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Zeru x Kelp: Smarter Airdrops, Real Users

We’re thrilled to announce that Kelp and Kernel will be integrating Zeru’s zScore into their upcoming airdrops, a major step forward in making incentive campaigns more effective, fair, and intelligent.

The Problem With Airdrops Today

Protocols spend millions distributing tokens in the name of growth. But most airdrops still follow primitive logic:

  • Rewarding short-term behavior

  • Ignoring wallet history

  • Lacking safeguards against bots and Sybils

As a result, protocols end up rewarding extractors, not builders. Retention is typically low, with loyalty being non-existent. Airdrop campaigns rarely achieve their intended, long-term impact.

Why Kelp Is Doing It Differently

Kelp is building infrastructure that connects liquid staking tokens (LSTs), like stETH and rsETH, to higher-yield DeFi opportunities through its liquid restaking token (LRT) protocol. Its ecosystem is growing rapidly, but growth means nothing without real, committed users.

That’s why Kelp and Kernel are turning to zScore.

By integrating our AI-powered, verifiable reputation system, Kelp will:

  • Filter out Sybil wallets

  • Target high-quality users across LST and LRT ecosystems

  • Boost post-airdrop retention

  • Reward wallets with a proven track record — not just mercenary or JIT activity

What zScore Provides

At its core, zScore turns behavioral data into quantifiable trust. It looks beyond token balances or recent activity to evaluate what really matters:

  • Staking and restaking consistency

  • Lending & liquidity participation

  • Governance engagement

  • NFT loyalty signals

  • Multi-chain history & protocol exposure

  • Airdrop farming patterns and wallet clusters

Every zScore comes with a Merkle proof, making it tamper-resistant, independently verifiable, and composable across chains.

This means Kelp can build airdrop eligibility rules like:

  • “Only zScore >300 wallets”

  • “Exclude any wallet with Sybil clustering flags”

  • “Include consistent restakers over the past 6 months”

All with one REST API call. All verifiable. All refreshed every 2 days.

Airdrops as a Growth Engine — Not a Giveaway

This integration marks a turning point. Airdrops don’t have to be wasteful or naive. They can be strategic tools for identifying contributors, retaining users, and fueling long-term protocol growth.

Together, Zeru and Kelp are showing how onchain trust signals can reshape the incentive layer of DeFi.

This is precision capital allocation for a networked world.

Dive Deeper into the Use Case

Let’s build the next cycle on reputation.

Build With Us

zScore APIs are now live, and our team is onboarding design partners across DeFi, DAOs, NFTs, insurance, and agentic systems.

Whether you’re building a lending market, airdrop campaign, governance DAO, or identity solution — reputation will define how real your users are.

If you're ready to build with verifiable trust, get in touch on Telegram, Discord, X or at [email protected].