It is indeed possible to earn in cryptocurrency. Moreover, to do so with minimal or even 'zero' investments. One opportunity to slightly 'rise' in crypto is through airdrops.
It is important to understand that while airdrops are a great opportunity to receive free cryptocurrencies, users should also be cautious and ensure the reliability and legality of the project to avoid fraud. However, we will discuss this separately a bit later.
Airdrops can be launched by new projects or existing cryptocurrencies to stimulate interest and activity, expand their community, or reward participants in the ecosystem already inside the project.
In the case of successful distribution, users receive tokens at a much lower price than most other market participants. Often, tokens provide owners with certain privileges when using the product. Or voting rights, making them part of the community. However, for some users, the financial outcome is of secondary importance. Through the airdrop, they understand that their contribution has not gone unnoticed.
How airdrops work
Airdrops can be organized in various ways, but usually include the following stages:
announcement of the airdrop: the project announces the airdrop through its channels (social networks, website, forums, etc.);
participation conditions: users need to fulfill certain conditions, such as subscribing to social networks, reposting information, participating in surveys, or simply holding a certain amount of other cryptocurrencies in their wallets;
token distribution: after fulfilling the conditions, the project provides tokens to participants.
What types of airdrops are there
Depending on who and under what conditions tokens are provided, several types of airdrops are distinguished:
1). Holddrop: token distribution for cryptocurrencies with NFTs from certain collections or other tokens of a particular blockchain. Tokens are given to randomly selected addresses.
2). Retro drop: a distribution that occurs after the product launch and is aimed at rewarding active users. The conditions of retro drops are usually unknown in advance, which helps to identify the interested audience ready to use the product without additional incentives.
3). Free drop/standard: distribution of tokens is free for actions: subscription, comment, etc. Also, to receive tokens, you need to leave your address.
4). Hot airdrops: users receive tokens only if they have a certain cryptocurrency in their wallets.
5). Loyal airdrops: tokens are provided to active users or those who show loyalty to the project.
6). Bounty airdrops: within bounty airdrops, participants are offered to perform more complex tasks, such as writing articles, creating videos, or participating in project development, in exchange for cryptocurrency.
7). Lockdrop: distribution of naive or internal network tokens among users who have locked their coins in another network, but not through staking or farming. Locked coins are key indicators showing community members' loyalty to the new project. That is, participants are willing to forgo passive income to launch a new project. After the lock-up is completed, users receive their coins back along with tokens from the new project.
8). Hardfork airdrops: they occur when a project's blockchain splits, and holders of the original cryptocurrency automatically receive new coins from the branched blockchain.
After distributing tokens among community members, they begin to trade, sell, and exchange them, which provokes demand, increases the price of coins, and enhances the liquidity of projects.
Additionally, each type of airdrop has its own goals and participation conditions. It is important to carefully study the information about the airdrop before deciding to join. For example, after airdrops, the price of tokens may fall. This can happen if too many of them were distributed.
How to start investing in coins: a step-by-step guide for beginners
Airdrops in numbers
In general, speaking of airdrops, they are distributed within projects worth billions of US dollars. Thus, in 2023, the total volume of distributed assets exceeded $4 billion, and in 2024, projects reached this figure within six months.
To be specific, for example, the decentralized cryptocurrency exchange Uniswap distributed airdrops of tokens worth almost $6.5 billion. At that time, the token was worth $2-$4, and within a year it increased more than 11 times to $44.92. At the time of writing, the value of the UNI token, according to Coinmarketcap data, is estimated at $7.52.
Another example is Tamadoge Air. This is a blockchain game that distributed TAMA tokens equivalent to $100 to each user who fulfilled nine conditions: subscription, post, tagging Elon Musk on X, etc. The main condition was to own TAMA tokens worth at least $100. As a result, this led to the development of the game.
Another example could be Apecoin, whose developers sent a total of $4.5 billion in digital assets to the addresses of NFT owners from the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection.
Also among the largest distributions is the decentralized exchange dYdX. As part of the drop on September 8, 2021, users received DYDX tokens worth $2 billion (with a peak asset price of $26.8).
Several other examples of large airdrops:
Decreed. Conducted an airdrop of 258,000 DCR. There were no special conditions; the distribution was conducted among everyone who signed up for it. The largest 'win' amounted to $32,500.
Oyster Pearl. Among the subscribers of Airdrop Alert, PRL were drawn, with winners receiving 2,227 coins each. The peak value of such a distribution was $11,000. This was also the first exclusive airdrop in history.
Minereum. One of the largest airdrops in history. Winners received 32,000 MNE, which peaked in value at $440,000.
Overall, about 50% of airdrop participants become active users of the project conducting the airdrop. This indicates the effectiveness of such a marketing tool.
