What is the optimal solution for the Scroll puzzle in the era of boutique interactive design

Original | Odaily Planet Daily
Author | Nan Zhi


In 2023, the three big players in the Layer 2 space, Starknet, ZKsync, and LayerZero, have all come to an end. There are few remaining large-scale airdrop opportunities at the public chain level, and the market’s attention is mainly focused on Monad, Scroll, Linea, and Berachain (as well as the upcoming Blast).
This article will introduce the basic information about Scroll, its latest incentive activities and costs, and the opportunities for interaction with top protocols.
Before getting into the specifics, users with less interaction experience need to understand the recent important trend – account boutique-ization, or in other words, a greater emphasis on the amount of funds at each address. Most new projects have adopted point systems based on the amount of funds, and ZKsync’s fund precipitation rules also reflect this trend. The era of obtaining airdrops by stacking low-cost Tx and monthly activity has basically come to an end. And in Scroll’s latest incentive activity, the amount of funds has become the core factor, so the author here recommends that users focus on boutique accounts in their interaction strategies.
Introduction to Scroll
Scroll is the native zkEVM Layer 2 solution for Ethereum. It is compatible with existing Ethereum applications and tools. Scroll has completed three rounds of financing, with the final round completed in March 2023, raising 50 million US dollars, with Polychain, Sequoia China, and others participating.
For reference, ZKsync’s last round of financing was 200 million US dollars; LayerZero’s last round of financing was 120 million US dollars, with a valuation of 30 billion US dollars; Starknet’s last round of financing was 100 million US dollars, with a valuation of 80 billion US dollars.


Cross-Chain Funds
Whether to use the official cross-chain bridge was a calculation factor in previous Layer 2 airdrops, so it is recommended to use the official bridge for cross-chain transactions under the boutique account strategy.
When the median Gas Price on the Ethereum mainnet is 4.3 gwei, the actual costs for various paths are as follows:
The cost of withdrawing ETH from Binance to the mainnet is 5 USDT, and the cost of withdrawing to Layer 2 networks such as Arbitrum is approximately 0.1 USDT;
The cost of withdrawing ETH from OKX to the mainnet is 1.38 USDT, and the cost of withdrawing to Layer 2 networks such as Arbitrum is approximately 0.2 USDT;
The cost of using the official cross-chain bridge is 1.8 USDT;
Using Stargate to cross-chain from L2 to the Ethereum mainnet incurs a gas fee of 1.35 USDT + 0.025% for the cross-chain bridge fee;
Using Orbiter to cross-chain from L2 to the Ethereum mainnet incurs a gas fee of 1.35 USDT + 0.05% for the cross-chain bridge fee;
Using Stargate to cross-chain from L2 to Scroll incurs a gas fee of 0.25 USDT + 0.025% for the cross-chain bridge fee;
Therefore, the cross-chain strategy differs depending on the original location of the funds:
When the funds are originally held on OKX, it is recommended to withdraw directly to the mainnet and then use the official cross-chain bridge;
When the funds are originally held on Binance, it is recommended to transfer to OKX and then repeat the above operation, rather than cross-chain from Binance to L2 and then cross-chain to the mainnet;
When the funds are originally held on other chains, it is recommended to use the economic mode (Economy) of Stargate, which takes about 4 minutes to cross-chain to the mainnet.
Scroll Sessions
Scroll Session One is the second loyalty program launched by Scroll on June 22, 2024. According to Scroll’s official announcement, this program aims to reward the community participating in the Scroll ecosystem with Scroll Marks (referred to as points hereafter).
Basic Points – Cross-Asset Entry
In April, Scroll launched Session Zero, during which users could earn points by cross-chaining assets such as ETH and wstETH using the native cross-chain bridge, or by cross-chaining STONE using LayerZero.
In Session One, after cross-chaining assets to Scroll using any cross-chain bridge, users can earn corresponding points based on the daily fund balance, with eligible assets including ETH, wstETH, STONE, USDC, USDT, wrsETH, and various assets on the Tranchess protocol, as described in the previous section.
Additional Points – Designated DEX/Lending Protocols
Providing liquidity to designated DEXs on Scroll, and engaging in lending operations on designated lending protocols, will earn additional points.
There are a total of 6 eligible DEXs, including Ambient Finance, Nuri, Izumi Finance, Syncswap, Oku Trade, and Zebra; and 6 eligible lending protocols, including Aave, Rho Markets, LayerBank, Cog Finance, Compound, and Synonym. It is important to note that a single lending operation will earn the maximum additional points, and engaging in repeated lending will not earn more points. Simply depositing lending assets and holding them in the wallet will earn additional points.
The launch of Scroll Session means that the interaction airdrop on Scroll has become a point system based on the amount of assets, and due to the linear distribution nature of the points, the strategy is once again leaning towards boutique accounts.
Top Protocols
In previous Layer 2 airdrops, the number of interactions with different contracts was also a major consideration. Although Scroll has introduced a point system, it also involves multiple protocols, so it is recommended to interact with several protocols and tokens in order to meet the requirements of the airdrop rules while earning points.
This section will provide an overview of several top projects, and users can choose to participate in other Session One projects set by Scroll. There have been many incidents on the ZKsync network where top projects were hacked or abandoned, so users need to pay special attention to the security of the protocols.
Tranchess
Tranchess is a yield derivative protocol, similar to Pendle, allowing interest-bearing tokens to be split into yield tokens and principal tokens. It currently supports STONE, SolvBTC, and ETH, with a TVL of nearly 3 billion US dollars. Four assets under Tranchess, turPSTONE, staYSTONE, stoneQUEEN, and staYSTONE-STONE, are eligible to earn Scroll points.
(Odaily note: Tranchess’s protocol token CHESS was listed on Binance in 2021, and it is one of the few tokens listed on Binance spot without a contract. Its security is somewhat guaranteed.)
Pencils Protocol
Pencils Protocol is the second-ranked protocol in terms of TVL on Scroll, and has various functions. Currently, users can focus on and participate in its Stake section, which allows users to stake WETH, USDT, USDC, and other tokens, and earn points and returns from the protocol. However, it is important to note that the staking service of this protocol is not included in the list of additional points in Session One.
Ambient
Ambient is the DEX with the highest TVL on Scroll, and is also included in the list of additional points in Session One. In addition to earning additional points in Session One by providing liquidity on Ambient, users will also earn points from the protocol itself through AMM and Perp trading.
Aave
Aave is a well-established lending protocol from Ethereum, and will not be discussed in detail here. Lending on Aave will earn additional points in Session One, and it is the most secure option. However, there is a supply limit on Scroll, and as of the time of writing, the limit has been reached and no more deposits can be made. Aave will periodically increase the limit.
Conclusion
In addition to the mainstream trend of fund precipitation and the introduction of the point system on Scroll, the high Gas fees on Scroll are also a major factor that users need to pay attention to. With a mainnet Gas Price of 4 gwei, each interaction still incurs a cost of 0.25 USDT, and low-cost accounts cannot earn enough Scroll Marks while also being quickly depleted of ETH by the high Gas fees. The era of boutique accounts is here.