The LayerZero Foundation recently announced that it will open ZRO tokens for claiming at 11:00 AM (UTC) on June 20. As the native asset of the LayerZero protocol, the launch of ZRO marks a key step for the protocol towards publicly owned, immutable infrastructure.
Introduction to the LayerZero Protocol
LayerZero is a full-chain interoperability protocol that supports censorship-resistant messaging and permissionless development through immutable smart contracts called Endpoints. Since the release of V1 in 2022, hundreds of developers have built applications and thousands of users have interacted with the protocol, resulting in more than 200 applications sending more than 130 million messages and $50 billion in transaction volume on more than 70 blockchains.
ZRO Token Economics
The supply of ZRO tokens is fixed at 1 billion, with the following allocation breakdown:
38.3% allocated to the LayerZero community, including users, developers, and community members
32.2% allocated to strategic partners, with an unlock period of 3 years
25.5% allocated to core contributors, with an unlock period of 3 years
4.0% token buyback, committed to the community
Community Allocation
The community allocation of 383,000,000 ZRO is intended to reward early, current, and future developers and users of LayerZero. The specific allocations are as follows:
Retroactive Program: 8.5% of the ZRO supply will be available to eligible participants on June 20
Future Program: 15.3% of the ZRO supply will be reserved for direct distribution to users and community members through methods such as snapshots and RFPs
Ecosystem and Growth: 14.5% of the ZRO supply will be used for ecosystem growth, grant programs, and liquidity allocation
Strategic Partners and Core Contributors
Strategic partners and core contributors are subject to a three-year lockup period, with one year of full lockup and two years of monthly unlocking. Strategic partners include investors and advisors, while core contributors include current and future LayerZero Labs employees.
Repurchased Tokens
4.0% of the ZRO supply has been repurchased by LayerZero Labs and committed to the community pool.
Token Mechanics
ZRO holders will always control the accumulation of protocol fees. A public on-chain referendum is held every six months, allowing ZRO holders to vote to activate or deactivate the protocol's fee switch. The fees that the LayerZero protocol may charge are equal to the total cost of cross-chain message verification and execution.
Eligibility Requirements
LayerZero is one of the most widely used protocols ever, with nearly 6 million unique wallet addresses interacting with it. To ensure long-term users are rewarded and maximize alignment with the protocol, LayerZero has implemented multiple processes to identify and adjust these users.
Sybil Filtering
In Phase 1, Sybil users had 14 days to self-report and receive 15% of their expected allocation. In Phase 2, bounty hunters can report Sybil activity and receive 10% of the expected allocation of identified addresses. Through bounty hunting, self-reporting, and collaboration with Nansen and Chaos Labs, approximately 10,000,000 ZRO were exempted from allocation to Sybil addresses.
Request for Proposal (RFP)
The protocol RFP is for projects that deploy OApp, OFT, or ONFT contracts on mainnet before snapshot #1. Ultimately, 211 proposals were approved, totaling 3% of the total ZRO supply.
Conclusion: The launch of the ZRO token is not only an important milestone for the LayerZero protocol, but also a major breakthrough in the field of blockchain interoperability. Through a fair distribution mechanism and strict qualification review, LayerZero will continue to promote the development and growth of its ecosystem.