LayerZero team launched ZRO, which has lost 17% value amid donation criteria discussions. Many Web3 users disagree with the criticism and see it as a solution to recent token airdrop issues.
What’s Happening with LayerZero?
After its launch on June 20, ZRO surged 15.15% to $4.71 in 20 minutes, then dropped 22% in two hours, a common occurrence when claimants sell newly acquired tokens.
This situation brought unique controversies to ZRO’s launch. LayerZero required users to donate a small amount of money per ZRO token to claim them. On June 20, LayerZero shared the following statement on X:
“To claim ZRO, users must donate $0.10 per ZRO in USDC, USDT, or ETH. This small donation goes directly to the protocol team.”
LayerZero estimated that approximately $18.5 million would be donated to Protocol Guild, a collective funding mechanism for Ethereum developers. This move faced backlash from the crypto community, as users claimed that paying a tax changes the nature of airdrops, making them more like initial coin offerings (ICOs).
Notable Comments from a Famous Figure
The LayerZero team is adamant that the recent launch process is not an airdrop event. In a June 20 statement, LayerZero argued that airdrop events no longer contribute to the goals of fair distribution, community building, and protocol health for which they were initially introduced.
This is primarily due to the increase in airdrop farming and Sybil entities, which refer to organizations creating and using numerous wallets for the airdrop farming process, showing little to no interest in the project’s long-term success.
LayerZero co-founder Bryan Pellegrino apparently spent his day defending the token launch, reiterating that no one is entitled to the tokens and users should refrain from claiming them if they do not wish to donate:
“There is no mandatory donation; if you don’t want to donate, just don’t claim. This is not something you own, but something offered.”
