A Guide to Airdrop Farming on Starknet
Introduction
With the release of Starknet’s $STRK token and the hype surrounding it, protocols on StarkNet are also gearing up for their native token launches. Today, we will be featuring several DEXes and lending protocols on StarkNet that may be launching a token in the future, and providing you with a comprehensive list of steps that may be required to qualify for these protocols’ airdrops!
Additionally, StarkNet also launched its DeFi Spring initiative, a six to eight-month program distributing 40 million STRK to participating DeFi protocols on Starknet, primarily focusing on liquidity provisioning in order to encourage participation and increase TVL on the network.
Protocol rewards are determined and allocated bi-weekly, based on network activity, compliance, and performance evaluations. The dynamic allocation process allows for ongoing adjustments according to performance metrics, ensuring the rewards align with the evolving needs and contributions of the ecosystem's protocols.
Protocols Covered:
DEXes:
1.1 Ekubo
1.2 Nostra Swap
1.3 Sith Swap
Money Markets:
2.1 zkLend
2.2 Nostra Money Markets
2.3 Nimbora
Options Protocols:
3.1 Carmine
Upcoming Protocols:
4.1 ZKX
Set up
If you're reading this article, we’ll assume you already possess a StarkNet wallet, such as ArgentX or Braavos, which has been pre-loaded with some tokens. If your wallet is empty, you can transfer funds from the Ethereum Mainnet using StarkGate, StarkNet's official bridge.
The variety of assets you can move includes, but is not limited to, ETH, STRK, WBTC, USDC, USDT, DAI, rETH, wstETH, LUSD, R, FRAX, FXS, sfrxETH, and UNI. These can also be sent from a centralized exchange (CEX) such as Binance.
If you need more information or are looking for additional methods to fund your wallet, you can explore a comprehensive list of bridges and onramp options tailored to your needs, available on StarkNet's official website here.
Without further ado, let’s get started!
DEXes
Ekubo
The Ekubo protocol is a specialized AMM on StarkNet aimed at improving liquidity provision efficiency and scalability. It features concentrated liquidity and extensibility through a singleton architecture. The platform rewards liquidity providers who align their resources with current market prices and volatility, focusing on lower fee pools near the market price. Main rewardable pairs include STRK/USDC, STRK/ETH, ETH/USDC, USDC/USDT, WBTC/ETH, wstETH/ETH, and USDC-DAI. Active providers in these pairs are automatically eligible for rewards, with the best strategies for maximizing returns including maintaining larger positions close to the current market price.
Ekubo is currently running a points system, which hints at a potential token airdrop to users based on the leaderboard rankings. Users earn points proportional to the amount of fees earned from their liquidity positions.
To take part, users simply have to provide liquidity to their pools in order to gain points that will likely be claimable as Ekubo’s tokens, as well as extra bonuses in the form of $STRK tokens as part of the incentive program.
For new users, to qualify for the airdrop, start by visiting Ekubo’s web app here and provide liquidity to one of the many pairs featured.
Since Ekubo allows for concentrated liquidity, you will have to select the price ratio range for which you would like to provide liquidity for. As a very general guideline, a smaller range reduces the risk of impermanent loss, but would also reduce the amount of fees you are able to collect if the price moves out of the range.
After selecting your liquidity provision range, enter the amount of tokens that you would like to contribute to the pool, and click “Add Liquidity” to confirm the transaction in your wallet.
Note that the estimated APR for providing liquidity to the pool, inclusive of $STRK tokens, is also shown at the bottom of the page. This number will vary depending on the amount of tokens provided, and liquidity price range.
For more details on the distribution mechanism, visit the Ekubo Documentation page.
$EKUBO is live! Check if you’re eligible for an allocation here
Nostra Swap
The Nostra Swap protocol is a decentralized order book exchange that leverages Starknet's liquidity network through AVNU's DEX aggregator to enable users to swap tokens efficiently and at the best available prices.
Nostra Swap also supports incentivized pools and gauges, encouraging active engagement from liquidity providers and other protocols. This fosters a vibrant ecosystem where users can effortlessly execute swaps and liquidity providers are rewarded for their participation.
Nostra itself is building the liquidity layer of Starknet, integrating products like the Nostra Money Market, the UNO stablecoin, and Nostra Swap for a comprehensive DeFi solution. Users can lend, borrow, mint UNO, and swap stablecoins all within the same platform, aiming to streamline and simplify the DeFi experience on Starknet.
Nostra is also currently running a points system, whereby users can earn points for lending and borrowing on the platform, providing liquidity, as well as referring friends to the platform. They have hinted at a $NOS airdrop in future, which implies that users who collect points may get an airdrop when their token goes live.
To qualify for the $NOS token distribution, provide liquidity to one of the qualifying pools on Nostra on the web app here
Click on ‘Deposit’ for the pool(s) you would like to provide liquidity for, and enter the amount of tokens you would like to deposit.
To check your current ranking and points, view the leaderboard here and find out more about the Points Program here.
Finally, to claim your additional $STRK rewards, visit here to check if you are eligible.
SithSwap
The last protocol that we will be featuring today is SithSwap, an AMM on StarkNet designed to facilitate instant volatile and stable swaps with very low slippage and minimal fees. It is particularly noted for its dual-liquidity engine, which supports both volatile and stable swaps efficiently. The protocol is based on the intuitive architecture used by Uniswap, but with additional features aimed at improving efficiency and security, such as governable directional fees and built-in time-weighted average price (TWAP) oracles.
SithSwap has already launched the public sale for their native token, $SITH. Read their documentation here to learn more about the public sale, and visit their website if you wish to buy some $SITH!
However, you can still take part in the $STRK liquidity incentives by following the steps outlined below.
