The Ultimate ZkSync Airdrop Guide — 6 Part Guide. Part 2— DEFI Platforms.
This is the second part of a very long and comprehensive tutorial on how to farm the zkSync Airdrop.
If you have just come across this article then please read the first article in the series:
Now assuming you have read and acted on that, we will now move onto one of the largest parts of any Crypto ecosystem — DEFI protocols!
UPDATE ADDED 22/02/2024 — Paymaster sites added to article. Paymaster has been getting a fair amount of attention recently so I have updated this article to flag those protocols that have Paymaster functionality.
DEFI
Swapping tokens is an excellent way to generate real volume on a chain. Each activity is considered a transaction and generates volume on chain and using different Dapps ensures you are using unique smart contracts.
Looking at Arbitrum again the following activities would have delivered rewards using swaps:
- Conducted transactions during two distinct months
- Conducted transactions during six distinct months
- Conducted transactions during nine months
- Conducted more than four transactions or interacted with more than four different smart contracts
- Conducted more than ten transactions or interacted with more than ten different smart contracts
- Conducted more than 25 transactions or interacted with more than 25 different smart contracts
- Conducted more than 100 transactions or interacted with more than 100 different smart contracts
- Conducted transactions exceeding in the aggregate $10,000 in value
- Conducted transactions exceeding in the aggregate $50,000 in value
- Conducted transactions exceeding in the aggregate $250,000 in value
The following sites will enable you to swap in order to generate volume and transactions as well as utilise multiple smart contracts all of which will help your build your rewards from any potential zkSync airdrop that may occur.
This article assumes enough knowledge to conduct a swap or add liquidity to a Pool and will focus on the most important protocols, with lesser known protocols being given a noticeable mention.
This article is not intended to be financial advice but rather what I am working through and I am sharing this in case you may find it useful to your own airdrop efforts.
Let’s kick off our DEFI section with an OG in the crypto space!
🪂 Airdrop related actions:
- Swapping
❌ Token Opportunity:
- Has existing “$1inch” token
💬 Socials: Website — Twitter — Discord
Launch in 2019, 1inch is a real OG in the crypto DEFI space. ETH can be swapped for many tokens on the zkSync network.
Swapping is very simple, just connect your wallet to the zkSync chain, select the token you wish to swap from (shown under You Pay) and then select the token you wish to swap to (shown under You Receive). Then just click on swap, confirm the transaction and wait for it to be processed.
Once completed you have generated one transaction and whatever swap volume you made on the zkSync network.
Possible swap option:
SWAP $ETH FOR $USDC on zkSyncThe next 3 protocols are the top 3 DEFI sites (by unique wallets) currently on zkSync:
2. Syncswap — https://syncswap.xyz/
🪂 Airdrop related actions:
- Swapping
- Liquidity Pools
- Uses Paymaster — pay with other tokens for gas
✔ Token Opportunity:
- Currently tokenless! However “$SYNC” token confirmed for future
💬 Socials: Website — Twitter — Discord
To do a swap just click on Trade and swap your tokens. Syncswap uses Paymaster so feel free to change your gas token as you swap — this may be beneficial to any upcoming zksync airdrop.
In addition, you can click on Pools and add liquidity via the Pool Wizard. Not only do you earn a yield on the liquidity but it could be a multiplier on any possible airdrop.
In general, if you are farming on a budget and don’t want to tie up your funds then try and keep liquidity in your chosen pool for at least 3 days, any less than that and you may limit the chances of providing liquidity being a multiplier. Usually the longer you leave the liquidity in the better your chances.
Consider leaving some funds in one of the top 3 protocols until a snapshot is announced. It separates you from the Sybils as they don’t want their funds stuck for too long. Also a protocol might reward on the length of time you provided liquidity for.
For open disclosure, I’m providing long term liquidity to a pool on Syncswap. I believe it helps with my zkSync numbers but also if SyncSwap launch a token I may be doubling up my airdrop opportunity with both zkSync and Syncswap at play.
You can of course add in a small amount of liquidity for other sites in this list but remove it after a few days to keep yourself liquid.
