Once upon a time, airdrops from Uniswap, dYdX, and others were the 'wealth code' for retail investors, but now (2024-2025) they have become tools for harvesting - working tirelessly and spending money, only to either end up empty-handed or get stuck. The five major tricks of project teams must be recognized!
① Points arms race: Competing with effort and money, retail investors are left trailing.
No longer are early users rewarded for free; now there are tedious tasks: follow, retweet, answer questions, invite others, and also engage in on-chain interactions. Moreover, projects set up 'trading points' to force you to pay transaction fees to climb the rankings, resulting in the top spots being occupied by large investors and bots, while retail investors can only serve as background characters.
👉 Case: An L2 project airdrop, where the top 500 divided over ten thousand dollars, while those in the back only received a few dozen dollars.
② Locking and staking: Instead of gaining rewards, you end up being trapped.
'To receive an airdrop, first lock up funds', which seems reasonable, but in reality, it's the project team trapping retail investors' funds to create momentum. By the time they unlock, the token price often plummets, making retail investors 'interest-free financing tools'.
👉 Case: A new public chain requires staking for points, and after six months, the token price drops by 80%, leading to substantial losses upon unlocking.
③ Trading tasks: The invisible scythe for volume manipulation.
Requirements to complete swaps, open positions, and add liquidity essentially force retail investors to boost trading volume. Transaction fees, slippage, and gas costs are all borne by retail investors, while project teams publicly claim 'ecological trading volume exceeds 100 million', creating a false sense of prosperity.
④ Social fragmentation: Retail investors work for free, and projects acquire customers at zero cost.
'Bringing people in earns points, team up for higher rewards', in reality, the project saves on market budget and makes retail investors act as free KOLs. You work hard to bring in new users, but the rewards are diluted to the point of being worthless, while the project team collects user data and hype.
👉 Case: An airdrop with 300,000 participants yields only $5 per person.
⑤ TGE dumping: Airdrops become a trap for taking over.
After a long wait for the airdrop distribution, the token price briefly spikes, but it becomes a cashing-out window for VCs and the team. Retail investors don't have time to sell before being dumped to the bottom, turning their 'free tokens' into a 'burden of taking over'.
Why have airdrops changed?
Market environment changes: In a bull market, tokens are distributed for hype, while in a bear market, funds are tight, and airdrops become 'refined harvesting'.
User expectations are high: Retail investors have a deep obsession with airdrops, and project teams take the opportunity to set up a 'fishing trap'.
VC-led: Institutions want to break even, and airdrops are just a 'smoke screen'.
Retail investors' response: First, ask yourself three questions.
Does the project have genuine products and users?
Are airdrop rules forcing you to spend money or lock up funds?
Do institutions and large holders have an early advantage?
Real opportunities never exist where the scythe is swung.
