Stargate Bridge Volume Surges Amid Airdrop Buzz

Stargate Cross-Chain Bridge Volume Spikes on Airdrop Speculation

The Stargate cross-chain bridge has witnessed a significant surge in volume, reaching a 30% increase over the past 24 hours. This upswing is primarily attributed to investors attempting to fulfill eligibility requirements for a potential airdrop from LayerZero, a prominent omnichain protocol.

Data compiled by DefiLlama reveals a marked increase in Stargate activity over the preceding five weeks. Notably, the protocol achieved a monthly volume exceeding $1 billion for the first time in April. Stargate serves as a gateway to LayerZero and accounts for the majority of capital flowing into the protocol.

The trading volume for Stargate's native token, STG, has also experienced a substantial jump, rising by 95% in the past 24 hours. As per CoinMarketCap, STG was recently trading at 78 cents, marking a 2% increase over the same period.

While LayerZero has not made an official announcement regarding the issuance of a token, the presence of the phrase "ZRO token holder" in the protocol's code on GitBook suggests the potential release of a native token.

LayerZero, an omnichain protocol, facilitates the seamless transfer of assets and arbitrary data across diverse blockchains. Earlier in the month, the company secured $120 million in funding at a $3 billion valuation, attracting investments from renowned firms such as Andreessen Horowitz, Samsung Next, and Sequoia Capital.

This funding announcement has piqued the interest of crypto traders, given the substantial returns generated by high-profile airdrops in the past year. Protocols such as Optimism (OP), Aptos (APT), Arbitrum (ARB), and Blur (BLUR) have all rewarded early adopters with lucrative airdrops.

Anticipating a potential LayerZero airdrop, traders and investors are actively participating in Stargate governance proposals, hoping to secure a larger allocation of the rumored token. Over 6.4 million STG tokens were staked in a recent proposal to establish decentralized exchange Velodrome as an STG hub on the Optimism blockchain.

Despite repeated attempts, LayerZero has yet to respond to a request for comment.