Possible swap option:
SWAP $ETH FOR $USDC on zkSyncPossible liquidity position (optional):
Add $15 USDC & $15 ETH into Liquidity Pool to create $30 total position3. Mute.io — https://app.mute.io/swap
🪂 Airdrop related actions:
- Swapping
- Adding Liquidity
- Uses Paymaster — pay with other tokens for gas
❌ Token Opportunity:
- Has existing “$MUTE” token
💬 Socials: Website — Twitter — Discord
Mute boasts having nearly 300K unique wallets interacting with it over the last 30 days.
To do a swap, click on the Swap menu item in the top menu. Mute uses Paymaster so feel free to select another token to use for gas.
Possible swap option:
SWAP $USDC FOR $MUTE on zkSyncPossible liquidity position (optional):
Add $15 USDC & $15 ETH into Liquidity Pool to create $30 total position4. Odos — https://app.odos.xyz/
🪂 Airdrop related actions: Swap
✔ Currently tokenless! Could launch one in the future
💬 Socials: Website — Twitter — Discord
Although Odos is a simple swap site it has a growing user base. You can swap back the $MUTE you just swapped $USDC for.
Possible swap option:
SWAP $MUTE FOR $USDC on zkSync5. Pancake Swap — https://pancakeswap.finance/swap?chain=zkSync
🪂 Airdrop related actions:
- Swapping
- Adding Liquidity
- Yield Farming
❌ Token Opportunity:
- Has existing “$CAKE” token
💬 Socials: Website — Twitter — Discord
The largest DEX on Binance Smart Chain is also one of the largest DEXs on zkSync, allowing users to swap and add liquidity to Pools & Farms to earn a return.
If you swap to $CAKE, you can also bridge $CAKE between Binance Smart Chain and zkSync via Stargate improving your LayerZero chances further.
Possible swap option:
SWAP $USDC FOR $CAKE on zkSyncPossible liquidity position (optional):
Add $15 USDC & $15 ETH into Liquidity Pool to create $30 total position6. Maverick Protocol — https://app.mav.xyz/?chain=324
🪂 Airdrop related actions:
- Swapping
❌ Token Opportunity:
- Has existing “$MAV” token
💬 Socials: Website — Twitter — Discord
According to their Linkedin profile:
Maverick Protocol is a new infrastructure for decentralized finance, built to facilitate the most liquid markets for traders, liquidity providers, DAO treasuries, and developers, powered by a revolutionary Automated Market Maker (AMM).
What we are most interested in is its swapping capabilities. At the time of writing this article you can swap 28 tokens. The token that is of most interest to us is $MAV its native token, as their is always a possibility of an $MAV airdrop in the future.
Just click the Swap link in the menu and select your swap from and swap to options.
Possible swap option:
SWAP $USDC FOR $MAV on zkSyncAs stated above $MAV is one of only 2 tokens that can be bridged on zkSync via Stargate.Finance so swapping for $MAV then bridging via Stargate is a good way to gain extra unique contracts.
7. Velocore — https://zksync.velocore.xyz/swap
🪂 Airdrop related actions:
- Swapping
- Liquidity Pools
- Uses Paymaster — pay with other tokens for gas
❌ Token Opportunity:
- Has existing “$VC” token
💬 Socials: Website — Twitter — Discord
Velocore is a low-slippage DEX that has the following features; swap, yield farm, and launchpad. Velocore has access to significant liquidity as its integrated with a number of liquidity providers.
As zkSync airdrop farmers we are most interested in Swapping and Liquidity Pool features.
In addition, Velocore supports Paymaster which is a feature that allows you to pay gas fees via a variety of tokens not just ETH. Using Paymaster could be a multiplier for any upcoming airdrop so its worth using.
Possible swap option:
SWAP $ETH FOR $USDC on zkSync
*** Use a different token than ETH for gas fees as an airdrop farming
bonus activity***Possible liquidity position (optional):
Add $15 USDC & $15 ETH into Liquidity Pool to create $30 total position8. SpaceFi — https://swap-zksync.spacefi.io/#/swap
🪂 Airdrop related actions:
- Swapping
- Liquidity Pools
❌ Token Opportunity:
- Has existing “$SPACE” token
💬 Socials: Website — Twitter — Discord
SpaceFi is currently available on zkSync, Scroll and Evmos chains. Its ultimate vision is to connect Cosmos and Ethereum Layer2 ecosystems.
