PancakeSwap has announced an airdrop of 2,452,128 zkSync (ZK) tokens to its loyal community. The initiative, which will take place on July 5 at 10:30 am UTC and end on August 5 at 10:30 am UTC, will mark the anniversary of the deployment of zkSync on PancakeSwap in July 2023. 

This move aims to reward both longstanding contributors and newcomers who actively engage with the platform.

Airdrop Distribution Criteria

The ZK tokens will be distributed across three main categories of users: veCAKE holders, past contributors, and future contributors. The criteria are as follows:

veCAKE Holders: This group includes users who have shown loyalty and consistent support for PancakeSwap. By rewarding veCAKE holders, PancakeSwap aims to strengthen its community base and foster long-term commitment.

Past Contributors: Users who have actively contributed to the zkSync PancakeSwap ecosystem will be rewarded. This includes those who have traded, provided liquidity, participated in the ZKsync Traverse campaign, used the ZKsync Prediction product, and voted in ZKsync gauges. These contributors are essential for the ecosystem’s functionality and growth.

Future Contributors: To sustain growth, PancakeSwap plans to incentivize new traders and liquidity providers. By rewarding future contributors, PancakeSwap aims to drive continuous growth, particularly in total value locked (TVL), which is crucial for trading activities and revenue generation.

Claiming the Airdrop

Currently, only Category 1 and Category 2 users are eligible to claim the airdrop. Future contributors (Category 3) will be included in subsequent distributions. 

Eligible users can connect their wallets to the PancakeSwap homepage to claim their ZK tokens. A pop-up notification will guide users through the claiming process. PancakeSwap will cover the gas fees using ZKsync’s paymaster feature.

The claim window opens at 10:30 UTC on July 5, 2024, and closes at 10:30 UTC on August 5, 2024. Any unclaimed tokens will be reallocated to the PancakeSwap ecosystem for future development and community initiatives.

Recent Achievements 

Over the past year, PancakeSwap has made significant progress on zkSync. Key features like seamless swaps, yield farming, prediction markets, fiat on-ramp, position manager, and syrup pools have been implemented. These efforts have led to impressive milestones, including:

• Trading Volume: Surpassing $3.6 billion.

• Total Value Locked (TVL): Reaching $5.8 million.

• Total Traders: Over 1.9 million.

PancakeSwap has also launched an AI-powered prediction market on the Arbitrum network. Leveraging advanced machine learning models from the Allora Network, this new feature aims to enhance user experience and profitability in cryptocurrency trading. 

The AI model provides data-driven price forecasts, enabling users to predict Ether (ETH) price movements on the Arbitrum network.