution to date, and the layer 2 (L2) rollup may be on the verge of unveiling plans for a native token.
This Bankless tactic will walk you through how you might qualify for this speculated airdrop and dApp token releases on Arbitrum.
Goal: Qualify for an Arbitrum token airdrop
Skill: Intermediate
Effort: 30 minutes
ROI: Qualifying for future L2 airdrops
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Getting ready for Arbitrum token airdrops
The “big four” layer-two scaling solutions are Arbitrum, Optimism, StarkNet, and zkSync.
These rollups have more optimizations to come, yet they’re already helping scale Ethereum today, and many analysts expect these L2s will play increasingly pivotal roles in Ethereum’s scaling efforts going forward.
That said, L2s are poised to see influxes of projects and users in the months and years ahead. And as we know from the past couple of years in the cryptoeconomy, where activity goes, tokens follow in short order.
In April 2022, Optimism became the first of the big four L2s to unveil a native token, OP, and associated airdrop plans. Beyond this reveal, only zkSync has tersely confirmed “yes” that it has token plans forthcoming.
As such, it seems all but inevitable that Arbitrum and StarkNet will soon announce their own token strategies. StarkNet is out as an alpha release, while Arbitrum is in beta and is currently the largest L2 per its ~$2.7B TVL, so it’s safe to say that Arbitrum is probably much further along on its token plans.
Additionally, in April 2022 Arbitrum creators Offchain Labs revealed The Arbitrum Odyssey, an 8-week long initiative that will invite users to tour top projects around the L2’s young ecosystem and win free-mint NFTs. Some people, myself included, speculate this program’s participants may figure into a later Arbitrum token airdrop.
In other words? Trying out Arbitrum in the near future may get you in line for a native Arbitrum token airdrop or perhaps boost your allocation if 1) you’ve already tried the L2 before and if 2) Off-chain Labs has already conducted a snapshot (or multiple?) of past activity behind the scenes.
There’s also the dApp layer to consider, i.e. fledgling projects on Arbitrum that haven’t launched their own native tokens yet, so below I’ll walk through some general tips on using Arbitrum, the basics of The Arbitrum Odyssey in case it’s pivotal later, and a few Arbitrum dApps you may want to keep an eye on.
Basic Arbitrum Airdrop Strategies
First things first, you have to move funds to Arbitrum to use the network.
People have speculated for some time that using the Arbitrum One Bridge would be one way to earn a retroactive allocation of Arbitrum’s native token, so this main bridge is a sensible starting point for newcomers.
If you’ve never used Arbitrum before, I recommend:
Adding the Arbitrum network to your wallet via Chainlist
Sending ETH or ERC20 tokens from Ethereum using the Arbitrum One Bridge
Searching the Arbitrum One Portal to find a dapp where you can put some of your funds to work, e.g. Balancer liquidity pools
Zooming out, the Optimism OP user airdrop is going to occur over multiple user distribution events, so you might consider periodically using a cross-chain bridge like Hop to rotate some of your L2 activities between Arbitrum and Optimism and back, etc., for the foreseeable future. This may slot you into earning more OP and an Arbitrum native token allocation.
Preparing for The Arbitrum Odyssey
The Arbitrum Odyssey may factor into a later retroactive Arbitrum token release. That’s 100% speculation for now, but if you’re really looking to cover all your bases for a potential retro, I think trying to keep pace with the 2-month long program is a good idea.
So what is Odyssey?
It’s an initiative through which users can be allowlisted for free-mint NFTs designed by Tubby Cats artists Ratwell and Sugoi in exchange for trying out certain projects on Arbitrum during certain weeks. Offchain Labs has explained:
“The Arbitrum ecosystem is vast and for many, unexplored, so what better way to start exploring and claim exclusive NFTs in the process. Users will have a chance to not only experience the different projects built on top of Arbitrum throughout this journey, but be rewarded in doing so. At the end, any user who has collected at least 12 of the 15 NFTs will receive the most exclusive and final arbi-verse NFT, designed of course by Ratwell and Sugoi.”
The dApps that will be included in the program have already been decided via Snapshot votes. Set to begin this month, the Odyssey’s schedule is as follows:
Week 1: Bridge Week
Week 2: Yield Protocol and Hashflow
Week 3: Aboard Exchange and TofuNFT
Week 5: 1inch and Izumi/Yin Finance
Week 7: TreasureDAO and Battlefly
Week 8: Ideamarket and Sushi
The big idea?
To try the aforementioned apps (per specific tasks that will be outlined per week) on Arbitrum during their showcasing in order to rack up the associated free-mint NFTs, with 12 being good enough to unlock the final prize NFT. First up is Bridge Week, which will reward users for trying one of the nearly 20 Arbitrum-compatible bridges live today. Users who try the bridge that gets the most volume on the week will earn a bonus NFT, too!
Offchain Labs hasn’t announced an official launch date for the Odyssey yet, though mid-May has been the target so it could come any day now. Follow the Arbitrum Twitter account or join the Arbitrum Discord to stay up to date with the latest news around the event.
12 token-less Arbitrum dApps to watch
There are a handful of dapps that currently offer Arbitrum support and don’t have a released token yet. I have no idea if/when the projects below will unveil tokenomics strategies or if these strategies will be Arbitrum-centric, but you may consider trying them out on the L2 in the near future just in case.
Here are some ideas:
Across — an L1-L2 bridging protocol
Risk Harbor — a web3 risk management marketplace
Cozy Finance — a DeFi deposit protection protocol
Zapper — a web3 asset management platform
Slingshot — an L2 decentralized exchange
Gnosis Safe — a solution for multi-signature transactions (note: more info here)
Hashflow — a cross-chain swapping protocol (note: more info here)
Volmex — a protocol for creating implied volatility derivatives (warning: not available to U.S. users)
Orbiter Finance — a cross-rollup bridging protocol (warning: small TVL)
Preddy Finance — a derivatives vault protocol (warning: small TVL)
Twister Cash — a Tornado Cash fork designed for mixing FRAX (warning: for advanced users)
Conclusion
Arbitrum is an amazing piece of technology whose ecosystem has a bright future. Whether an Arbitrum token is coming any time soon remains to be seen, though it seems inevitable it will arrive eventually. In the meantime, it makes sense to dive deeper into the Arbitrum ecosystem. In doing so you’ll help bootstrap a promising rollup, expand your L2 skill tree, find new crypto products, and potentially be rewarded with later airdrops.
Wins all around, in my opinion.
Action steps
🌉 Use the Arbitrum One Bridge
🆕 Participate in The Arbitrum Odyssey event
🔥 Check out our previous Arbitrum tactic, 5 opportunities on Arbitrum right now
Author Bio
William M. Peaster is a professional writer and creator of Metaversal—a new Bankless newsletter focused on the emergence of NFTs in the cryptoeconomy. He’s also recently been contributing content to Bankless, JPG, and beyond!
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Not financial or tax advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This newsletter is not tax advice. Talk to your accountant. Do your own research.
Disclosure. From time-to-time I may add links in this newsletter to products I use. I may receive commission if you make a purchase through one of these links. Additionally, the Bankless writers hold crypto assets. See our investment disclosures here.
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