DeFi Platform Zeta Markets Announces Governance Token Z

Zeta Markets, one of the top five decentralized derivatives platforms on Solana, announced the launch and airdrop of its native token Z on Tuesday in a bid to become a community-driven protocol.

The governance token will empower Zeta users and community members from the broader Solana ecosystem to weigh on important decisions within Zeta and provide additional rewards to token stakers, according to a press release shared with CoinDesk.

The Z token will have a total supply of 1 billion, of which 10% will be initially distributed through an airdrop to active Zeta traders and community members, stakers of the Z token, and Zeta users belonging to strategic Solana communities.

Active traders will receive 50% of the initial distribution based on their Z-score, or Zeta’s point system that rewards platform users. Stakers of Z will receive 40%, while the rest will go to strategic Solana community members.

Besides, Zeta will use 30% of the token supply to incentivize market makers, the key players in ensuring top-tier liquidity and optimal exchange conditions. Market makers are entities tasked with creating buy and sell orders in an order book and maintaining healthy liquidity that facilitates the execution of large orders at stable prices.

The press release added that the governance token’s debut is part of a broader strategy, including plans to release Solana’s first layer 2 scaling solution.

“Zeta’s vision from day one has been to make decentralized finance a viable alternative to centralized, black-box financial systems. With a platform that has already stood the test of time and facilitated billions in volume for tens of thousands of traders, we’re excited to launch Z, the governance token of Zeta, to closely align the long-term interests of users with the protocol,” Tristan Frizza, Founder of Zeta Markets said.

“This will empower the community to shape the future trajectory of the protocol and weigh in on important decisions as we collectively strive to deliver the ultimate DEX experience,” Frizza added.

At press time, over $21 million worth of cryptocurrencies were locked in Zeta Markets, making it the fifth largest derivatives platform on Solana, according to data source DeFiLlama.