And although it wont win any awards for great design, SpaceFi has a lot of features including swapping, liquidity, launchpad & NFTs.
Possible swap option:
SWAP $ETH FOR $SPACE on zkSyncPossible liquidity position (optional):
Add $15 SPACE & $15 ETH into Liquidity Pool to create $30 total position9. zkSwap Finance — https://zkswap.finance/swap
🪂 Airdrop related actions:
- Swapping
- Liquidity Pools
- Yield Farming
- Staking
- Uses Paymaster — pay with other tokens for gas
❌ Token Opportunity:
- Has existing “$ZF” token
💬 Socials: Website — Twitter — Discord
According to the zkSwap Finance website;
zkSwap Finance is the top DeFi AMM DEX on zkSync Era, an Ethereum Layer 2 zk rollup. zkSwap offers Swap to Earn Trade, Liquidity & Launchpad…
zkSwap is a bit of an one stop airdrop shop — with multiple ways of registering transactions on the zksync network. There is swapping, adding to liquidity pools, yield farming and staking. One additional benefit to swapping on zkSwap is that you are earn ZF rewards when doing certain actions like swapping, adding liquidity etc…
You can also use ZF tokens for gas as the site utilises the Paymaster feature.
Possible swap option:
SWAP $ETH FOR $ZF on zkSyncPossible liquidity position (optional):
Add $15 ZF & $15 ETH into Liquidity Pool to create $30 total position10. Izumi Finance — https://izumi.finance/trade/swap
🪂 Airdrop related actions:
- Swapping
- Liquidity Pools
❌ Token Opportunity:
- Has existing “$IZI” token
💬 Socials: Website — Twitter — Discord
iZumi has two main features that will allow airdrop hunters drive transactions on-chain.
Approximately 25–30 different tokens can be swapped via the Swap page which can be accessed via https://izumi.finance/trade/swap.
In addition, liquidity can be added via https://izumi.finance/trade/add-liquidity or just click on the Liquidity menu link if you are already on site. APR’s are very strong with USDC/WETH Pool earning up to 53% APR at the time of writing.
Possible swap option:
SWAP $ETH FOR $USDC on zkSyncPossible liquidity position (optional):
Add $15 USDC & $15 WETH into Liquidity Pool to create $30 total position11.Fulcrom Finance — https://fulcrom.finance/en/
🪂 Airdrop related actions:
- Swapping
- Staking
✔ Currently tokenless! Could launch one in the future
💬 Socials: Website — Twitter — Discord
Swapping and Staking are the main airdrop activities for us on Fulcrom.
Swapping is a little fiddly to find on Fulcrom so follow these steps to be able to conduct a swap on Fulcrum.
Step 1: Click on Trade in the main menu
Step 2: Click on the Swap button in the Market Trade component located on the right hand side.
Once selected another pop up will appear where you can choose your tokens to swap. You can swap only BTC, ETH, WETH, USDC & USDT on Fulcrom.
It also gives you an option to swap via Syncswap but to get the unique contract we’ll stay and swap on Fulcrum.
From a staking standpoint you can stake $FUL, $FLP & esFUL via the Earn link in the top menu tab. Oddly you have to buy these tokens either via Fiat On-Ramp or Via Syncswap as opposed to being able to swap for them on Fulcrum.
Possible swap option:
SWAP $USDC FOR $USDT on zkSync12. SpaceSwap — https://spaceswap.tech/
🪂 Airdrop related actions:
- Swapping
✔ Currently tokenless! Could launch one in the future
💬 Socials: Website — Twitter — Discord
SpaceSwap is a both a Multichain bridge and a DEX aggregator. If you select different tokens but on the same chain (as shown below) it will go off and find the best swap rates across a number of DEXs. In the example below I want to swap ETH to USDC on zkSync and SpaceSwap has recommended 3 sites to conduct the swap on.
In this case SpaceSwap has recommended I do the swap on 1inch as it has the best rates.
There is a Gas Refuel option also however it doesn’t cover zkSync so its of not benefit to us at this time.
Possible swap option:
SWAP $ETH FOR $USDC on zkSync13. Kyberswap — https://kyberswap.com/swap
🪂 Airdrop related actions:
- Swapping
- Liquidity Pools
❌ Has existing “$KNC” token
💬 Socials: Website — Twitter — Discord
Kyberswap has been around for a while and is probably my go-to DEX, especially on Arbitrum as I prefer it over Camelot DEX.
