Scroll is preparing to launch its native token, SCR, in what the Ethereum layer-2 (L2) network describes as its “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.

According to Scroll, “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.

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

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

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

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

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

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