Launched on June 20, ZRO rose 15.15% to $4.71 within only 20 minutes before falling 22% within two hours—a trend often seen in token airdrops when claimants sell their just-obtained tokens.

Controversial Claim Mechanism

Layer Zero’s original method calls for users to claim ZRO tokens by donating $0.10 in USDC, USDT, or native ETH. This gift immediately goes to the Protocol Guild, a group funding source for Ethereum developers. Layer Zero projected that these contributions would bring around $18.5 million for the Protocol Guild.

The action has drawn criticism from the crypto community as people claim that paying a “tax” alters the character of the airdrop to something more like an initial coin offer (ICO). Comments pouring in on Layer Zero’s announcement post voiced displeasure with the demand.

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Firm in its posture, Layer Zero says the most recent release is “not an airdrop.” Layer Zero said in a statement that the emergence of airdrop farming and Sybil attacks renders conventional airdrops useless for achieving objectives of fair distribution, community development, and protocol health.

Community Reactions

LayerZero co-founder Bryan Pellegrino has defended the token launch, emphasizing that the donation is voluntary. “There is no forced donation; if you don’t want to donate, simply don’t claim. This is not something you own; it’s something being offered,” he said.

Notwithstanding the debate, some crypto enthusiasts think the contribution system would be a good start for further airdrops. In a June 20 article, Adam Cochran said that the gift promotes a larger ecosystem and helps establish a base cost value for the token, therefore lowering the possibility of Sybil attacks.

Current Market Impact

Based on CoinMarketCap statistics, ZRO is trading at $3.35 now, down 17% over the last 24 hours. This price movement captures the conflicting opinions in society as well as the influence of the contentious contribution demand on the market performance of the token.

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The post LayerZero’s New Token ZRO Falls 17% Amid Controversial Donation Mechanism appeared first on Coin Engineer.