Two options on Kyberswap for airdrop hunters are swapping and providing liquidity.
To swap go to https://kyberswap.com/swap and the swap panel appears on the left hand side. Enter the token you are swapping from and the token you are swapping to and hit the swap button.
To provide liquidity, click on the Earn link in the main menu and then select Pools.
Keyberswap has a few few pools to add your liquidity into, however the APR’s are not that enticing compared to some others we have already covered above. The highest APR is 5.64% for a KNCL/KNC pool but we are looking to get a zksync transaction so maybe keep it simple and add your liquidity to a ETH/USDT or USDC/USDT pool for just 3–4 days to have the transaction count.
Possible swap option:
SWAP $ETH FOR $USDC on zkSyncPossible liquidity position (optional):
Add $15 USDC & $15 USDC into Liquidity Pool to create $30 total position14. Derivio — https://derivio.xyz/trade/swap/ETH-USD
🪂 Airdrop related actions:
- Swapping
- Staking
✔ Currently tokenless! However docs mention “DRV” governance token so possible option for the future.
💬 Socials: Website — Twitter — Discord
To access the swap feature either click Trade on the main menu and then select Spot, or simply select Swap in the left hand trading panel.
You can then select the tokens you wish to swap from and to.
To access the staking option select Earn from the main menu and then select Stake.
Staking is available but only for the DPLM token, which you have to mint first by swapping from BTC, USDC, USDT, ETH or DAI. Once minted it automatically stakes the DPLM token.
You can unstake and swap back at any time, again if you can leave it in for 3–4 days.
Possible swap option:
SWAP $USDC FOR $ETH on zkSyncPossible staking option (optional):
Mint $2 $DLPM and stake for 3-4 days15. Zyfi — https://zyfi.org/swap
🪂 Airdrop related actions:
- Swapping
- Uses Paymaster — pay with other tokens for gas
✔ Currently tokenless! Could launch one in the future
💬 Socials: Website — Twitter — Discord
With Zyfi is a simple dex where you can swap tokens on zkSync with no gas fees.
Apart from gasless transactions Zyfi offers the ability to swap from a great selection of tokens from across the zkSync ecosystem, including many tokens from protocols mentioned in this article!
To make a swap click on the first Select Token drop down on the swap screen and choose from a variety of tokens to swap from, the select the second Select Token drop down to chose the token you are swapping to.
Zyfi utlises the paymaster feature so feel free to choose another token to use as gas.
ZyFi doesn’t have a token as yet, however looking into the FAQs we see this:
Make of that what you will!
Possible swap option:
SWAP $ETH FOR $USDC on zkSync16. https://app.overnight.fi/swap
🪂 Airdrop related actions:
- Swapping
❌ Has existing “$OVN” token
💬 Socials: Website — Twitter — Discord
Overnight is the DeFi protocol behind USD+, a yield generating stablecoin.
Although with Overnight you can swap from a number of tokens you can only swap into USD+, a stablecoin.
To conduct a swap, select a token under the Swap From section and then select USD+ (its the only option) under Swap To Overnight and complete the transaction.
Possible swap option:
SWAP $ETH FOR $USD+ on zkSync17 . Peaceout — https://peaceout.tech/trade
🪂 Airdrop related actions:
- Swapping (Coming Soon)
- Mint NFT
✔ Currently tokenless! PCT token covered in tokenomics section of docs
According to the Peaceout docs:
Peaceout is a decentralized exchange (DEX) platform, providing users with a secure and efficient environment for trading a wide range of digital assets including tokens and NFTs.
However as per their roadmap the swap feature is not launched yet, but looks like it is coming soon so I have added it here for you to refer back to in the coming weeks. Currently, only ETH, USDT, WETH and MAV can be swapped.
When its operational to complete a swap just select Trade from the main menu, then select the token you wish to swap from and then the token you wish to swap to.
Although this section is dedicated to Defi, you can also mint a CyberSymphony Set NFT to add another unique zkSync transaction. This feature is available now.
To do this click on NFT on the main menu and the then click on the Mint button and complete the transaction.
