LayerZero says it's targeting token launch for first half of 2024

Blockchain interoperability protocol LayerZero has clarified it will launch a token after months of ardent speculation.

"LayerZero has always been built with the ability to have a native token within the protocol, as can be seen in the immutable code launched on day 1. We’ve heard the community discussion over the last few months and the lack of clear communication around this," the project posted on X.

"We’ll state now in no uncertain terms that there will be a LayerZero token. Its distribution is something we’re committed to getting right and expect it to happen within the first half of 2024," it added.

This implies that the token will be handed out in the form of an airdrop, a common method of reward early users with tokens. Tokens of previous projects often carry governance rights over the future development of the token and the idea is that the protocol's users will be the best ones to decide how it should develop going forward.

That said, the terms of the airdrop may not yet have been decided and it's possible that the snapshot — the final point at which transactions count for eligibility of the airdrop — has already been taken.

LayerZero allows users to move data and assets across blockchains. In April 2023, its development firm raised $120 million in a Series B funding round at a valuation of $3 billion.