AltLayer Airdrop Puts $100 Million Into the Wallets of Ethereum Users

Airdrop season continues on, and the latest sizable token distribution comes from the Ethereum ecosystem, thanks to AltLayer. The scaling protocol launched its ALT airdrop on Thursday, and the number of tokens offered up to eligible community members tops $100 million worth.

ALT is available now to claim for early AltLayer users and select ecosystem participants, and the token has already jumped 18% today to a current price of about $0.327, according to CoinGecko. It began at a price above $0.27 just after 5am ET.

With 300 million ALT tokens made available through this initial drop, that means that the total AltLayer airdrop is currently valued at just under $100 million. Airdrops are a way for crypto apps and protocols to both reward early users and contributors, while also decentralizing the governance process by distributing tokens to a wide array of holders.

A rising number of crypto protocols have launched airdrops in recent months amid improving cryptocurrency prices and renewed optimism around the industry. Sizable airdrops of late include Solana’s Jito Protocol and Pyth Network, as well as Arbitrum gaming network Xai. Next week’s Jupter (JUP) airdrop on Solana will benefit nearly a million wallets.

'Free Money': These Are the Hottest Airdrops Around Right Now

How do crypto protocols incentivize and reward early users and contributors? Token airdrops. By handing out protocol tokens, the early users who helped build and propel a network or app are typically given a say in decentralized governance—and the tokens have value, too. Not every airdrop will fill your wallet with a sizable bag of tokens, but you never know—users have collectively netted millions of dollars in tokens during past airdrops, and sometimes crypto tokens gain value over the long hau...

AltLayer is a decentralized protocol designed to let Ethereum developers deploy rollups and other scaling options, and is compatible with existing scaling networks like Arbitrum, Optimism, and Polygon. In addition to its open protocol, AltLayer offers a “rollups-as-a-service” feature to custom-build scaling integrations.

Nearly 500,000 wallets are currently eligible for the airdrop, which includes owners of AltLayer NFTs and participants in the protocol’s pre-launch testing and engagement campaigns. Users of EigenLayer’s restaking features can also claim ALT.

Furthermore, Celestia (TIA) holders who stake the token will be eligible for the airdrop, but not yet. In a blog post this week, AltLayer cited “technical differences in the claiming mechanism” for delaying the airdrop claim for Celestia users, but promised that it’s still coming.

The ALT airdrop claim will be available until February 25, at which point any unclaimed tokens will be sent to the AltLayer treasury. Note that the airdrop is unavailable in certain territories, including the United States, Canada, China, and other countries listed in the blog post.