To qualify for the $STRK incentives, provide liquidity to one of the 4 pools available on the web app.
Select the amount of tokens that you wish to deposit, and choose between the stable or volatile pool options (to learn more about stable vs. volatile pools, visit SithSwap’s documentation here).
You will be able to check the number of reward tokens you qualify for once the two week epoch is over. Check here
Aside from the 3 protocols covered today, other DEXes that are also eligible for $STRK airdrops include 10k Swap, Haiko, mySwap, and StarkDefi, which will all have a similar workflow to at least one of the protocols above.
Money Markets
zkLend
zkLend is a Layer 2 money-market protocol on StarkNet, enhancing Ethereum's scalability and efficiency. It's designed for DeFi users and institutional clients, offering services like depositing, borrowing, and lending of assets in a secure, efficient, and decentralized way. For DeFi users, ZkLend provides competitive yields, a robust risk assessment, and a range of assets for deposit and collateral use.
zkLend already has a native token, $ZEND, which users will be able to trade and provide liquidity on DEXes such as Ekubo and MySwap.
zkLend is also part of StarkNet’s DeFi Spring initiative, so if you missed out on the $ZEND airdrop, you can still earn some additional $STRK incentives by interacting with the protocol!
Users simply have to supply tokens to the protocol to earn additional STRK rewards, on top of the usual lending APR. To deposit assets into zkLend, navigate to their web app here. You will see all the markets eligible for additional STRK tokens.
Click on ‘Supply’ and enter the amount of tokens you wish to deposit, then confirm with the Supply button. Sign the transaction in your wallet, and you’ll be good to go!
To check how much $STRK tokens you are eligible for, visit this page.
Nostra Lending
Nostra is a lending and trading protocol on Starknet. Users can deposit tokens and borrow on their supplied collateral, trade tokens, provide liquidity for token pairs, and even stake their $STRK tokens in return for nstSTRK.
As mentioned above previously, lending and borrowing on Nostra will grant you points that could likely be exchanged for $NOS tokens in the future. To accumulate more points, simply lend on ETH, USDC, USDT, STRK and nstSTRKpools on the Nostra web app here.
Select the token you wish to deposit, enter the amount, and confirm the transaction in your wallet.
Nimbora
The Nimbora protocol on StarkNet introduces an integration with Liquity, allowing users to borrow LUSD, a stablecoin pegged to the US Dollar, using ETH as collateral without paying any interest. Users only face a one-off fee when opening the loan. Nimbora simplifies the borrowing and repaying process by enabling transactions directly through its platform.
Nimbora currently does not have any public plans for a native token yet, but you can still earn some $STRK incentives by interacting with their platform.
To qualify for $STRK incentives, simply borrow LUSD on Nimbora on the web app here.
Select the amount of ETH you are willing to deposit as collateral using the percentage gauges, and the protocol will mint you the amount of LUSD corresponding to the collateral ratio.
To learn more about Nimbora’s liquidity incentive, read their Medium article here.
Options Protocols
Carmine Finance
Carmine Finance is a decentralized options trading protocol on StarkNet that allows users to bet on market movements and hedge on DeFi trading risks.
It has stated in their documentation that 5% of its $CARM tokens will be distributed in multiple airdrop phases, based on activity on the platform and social media interactions. They do not have an explicit points system laid out yet, but it is stated that tokens will be allocated to traders and stakers of the platform.
To start, visit the Carmine web app here, and select the staking tab in the header. Enter the amount you would like to stake in the “Amount” column (the token will be the one in brackets), click stake, and sign the transaction in your wallet.
To trade options, go to the trading page here, select the pair for which you would like to purchase options for, select the parameters (long/short, call/put), and click on the “+” sign to view the parameters for the option.
A pop-up will appear where you can enter the option size, click buy, and sign the transaction in your wallet.
To check if your wallet is eligible for an airdrop, visit the airdrop page here. You can also generate a referral link on this page, which may help to increase the amount of $CARM tokens you can get.
Follow Carmine’s Discord and Twitter page for the latest updates!
Perpetuals Protocols
ZKX
ZKX is an omni-chain perpetual protocol that supports leverage trading of tokens on StarkNet. It has confirmed the launch of the $ZKX token during in October 2023 with its Airdrop Phase #1 campaign targeted at early contributors, and has recently announced the launch of the $ZKX token on 19th June 2024 on the exchange itself.
Phase 2 of the airdrop window is currently live, and will conclude on 19th June, where 4m $ZKX tokens will be launched initially, followed by two more airdrop rounds of 4m tokens each through the rest of 2024.
To qualify for airdrops, users will be evaluated based on the numbers of OG Trade and Clan NFTs they own, as well as generate trading volume on the ZKX app. To start trading on ZKX, follow this guide here.
ZKX is also part of StarkNet’s DeFi Spring Phase 3. Interact with the BTC, ETH, SOL, and STRK markets on the OG and Pro Trade platforms, and $STRK tokens will be allocated based on the amount of trading volume and open interest. Refer to this guide for more details.
Conclusion
New Layer 2 protocols will definitely be aiming to launch their token in the upcoming bull market, and airdrop farming on StarkNet could be a very lucrative opportunity for users to reap maximal rewards on their capital. The protocols mentioned above only cover a small portion of StarkNet’s ecosystem, and being early to a growing ecosystem is almost always beneficial in the blockchain space. With StarkNet’s scalability and efficiency, as well as support from the StarkNet team, these innovative protocols are poised for success, making it worthwhile for users to play around and interact with as many protocols as they can!
References
• https://starknet.notion.site/Public-DeFi-Spring-Participating-Protocols-8df40d18b4a6483b9126c294308a41eb
• https://www.starknet.io/en/content/starknet-foundation-introduces-the-start-of-defi-spring