Hyperlane Sets $HYPER Airdrop Date on April 20

Interoperability framework Hyperlane has set its airdrop and token generation event (TGE) on April 20.

The airdrop will include over 340,000 unique wallets. Users must claim their tokens via the Hyperlane Foundation by April 13.

Hyperlane is allocating 25.5% of its token supply to an item called “Expansion Rewards,” 7.5% of which are earmarked for the upcoming airdrop. Another 20% of the token supply will be allocated to staking rewards, and 11.5% will be allocated to the strategic launch provision, which includes factors like token liquidity.

“In crypto historically L1s have been valued very highly by the market ... .but what is an L1 worth if everything is one (an L1)? My view on this is that the market likely prices them more as a category than based on its value,” said Jon Kol, the founder of Hyperlane in an interview with The Defiant. “If everything becomes a chain, if that proliferation of chains inherently leads to the next one, then what is really valuable? The interoperability, the thing that connects them all.” concluded Kol.

The Expansion Rewards allocation will be based on ongoing user and developer activity. These rewards will be distributed quarterly based on protocol usage, as opposed to “seasons” which other protocols have opted for.

The rewards and emissions will focus on each general message passed (GMP) in Hyperlane. Some of these transactions include bridging, cross-chain swaps, multi-chain asset issuance, and governance.

Sybil Resistance

Anti-sybil measures were taken by assigning scores to eligible wallets based on their likelihood to be a sybil. The system took into account factors such as total transactions over the last year, receiving transactions exclusively from another $HYPER-eligible address, and the wallet’s proportion of interactions with other $HYPER-eligible addresses.

A Sybil attack in the context of an airdrop refers to when a single user or entity games an airdrop with a large number of wallets to receive multiple allocations, thus diluting organic users.

As an interoperability layer, Hyperlane can connect to any blockchain, and serves as an interchain messaging protocol. Hyperlane currently services more than 140 different blockchain networks. The protocol raised $18.5 million in funding in a 2022 seed round led by Variant fund, with participation from investors including Circle and Kraken Ventures.

“What makes blockchains interesting, at least in my view, is the ability to transfer value…when I think of Hyperlane 5-10 years from today, it looks a lot more like a crypto-powered VISA,” Kol said.