Ethereum Layer 2 rat race intensifies, here's how to benefit

The narrative of Ethereum Layer 2 solution token’s is heating up with the shift in focus to altcoins. Bitcoin and Ethereum price rallies grinded to a halt after the recent rate hike announcement by The Fed. Typically, this shifts focus to altcoins and token holders can benefit from the alt season and upcoming L2 airdrops. 

Also read: Arbitrum's ARB token goes live, here is what to expect

MATIC and METIS accumulation on the rise: What this means for price?

Polygon Network’s native token MATIC and MetisDAO’s METIS have witnessed accumulation since March 12. This coincides with the time when market participants were hit by the global banking crisis. Typically, accumulation by token holders fuels a bullish thesis for the asset. 

Based on data from Santiment, METIS is being accumulated by holders in different segments. METIS holders between 1-10, 10-100, 100-1,000 and 1,000 to 10,000 coins have been consistently accumulating the Layer 2 token, as seen in the chart below.

METIS accumulation by holders in different segments

Similar pattern is noted in Polygon’s native token MATIC. Token holders have been responding to the global financial crisis and the heating narrative of Ethereum L2s, scooping up MATIC since March 12. 

MATIC accumulation by holders

Among other Ethereum Layer 2 tokens, MATIC and METIS have relatively high relevance and utility. The accumulation of these tokens is bullish for holders and is expected to influence price growth in the short-term. 

Competition between Layer 2 solutions has intensified with new airdrop announcements and alt season narrative. This offers another benefit to users as protocols compete to offer lowest gas fees and fastest transaction processing. 

Upcoming token airdrops

Holding or trading L2 token is beneficial for traders, at the same time the prospect for earning free money comes from airdrop farming. Farming benefits protocols as users are attracted to liquidity of the platform and the strategy benefits users who collect airdrop tokens and sell on DEX or CEX. 

Here is a list of long awaited airdrops after Arbitrum’s ARB goes live today. 

• zkSync Era

This is a zero knowledge Layer 2 rollup on the Ethereum blockchain. It enables access to the Ethereum chain through MetaMask, boosting its utility for traders. The project recently opened for protocols to deploy their code on the zkSync mainnet. Users of the L2 can maximize their chances of gaining their airdrop by increasing their on-chain footprint on zkSync Era mainnet. 

• Starknet 

Another zk-based Ethereum rollup Starknet confirmed its STARK token. The Starknet mainnet was launched in November 2022 and total deposits climbed to $2.49 million after the Arbitrum airdrop announcement. Users are rushing to maximize their usage of Starknet’s mainnet for opportunity to participate in the STARK airdrop. 

• Scroll

Scroll competes with zkSync and Polygon’s zkEVM. The rollup is completely compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine and replicates its design to make it easier for developers deploying their project on Scroll. The team launched on the Ethereum Goerli testnet and allowed public testing. Over 100,000 users accessed the testnet version, awaiting mainnet launch, which is scheduled for the end of the year.