The LayerZero airdrop briefly increased the number of messages being sent on the cross-chain communication network as users claimed ZRO. The airdrop was often discussed due to the anti-Sybil used to determine allocations and the $0.10 donation to Protocol Guild required to claim each token.
While the launch of the ZRO token did not seem to help revive the stagnant LayerZero network after the announcement that the airdrop snapshot had been taken, other protocols were able to generate revenue.
Arbitrum earned $3.38 million on June 20th, the day the ZRO airdrop claiming began. This was the highest-earning day in rollup history and a sharp turnaround from the tens of thousands of dollars the network typically earns post-Dencun.
As a reminder, the revenue generated on Ethereum Layer 2 comes from the fees paid on these networks. While many rollups have seen their revenues decline since Dencun because users pay lower fees, many scaling solutions have seen their revenues increase since the cost of publishing data to the Ethereum mainnet has dropped dramatically.
Arbitrum’s high fees indicate that there is a high demand for Arbitrum block space, and that users are willing to pay a premium to execute transactions on the network.
This makes sense, given that Arbitrum was the coordination chain for the LayerZero token claims contract, meaning that claims could be processed atomically on Arbitrum, while other networks that enabled claims would have to use cross-chain messages on the LayerZero network to facilitate claims.
Naturally, when the token was launched, many users flocked to Arbitrum to claim their stake, causing the median gas price on the network to soar from 0.01 gwei at the start of the day to a peak of 34.7 gwei, which in turn caused transaction fees to skyrocket.
It is not uncommon for airdrop claimers to want to receive their tokens as soon as possible, especially if they plan to sell their allocation. Many tokens, like ZRO, face a steep sell-off after distribution, creating the need to claim and sell tokens as quickly as possible to secure the best possible price.
This phenomenon did not last long, and on June 21st, Arbitrum had only earned $51,000, which was within the network’s normal range. However, on June 20th, Arbitrum only paid $37,820 to publish the data to the Ethereum mainnet, which allowed it to keep most of the millions it had brought in, and helped to increase the DAO’s coffers.
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