Hello frens!

With Q1 coming to a close, Wormhole has just announced the much anticipated $W airdrop will in fact be taking place on “Wormhole Wednesday” on April 3rd at 11:30AM UTC. With that said, let’s take a look at $W!

If you’ve been on-chain this year chances are you’ve heard of wormhole, or maybe even used it. Pioneering the connection between Solana and Ethereum back in Defi summer, the platform's inception was driven by the need for seamless integration between L1’s. At it’s core Wormhole is an interoperability protocol connecting 30+ blockchains enabling applications to build.

Interoperability Explained

So, what do we mean when we talk about interoperability in the context of blockchain? Robinson Burkey, the Co-founder of Wormhole, shed light on this during a recent episode of The Edge podcast. He clarifies that interoperability isn't a novel concept; it's about enabling two different systems to collaborate and function cohesively at a high level. Wormhole achieves this by implementing a framework that allows distinct blockchains to interact—

1). Message Passing: Wormhole facilitates the transfer of messages between blockchains. This could include asset transfers, smart contract calls, or other information that needs to be shared across chains.

2). Guardian Nodes: Wormhole employs a network of Guardian Nodes, which are distributed across various blockchains. These nodes collectively validate and attest to the legitimacy of the cross-chain transactions. Wormhole uses a proof-of-authority consensus mechanism, where multiple Guardians must agree on a message for it to be considered “valid”.

3). Smart Contracts: Wormhole deploys smart contracts on different blockchains that can understand and respond to these messages. For instance, when a user wants to move a token from Ethereum to Solana, Wormhole's smart contract on Ethereum would "lock" the token, and the smart contract on Solana would "mint" an equivalent token, ensuring the supply remains constant across both networks.

4). Decentralization and Security: The platform aims to maintain a decentralized and secure network, which is essential for trustless cross-chain interactions. After the $325M hack in early 2022, Wormhole has significantly increased its focus on security, introducing additional layers of defense to protect the integrity of cross-chain communications.

$W Pre-Market Overview:

A couple stats as we await next Wednesday:

• Currently trading ~$1.67 on @aevoxyz

• Supply 10B (18% 1.8B initial circulating)

• 11% airdropped at TGE

• Raised $225M at $2.5B valuation in November 2023

$2.5 - $3 launch would put $W market cap at ~$5B and top 30 which I think is fair given the interoperability narrative and it’s demand.

Wormhole Links:

• Website

•  Twitter

• Github

• Docs

Upcoming Airdrops

Airdrops to keep an eye on the next few months:

• Friend tech

• Ethena

• Drift

• Kamino

• Parcl

• Grass

• Nim