What are Airdrops?
As part of a larger marketing campaign, airdrops involve blockchain-based projects and developers distributing tokens to their communities. Sending freshly created minted tokens to thousands or even hundreds of wallet addresses is the main goal, with the aim that receivers will be more likely to interact with the project, even if it’s just to figure out how to swap the free tokens for other crypto assets.
There are various airdrops, and each crypto project has its own specifications. While some are automatically airdropped into users’ wallets, others need a manual claim. Nevertheless, the majority of airdrops aim to raise public awareness and interest in the initiative.
How to earn Airdrops?
Users must fulfill a number of requirements from the token distribution project in order to get rewards from the Airdrop. For DEXs, for instance, users must offer liquidity, carry out swap transactions, engage with every aspect of the project, etc. in order to later get incentives in the form of project tokens.
Since Uniswap’s Retroactive token airdrop, the term “Retroactive Airdrop” has become frequently used. The biggest DEX on Ethereum declared that every early user of the system would receive at least 400 UNI tokens (snapshot taken on 1st September 2020).
Types of Airdrops
Retroactive Airdrop
Retroactive airdrops are when tokens are distributed to users and early adopters who supported a project when it was still in its infancy. Everyone who made a contribution to the initiatives is eligible to get the distributed tokens at no cost.
Holder Airdrop
Free tokens are given away to people who have a particular number of digital currencies in their wallets through holder airdrops. On a specified day and time, the project team takes a snapshot of users’ crypto holdings. Following this, r ecipients can claim free tokens based on their holdings at the time of the snapshot if their wallet balance matches the minimal criteria. For instance, in 2016 Stellar Lumens (XLM) airdropped 3 billion XLM to Bitcoin (BTC) holders. This airdrop was only available to users of the Bitcoin network.
Bounty Airdrop
Users must perform particular tasks in order to receive a bounty airdrop, such as joining the project’s official Telegram group, posting a tweet about it on Twitter, or making a post on Instagram and tagging a few people. You’ll probably need to submit a form with your wallet address and evidence of task completion in order to receive a bounty airdrop.
Potential Retroactive Airdrop Projects
Bridges
Nomad — https://app.nomad.xyz/
deBridge — https://debridge.finance/
Across— https://across.to/
Orbiter— https://www.orbiter.finance/
LIFI— https://transferto.xyz/swap
Connext— https://www.connext.network/
Bungee— https://www.bungee.exchange/
Swim— https://swim.io/swap
Wormhole— https://www.portalbridge.com/#/transfer
LayerSwap— https://www.layerswap.io/
StarkGate— https://starkgate.starknet.io/
Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs)
ZigZag— trade.zigzag.exchange
Clipper— https://clipper.exchange/app/swap
SlingShot— https://app.slingshot.finance/
Atrix— https://atrix.finance/
Tinyman— https://tinyman.org/
Lending and Borrowing
Euler— https://www.euler.finance/
DeFi Saver— https://defisaver.com/
Algofi— https://www.algofi.org/
Sturdy— https://sturdy.finance/
Folks— https://folks.finance/
Timeswap— https://timeswap.io/
Ola— https://ola.finance/
Structured Products
Thetanuts— https://www.thetanuts.finance/
Friktion— https://app.friktion.fi/
Katana— https://app.katana.so/
Ondo— https://ondo.finance/
Volmex— https://volmex.finance/
Opyn— squeeth.opyn.co
Portfolio Management
DeBank— https://debank.com/
Zerion— app.zerion.io
Zapper— https://zapper.fi/
Derivatives
Phezzan— https://www.phezzan.xyz/
Drift— https://www.drift.trade/
01_Exchange— https://01.xyz/
Zeta— https://mainnet.zeta.markets/
Pika— https://www.pikaprotocol.com/
Wallets
Metamask— https://metamask.io/
Rabby— https://rabby.io/
Argent— https://www.argent.xyz/
Phantom— https://phantom.app/
Layer 2s
Arbitrum— https://arbitrum.io/
Zksync— https://zksync.io/
Starkware— https://starkware.co/
Aztec— https://aztec.network/
NFTs
Putty— https://twitter.com/puttyfi
Abacus— https://abacus.wtf/
MetaStreet— https://metastreet.xyz/
Fractional— https://fractional.art/
Solanart— https://solanart.io/
MagicEden— https://magiceden.io/
Opensea— https://opensea.io/
Domain Names
Unstoppable Domains— https://unstoppabledomains.com/
DeNS— https://dens.sh/
Thornames— https://thorname.com/
Avvydomains— https://avvy.avax.sh/
Avoid Malicious Airdrops
At times, scammers might airdrop tokens into your crypto wallet, but if you attempt to transfer these tokens to another wallet or a cryptocurrency exchange, your wallet will be drained. Determining if an airdrop is legitimate or a hoax might be difficult. Before participating in any airdrop, especially when you must link your wallet to a website, you should always DYOR.
In other instances, a phony, publicized airdrop directs users to a phishing website. They’ll deceive you into entering your wallet information into a webpage that closely resembles the actual one. Other tokens will be removed from your wallet as soon as you connect your wallet and sign a transaction. This frequently occurs when people use fraudulent Twitter and Telegram accounts that closely resemble legitimate ones. Some airdrop scams demand that you deposit cryptocurrency to an unidentified wallet address in order to access your free tokens. Genuine airdrops won’t ever request your money or seed phrase. Use airdrop emails and direct messages with caution.
To prevent falling for these schemes, make sure to check out the project’s official website and social media accounts. Keep track of the official links and confirm that the airdrop event is actually taking place. If you are unfamiliar with the project, you should conduct additional research to learn what the crypto community is saying. It’s usually best to disregard the airdrop if you can’t locate adequate information. The most important rule is to never reveal your private keys to anyone.
Conclusion
Crypto airdrops give projects a chance to gain awareness and flourish in the market. For those interested in crypto, it might also be an excellent method to expand their portfolio with airdrops. However, be cautious and make sure to conduct your own research before engaging as there are probably more fake airdrops than real ones available.