Xai Gaming Network Announces Airdrop on Arbitrum—Here's Who's Eligible

Holiday airdrop, anyone? 

The Arbitrum “layer-3” gaming network Xai, first announced in June 2023, has scheduled its season one token airdrop. It’ll occur on December 27 this year, just before the new year rolls in, according to a Twitter post from Xai Games. 

Arbitrum developers at Offchain Labs are collaborating on the Xai initiative, which consists of the Xai Foundation, token, and blockchain. The token will be the network’s gas token to pay for transaction fees and will be the primary currency for gamers to pay for NFTs and in-game items that build on the blockchain in the future, according to Xai’s website.

On December 27, Xai tokens will be airdropped to Odyssey Legendaries and Vanguards owners, which are profile-picture style NFTs. Holders of Xai Sentry Keys, which will allow owners to run nodes that power the Xai network, will also be included in the airdrop distribution, according to the post.

For those looking to qualify for the first Xai airdrop, it’s too late to buy into the Odyssey Legendaries and Vanguards, but the Xai team hasn’t yet closed eligibility for those who buy Sentry Keys.

At time of writing, the Xai Foundation’s website states that its tokenomics have not yet been finalized.

“The tokenomics for XAI are currently undergoing regulatory and compliance review. Once they are approved for public release, Xai Foundation will share the tokenomics through Xai's official social media accounts,” the Foundation wrote.

Arbitrum's New 'Layer-3' Xai Network Is Built to Power Web3 Games

Ethereum layer-2 scaling networks like Arbitrum and Immutable X are battling it out to provide a home for the next wave of Web3 games—but later this year, a so-called “layer-3” network will enter the arena with a specific goal of catering to game creators. Revealed today, Xai is billed as a layer-3 scaling network built via Arbitrum’s existing layer-2 network architecture, which itself sits atop the Ethereum mainnet. It’s being created via the permissionless Arbitrum Orbit tech stack that lets...

Any Ethereum wallets that are compatible with Arbitrum will be able to connect to and use the Xai network. In the future, the foundation hopes to release a single sign-on wallet solution of its own.

Airdrops are overwhelmingly common in crypto and can feel like “free money” for some. But it’s worth noting that there’s also an abundance of airdrop scams out there, like fake wallet-draining links that can have unwanted impacts on your crypto assets. Social media accounts (even verified ones with a blue or gold checkmark) can also be hacked, and bad actors can post fake airdrop links there.

'Free Money': These Are the Hottest Airdrops Around Right Now

How do crypto protocols incentivize and reward early users and contributors? Token airdrops. By handing out protocol tokens, the early users who helped build and propel a network or app are typically given a say in decentralized governance—and the tokens have value, too. Not every airdrop will fill your wallet with a sizable bag of tokens, but you never know—users have collectively netted millions of dollars in tokens during past airdrops, and sometimes crypto tokens gain value over the long hau...

Xai has already alerted its followers about a phishing scam, where an unknown “malicious actor” reportedly “forked” or split Xai’s Sentry Key public repository, creating a fake duplicate that led users to a phishing scam. While the Xai team did not share how many wallets fell for the scam, it shared Thursday that its team has sent new, legitimate keys to everyone impacted.

Here’s to having happy—and safe—holiday airdrops.

Edited by Andrew Hayward