Farmers seize Ethereum Layer 2 token release through scroll airdrop

CoinDesk Report:
Ethereum
Layer 2 network Scroll just launched SCR, a highly anticipated airdrop event, but some obvious beneficiaries expressed regrets over the event.
The project’s initial airdrop distributed 5.5% of the total supply of SCR, which is 55 million tokens out of 1 billion, to early users who have contributed to the ecosystem, according to a blog post by the team.
In its announcement, Scroll stated that out of this number, 40 million SCR was awarded to on-chain participants who obtained 200 or more Scroll tokens or points through the use of the second layer scaling solution. Another 1% was evenly distributed to eligible wallets, and an additional 0.5% was allocated as a “bonus” to individuals who met certain criteria.
However, some users were not pleased, and crypto Twitter (aka X) was flooded with memes and complaints about the allegedly meager amounts they received.
“One of the worst airdrops ever”
wrote
anonymous Twitter user and Ethereum user DYOR.eth, claiming that they dumped the tokens and completely abandoned Scroll. Twitter user Joshyy posted a thread about the upcoming airdrop, amassing quite a following,
calling it
“the worst airdrop by far.” Other tweets mocked the claims about the expected scale and value of the Scroll airdrop.
New projects use airdrops to attract users by distributing free tokens or coins, hoping to grow their community and reward early users and contributors.
However, the practice of “airdrop farming” has become increasingly common, as some users try to maximize their rewards by using multiple different wallet addresses and/or repeating certain tasks and activities they believe will increase token allocations.
Some of these users and farmers have been complaining about receiving small amounts of cryptocurrency in airdrops, despite their participation in a project’s community. Similar complaints arose when the game Hamster Kombat launched its highly anticipated airdrop in September, with some describing the moderate rewards as “dust.”
SCR tokens plummet in value after airdrop: CoinGecko data shows that SCR has fallen 16% since the airdrop, with prices dropping to $1.17. This is common for newly launched tokens, which can be highly volatile, especially when airdrop recipients cash in and traders may buy in the frenzy.
Scroll did not immediately respond to
decrypt’s
questions about the airdrop.
Scroll is one of the many Layer 2 networks on Ethereum. These networks aim to improve the functionality of the chain by essentially relying on the security of the main network while offering benefits such as cheaper and faster transactions.
Ethereum is the blockchain behind the second-largest cryptocurrency,
ETH
, but the network has sometimes been difficult to use due to slow and expensive transactions during peak times. Recently, the popularity of Layer 2 networks has surged to the point where some industry observers believe they are siphoning value away from ETH despite other benefits.
Editor
Andrew Hayward