Possible swap option (when operational):
SWAP $ETH FOR $USDC on zkSyncPossible Mint option
Mint CyberSyphony Set NFT
** Please note that on the date of when you read this article
another NFT may be shown **18. Ezkalibur — https://dapp.ezkalibur.com/
🪂 Airdrop related actions:
- Swapping
- Liquidity Pools
- Staking
❌ Has existing “$SWORD” token
💬 Socials: Website — Twitter — Discord
Ezkaliber is a ecosystem-focused and community-driven DEX and Launchpad that utlises its native $SWORD token. For our zksync activity we’’l focus on the swapping and liquidity pool features.
The swap feature is located on the right hand side of the opening screen where you can swap between 8 tokens. If you are considering adding into the liquidity pools it’s probably worth swapping to the native $SWORD token so you can use it.
To add liquidity go to Trade in the main menu then select Liquidity from the drop down menu, enter the tokens you wish to add (click the “?” under Select a Pair) to add your tokens and click on the “Manage Liquidity” button.
This will open up the add liquidity screen where you can allocate the liquidity you wish to add to the pool and then click on the Add Liquidity button.
Possible swap option:
SWAP $ETH FOR $SWORD on zkSyncPossible liquidity position (optional):
Add $15 SWORD & $15 WETH into Liquidity Pool to create $30 total position19. veSync — https://app.vesync.finance/swap
🪂 Airdrop related actions:
- Swapping
- Liquidity Pools
❌ Has existing “$VS” token
💬 Socials: Website — Twitter — Discord
veSync is a DEX that allows swapping and liquidity provision for the zkSync chain.
The swap feature is front and centre on their home page and you can swap from around 22 different tokens. If you are adventurous you can swap into their native token $VS.
From a liquidity provision standpoint click on the Liquidity link on the main menu:
Then click the Add Liquidity button to start the liquidity provision process:
Possible swap option:
SWAP $ETH FOR $VS on zkSyncPossible liquidity position (optional):
Add $15 VS & $15 WETH into Liquidity Pool to create $30 total position20. Crus — https://crus.xyz/
🪂 Airdrop related actions:
- Swapping
- Liquidity Pools
✔ Currently tokenless! Could launch one in the future
A very simple site Crus offers basic swaps and liquidity pool investing. However on zkSync network you can only swap between ETH, WETH and USDC.
Given that some protocols have discussed whether ETH/WETH swaps should be counted towards airdrop activity it may be better to err on the side of caution and keep swaps between ETH and USDC.
To swap select the Swap menu item on the left and choose your swap from and swap to options between ETH and USDC.
Possible swap option:
SWAP $ETH FOR $USDC on zkSyncPossible staking option (optional):
Mint $2 $DLPM and stake for 3-4 daysSummary
If you just following the swapping instructions that will net you 20 zkSync transactions. If you were to also complete the additional liquidity pool plays, Staking and NFT Mints you have earned a further 14 or so transactions, resulting in this part of the article netting you around 34 transactions on zkSync.
If you add the 28 from the first article at this point you would have at least 52 transactions.
At this stage of the tutorial series if we look at the ARB playbook you would have been eligible for at least 3 of the available 4 points on offer:
- Conducted more than four transactions or interacted with more than four different smart contracts
- Conducted more than ten transactions or interacted with more than ten different smart contracts
- Conducted more than 25 transactions or interacted with more than 25 different smart contracts
- Conducted more than 100 transactions or interacted with more than 100 different smart contracts
Please note that although this list is comprehensive, new Dapps are being added all the time — so keep an eye on on sites like Dappradar so you can interact with new protocols as they are listed:
https://dappradar.com/rankings/defi/chain/zksync-era?range=30d
In Part 3 of the zkSync airdrop series we will look deeper at DEFI on Borrowing/Lending and Trading platforms.
Part 3 will be published soon so if you want to get an email notification once the new part is released simply subscribe to receive the latest instalments.
So that’s it — an entire zkSync ecosystem review for you to follow and work through to improve your zkSync standing for any possible airdrop!
Thanks for reading and I hope it was useful, feel free to let me know what you thought in the comments.
Thank you for your time, if this article was helpful please give it some claps and/or share it with others so they can successfully get involved with the zkSync airdrop opportunity!
Socials:
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/trialsincrypto
Cryptonairz Discord: https://discord.gg/Cryptonairz
