LayerZero (ZRO) has become one of the first altcoins to bounce amid the market retrace. The token has registered green numbers despite its controversial token airdrop last month.  As a result, investors and market watchers remain bullish on ZRO’s long-term performance.

From ZRO To Market Hero

In late June, the omnichain interoperability protocol LayerZero launched its long-awaited ZRO token. The launch, which included a token airdrop for the protocol users, received a negative response from the crypto community.

Users found the airdrop’s claim mechanism to be a slap in the face for the community. Minutes before the launch, the LayerZero Foundation announced that a new ‘Proof-of-Donation’ claim mechanism would be used for those who wanted to receive their token allocation. The mechanism required users to donate $0.1 in USDC, USDT, or ETH, per token allocated. The donations would go directly to the Protocol Guild, a collective funding mechanism for Ethereum developers.

LayerZero received backlash for this measure. Many community members found that the project was “milking” their supporters and lacked proper communication. As a result, the token saw a 38% drop following the launch.

ZRO went from trading at its $4.57 all-time high (ATH) to trading as low as $2.83. The retrace continued as it reached its all-time low (ATL) of $2.48 a week after its launch. The token has since recovered by 53%. ZRO’s upward trajectory started last week as Bitcoin (BTC) regained its $60,000 support zone. The token moved from its ATL to a biweekly high of $4.2.

However, LayerZero’s token followed the rest of the market in the retrace. BTC’s performance dragged ZRO back to the $2.75 level earlier today, but it has bounced over 20% in the last few hours.

As of this writing, ZRO is one of the few altcoins registering green numbers in multiple timeframes. Moreover, the protocol’s token displays double-digit gains in the weekly and biweekly timeframes, with 40.2% and 22.1% price increases.

Investors Bullish On LayerZero

Following this performance, investors and market watchers expressed bullish sentiment regarding the token. Some traders that ZRO “held relatively well during the dump” and is now “recovering pretty hard.” Crypto trader CryptoKnight ZRO’s bounce and suggested that the token could reach $5 in the short-term timeframe. Similarly, SpiderCrypto believes that ZRO will hit $10 by the end of the year. To the market watcher, LayerZero is the “best infra company for those who believe in a multichain future.” Seemingly, users remain confident in the protocol despite the launch mishap. Some investors it one of the “cleanest brands around” with a token that “is not difficult to sell to people with a bit of FOMO.” LayerZero Labs recently its integration with Flare, a data-focused blockchain, to enable Flare developers to connect with 75 other networks. Per the post, the integration will connect the blockchain with 50,000 dApps and offer access to a “vast quantity of new users and sources of liquidity.” At the time of writing, ZRO is trading at $3.81, representing a 21% increase in the last 24 hours.