Arbitrum Basics, Airdrop, & Beyond

 Arbitrum  Basics, Airdrop, & Beyond

 

 

Arbitrum has taken center stage with its announcement of the
launch and airdrop of its native governance token called ARB to users of its
platform. The airdrop will happen on 23 March and at the time of writing, it is
just a couple of hours away.
 
But before we dive into what the airdrop entails, who is
eligible for it, how to claim it, and more, let us go back to the basics: what
is Arbitrum?
 
As the world of blockchain technology expands, so does the
demand for efficient and effective scaling solutions. The Ethereum blockchain,
the most widely used blockchain platform for decentralised applications, has
long faced issues with scalability and high transaction fees. However, a
revolutionary new solution emerged: Arbitrum.

 
Developed by Offchain Labs, the team recognised the need for
a more scalable and cost-effective solution for Ethereum, and set out to build
one. Hence, Arbitrum was born.
Arbitrum is a layer-2 (L2) scaling solution for Ethereum,
designed to alleviate the issues associated with the blockchain's scalability.
It is based on Optimistic Rollups, a technique that enables off-chain
computations to be verified on-chain through a process known as fraud proofs.
Essentially, it allows for transactions to be conducted off-chain, only
requiring minimal on-chain verification, drastically increasing transaction
throughout and reducing gas fees.

Its core purpose is intrinsically simple: to provide a
seamless experience for Ethereum users by enabling faster and cheaper
transactions, while also providing developers with the ability to build smart
contracts with minimal overhead. Its function is to process transactions
off-chain, using the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) to verify the results and
ensure the blockchain's integrity.
 

According to Arbitrum's development documentation, the below
graph is at the most basic level how an Arbitrum chain works:

Based on an explanation by Decrypt, in a nutshell, people
and smart contracts ask Arbitrum's blockchain to do something by placing
transactions into the chain's 'inbox'. Thereafter, Arbitrum processes it and
outputs a transaction receipt. How Arbitrum processes that transaction ─ what
determines its 'chain state' ─ is decided by the transactions in its inbox.
 

What Makes Arbitrum Unique?

It is a trust-minimised approach that relies on fraud proofs
to ensure the integrity of transactions while minimising the amount of data
that needs to be store on-chain. It also allows for faster and cheaper
transactions on the Ethereum blockchain.
 
 
Arbitrum is comptatible with EVM, which means that
developers can easily port their existing smart contracts and dApps onto the
Arbitrum network without having to make significant changes to their code.
 
 
Transactions are confirmed within seconds rather than
minutes, as is the case with the Ethereum blockchain. This allows for a much
better user experience and enables dApps to be more responsive and interactive.
 
 
Designed to be much cheaper than the Ethereum blockchain,
with transaction fees that are a fraction of the cost of on-chain transactions.
This makes it much more accessible to users who may have been priced out of
using dApps on the Ethereum blockchain.
 
Designed to be interoperable with other blockchains which
means that it can be used to facilitate cross-chain transactions and
interactions between different blockchain networks. This makes it possible for
users to access a wide range of decentralised services and applications,
regardless of which blockchain they are built on.

 

In partnership with Offchain Labs, The Arbitrum Foundation
has announced the airdrop of a governance token for Arbitrum and the
distribution of the token to the Arbitrum community of users and stakeholders.

 

This highly anticipated airdrop is on 23 March and has been
generating a great deal of excitement among the cryptocurrency community. This
move comes as part of the platform's transition to a decentralised autonomous
organisation (DAO) model.
Just over a billion tokens will be airdropped to more than
600,000 wallet addresses.
 
· Maximum airdrop entitlement: 10,250 tokens
 
· Minimum airdrop entitlement: 625 tokens
 
The transition into a DAO model will enable ARB holders to
be able to participate in voting on essential decisions and submit improvement
proposals regarding the platform's development and management.
 
Despite it being designed to be decentralisation, the
platform has been under the sole control of Offchain Labs since its launch.
After the introduction of the ARB governance token, the reigns of the protocol
will shift and be in the hands of its community.
 
Arbitrum noted that, "The hope and intention is that by
distributing to Arbitrum DAOs, we're able to spread governance power more
widely amongst users than solely allocating to those who were eligible for the
airdrop." On its website, it also mentions that "Users across the
ecosystem will be given voting power. 11.62% of tokens will be initially
distributed to users and 1.13% will be distributed to DAOs in the Arbitrum
ecosystem."
Am I Eligible for the ARB Token?
The airdrop is naturally not a free-for-all buffet. Users
need to have used Arbitrum and interacted with blockchain with several specific
criteria. Arbitrum collaborated with Nansen to determine ARB token eligibility
based on user activity.
 
To find out if you are eligible, you can visit Arbitrum
Foundations' website. You will be notified of your eligibility after connecting
your wallet. Then, you will see the number of tokens you can claim.
 
If you are eligible, congratulations! Your display screen
will look like the image on the left. Unfortunately, if you are ineligible,
your display screen will show the image on the right. (See below for reference)
What is Next Then?
After the upcoming airdrop, the responsibility to distribute
the remaining community tokens gradually will be on the Arbitrum Foundation and
DAO.
 
The goal is to decentralise its networks and allow the
community to be in control of Arbitrum's ecosystem and technology. Based on nftnow,
"the airdrop and DAO are only two of its many plans to grant all
sub-communities a voice. Additionally, all investor and team tokens are subject
to four-year lockups. The first unlock will happen in one year, with monthly
unlocks for the remaining three years.”