Scroll is preparing to launch its native token, SCR, in what the Ethereum layer-2 (L2) network described as a “first step toward decentralization.” 

On Oct. 22, Scroll plans to list SCR on Binance and airdrop the token among the network’s existing users, according to an Oct. 8 blog post.

Scroll said: “SCR will be used as a primary governance mechanism of the protocol and progress to being a protocol utility token as Scroll becomes more decentralized.”

The token’s total supply is 1 billion SCR, with 15% pegged for airdrops, 35% for ecosystem growth, and 17% for investors. The rest will go to the Scroll Foundation (10%) and contributors (23%).

Source: Scroll

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Scroll is a zero-knowledge (ZK) rollup competing against L2s such as ZKsync Era and Starknet. 

ZK-rollups are expected to eventually supplant optimistic rollups — such as Arbitrum and Base — as Ethereum’s dominant scaling solutions. 

Compared to optimistic rollups, which often take upward of seven days to finalize transactions, ZK-rollups usually settle within minutes. 

They face competition from L2s using alternative approaches, such as Movement Labs’ postconfirmations.

Scroll’s developers operate the network’s core infrastructure — including its prover and sequencer — but they outlined a detailed roadmap to decentralization in January.

“SCR enables us to decentralize Scroll’s governance, provers, and sequencer in our development roadmap,” Scroll said.

In a ZK-rollup, a prover attests to the correctness of transactions, and a sequencer orders transactions before posting them to the mainnet.Scroll said,

“SCR will be involved in aligning the miner community and creating a robust prover network,“. 

Since launching in 2023, Scroll has rapidly bootstrapped total value locked (TVL), which stood at $1.2 billion as of Oct. 8, according to L2Beat.

By comparison, ZKsync Era and Starknet command about $850 million and $625 million in TVL, respectively.

According to the blog post, Scroll plans to distribute 7% of SCR’s total supply of 1 billion tokens in the upcoming Oct. 22 airdrop.

The airdrop aims “to reward onchain users who have been actively engaging with the Scroll ecosystem,” Scroll said.

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