Layer twos are coming in strong! If you got Optimism’s airdrop today, congratulations. If you didn’t, we have a treat for you.
- Arbitrum airdrop guide
- Bitcoin continues to correlate with traditional markets
- Hot NFT mints today!
How to prepare for the next L2 airdrops.
The Ethereum L2 solution Optimism has announced the release of its token via airdrop for repeat users of the network. If you used Optimism in the past, you’re likely eligible. Check here to see if you qualified.
If you missed this airdrop, don’t fret, there are more opportunities. The L2 airdrops have a good chance of being substantial. The emerging chains will make an aggressive play to onboard users from various L1 competitors, also called a vampiric attack—Yay competition.
One L2 chain that’s evolved quickly and onboarded a large number of Dapps is Arbitrum. It’s attracted major Dapps like Uniswap (UNI), Aave (AAVE), and Balancer (BNT) from Ethereum to join the network. In addition, Binance, Kucoin, FTX, and Bybit have bridges directly to the network. From what I hear, Arbitrum even has its own blossoming NFT market.
Arbitrum Airdrop Preparation Guide:
To reach Arbitrum:
First off, you’ll need some Ethereum (ETH).
You can buy it easily on major exchanges, and the easiest path to the network is to bridge from there (Binance, FTX, Kucoin, and Bybit), where you can access the large array of Dapps in Arbitrum’s portal.
If you already own ETH, use the official Artbitrum Bridge to transfer it to the network. If you don’t already have MetaMask, here are some Artbitrum wallet options. Be aware that once ETH is bridged, the return trip to the Ethereum network is a week-long process. But once you experience the faster speeds and nominal gas fees, you may never want to return.
It’s unclear how Arbitrum will distribute tokens but transacting will undoubtedly be part of the criteria. You can LP or swap on Uniswap (UNI) or SushiSwap (SUSHI). Take loans on your AETH on Aave (AAVE). Buy an NFT at TofuNFT. Or take some trades on SlightShot .
Qualify for the airdrop and receive some NFTs in exchange.
If you transact, there’s a decent chance you’ll qualify. Still, the most effective route is to participate in Artbitrum Odyssey, a program set up to onboard users and reward them with NFTs by transacting with 17 various Dapps. The program is set to begin sometime in May. Follow Arbitrum’s Twitter for updates.
The more you can transact, the better, as volume will likely play a role in token distribution. No dates have been announced for an airdrop yet, but Optimism’s release today poses a strong signal that competitors like Arbitrum aren’t far behind. Better to be prepared!
The fun doesn’t stop there. Tune in tomorrow for airdrop coverage on zkSwap, another L2 with the airdrop potential.
Market update 🌍
The gains from yesterday quickly faded after the broader markets experienced another substantial drop during the US trading session. Nasdaq, the tech sector indices, continues to plummet (down -2.98%) behind a mixed bag of earnings from some of its top stocks. Unfortunately for us, crypto and traditional markets are strongly correlated for now. Many experts, such as Pantera Capital, predict a decoupling will eventually ensue. Until then, we have to live with the correlation.
Source: Trading View
Our hopes of maintaining the uptrend in bitcoin took a hit after bitcoin dropped -4.99% to US$38,300 in the US session. On a good note, the max pain of BTC options currently rests at $41k for the major April 28 expiration. The next following monthly expiration, on May 26, is currently priced at $42k, which holds promise for maintaining current support levels on the BTC charts. (chart below) Price tends to gravitate towards max pain the closer to expiration.
Source: Coin Options Track
| US markets close | Gain |
| S&P 500 | -2.81% |
| Nasdaq | -2.98% |
| Dow | -1.03% |
| VIX | +24.07% |
Notable Gainers (24h)
| Protocol (Coin) | Price ($) | Gain (%) |
| Radix (XRD) | 0.12 | +3 |
| ApeCoin (APE) | 18.48 | +3 |
| Pocket Network (POKT) | 0.55 | +8 |
| 0x (ZRX) | 0.83 | +8 |
| Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index | 27 Fear (+4) |
| “Crypto” Google Trends | 46 |
| “Bitcoin” Google Trends | 33 (-3) |
Newswatch 📰
Yet another crypto fund. Joe McCann, formerly of Microsoft, looks to raise US$1b with commitments from a16z and Anatoly Yakovenko and many other significant personalities for a crypto-based investment fund.
News tidbits:
- NY bans further bitcoin mining
- Launch of institutional crypto exchange
- Kraken exchange receives a full financial license in UAE
On-chain ⛓
Tidbits:
- Ox Labs raises $70m in series B.
- EVMOS delays mainet launch for 24 hours.
NFT & metaverse update 🐵
Notable Mints:
| Project | Type | Mint price | Date of mint | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imaginary Ones | PFP | Dutch / 50% of whitelist | April 27 | 11:00 PM EST |
| Ragnarok | Gaming | .05 ETH Dutch | April 27 | Unknown |
| Inferno | Gaming | 0.25 ETH | April 27 | 5:00 PM EST |
Banter’s take
Who doesn’t enjoy a good airdrop?? Just a few days ago, we talked about various opportunities in crypto other than speculating on tokens.
If we step back and look at the big picture, we realize the various networks compete for users and liquidity. All the successful networks/Dapps have utilized multiple tools to reach this goal. Here are a few examples:
- Binance (BNB) offered cheap gas fees when Ethereum gas became too costly for the average user in 2020 and remained one of the most active chains in crypto.
- Uniswap (UNI) airdropped 400 UNI to early adopters and remained the most widely used decentralized exchange (DEX).
- Terra (LUNA) offers a 20% staking return on a stablecoin (UST).
- Solana (SOL) offered fast and cheap transactions for NFTs when the NFT hype brought Ethereum to a halt in 2021.
So yes, the token drops are a considerable cost to pay upfront for these networks, but it’s a form of attracting users to the network. Users are the lifeblood of any protocol. And who benefits from all the competition? In the end, both the protocol and the users.
Gabri