Here are a few more interesting facts in numbers about airdrops:
About 70% of all airdrops are conducted on the Ethereum platform, as it is the most popular for creating new tokens;
As of 2023, there are over 20 platforms specializing in gathering information about airdrops, such as AirdropAlert, Airdrops.io, ICO Marks, CoinMarketCap, and others;
Approximately 15-20% of airdrops are considered fraudulent or unverified, so it is important to be cautious when participating;
The popularity of airdrops increased by 250% in 2020 compared to 2019;
In 2023, the value of airdrops amounted to $4.56 billion or 61.1% of the figure from the previous year. The largest drop of 2023 occurred on March 23 and belonged to Arbitrum. Tokens worth $1.97 billion in ARB were distributed to network users.
Top-3 airdrops for 2024-2025
In the first half of 2024, relatively large distributions took place from popular projects such as Starknet, zkSync, and Layer Zero. However, of course, this is not the end of airdrop distributions.
One such platform is Zora, which is an NFT marketplace with its own Layer 2 network for Ethereum launched in June 2023. The team is expected to announce a token distribution closer to the end of 2024 or the beginning of 2025. With an investment of $60 million and a market valuation of $600 million, the project may generously reward early users and an active audience.
Next on the list is Scroll, a Layer 2 blockchain for Ethereum based on zero-knowledge proofs, which launched in October 2023. Starting in 2024, developers are conducting several campaigns to attract users and capital. The future token distribution will likely depend on the results of these initiatives. Scroll raised $80 million, with a market valuation of $1.8 billion, which may indicate high rewards for active participants.
Completing the list is Babylon - a staking protocol that allows Bitcoin holders to earn profits from staking assets. Since the beginning of 2024, Babylon has been in testnet, but in August launched the first phase of the main network. The project's roadmap anticipates a token launch, so although there have been no official announcements yet, the likelihood of its distribution through an airdrop is quite high. It is also worth noting that Babylon raised $96 million in funding, and among the protocol's investors is Binance Labs.
How to receive airdrops: step-by-step instructions
First of all, identifying potential airdrops requires certain knowledge and understanding of the cryptocurrency market. To successfully identify profitable airdrops, it is necessary to be able to analyze information about new projects, their teams, roadmaps, and communities. This will help determine whether the project has growth potential and whether it is worth participating in its airdrop.
1. Create a cryptocurrency wallet and special accounts on social networks:
choose a wallet that supports the tokens you are interested in (for example, MetaMask, Trust Wallet, or others). It is advisable to use mobile multi-currency wallets — they allow collecting all tokens in one application without the need to create multiple wallets;
create a wallet and write down your recovery phrase;
you will need active social media pages with real followers. We recommend creating separate pages for this purpose rather than using personal ones to avoid cluttering them with 'junk'. Promote the pages: the more friends, the more you can earn from distributions.
2. Follow the projects:
subscribe to cryptocurrency news, blogs, and social networks (Twitter, Telegram, Discord) of projects that interest you;
use specialized resources and platforms like AirdropAlert, CoinMarketCap, or Airdrops.io to get information about upcoming airdrops.
3. Fulfill participation conditions:
many airdrops require performing certain actions such as:
subscribing to the project's social networks (Twitter, Telegram, etc.);
spreading information about the airdrop (tweets, posts);
filling out a form with your details (wallet address, email, etc.);
carefully read the terms of each airdrop.
4. Expect to receive tokens:
wait for the tokens to be sent. This can take from a few days to a few weeks, depending on the project.
5. Check your wallet:
after the specified period, check your wallet to ensure that the tokens have arrived;
if the tokens do not appear, check the status of the airdrop on the project's website or their social networks.
MiCA for the cryptocurrency market. Implications for the crypto investor
Security rules when participating in airdrop distributions
It is very important to be able to distinguish genuine airdrops from fraudulent ones. As mentioned above, about 15-20% of airdrops are considered fraudulent or unverified. First of all, pay attention to: avoid airdrops that require personal information or private keys to steal assets from users' wallets. Therefore, it is especially important to properly store cryptocurrency and familiarize yourself with the basics of Web3 security.
Official accounts of well-known projects are often hacked on social media, resulting in phishing links being spread. The most vulnerable stage in this process is connecting the wallet to the website. If the resource turns out to be fraudulent, funds can be lost very quickly after connecting.
The most reliable way to protect against such threats is to create a separate wallet for receiving airdrop rewards. After receiving the rewards, digital assets should be immediately transferred to another wallet and continue searching.
Often, airdrop organizers are at the testing stage of a product that has not yet undergone a security audit. Interacting with such platforms is associated with increased risks of hacking and fund theft.
It should be noted that free drops are risky. Scammers often use them to attract attention. They promise an airdrop for advertising, users promote their product or company, and then the scammer blocks the participant.
So, to protect yourself from scammers in the world of airdrops, you need to:
to avoid accidentally using a fraudulent exchange, you can bookmark the real address and check it before logging into your account;
pay attention to user verification indicators, such as blue checkmarks on Twitter and Facebook and the correlation of the project's official name with other known information on the page. Genuine social media links can be found on the project's website;
follow publications from security specialists like PeckShield, who report on hacks and fraudulent actions by developers;
pay attention to the presence of spelling errors or unusual characters by hovering over the email address;
always conduct your own research. The more thoroughly you study the target project, the less likely scammers are to take your money.
***
Airdrops are an interesting opportunity to receive free tokens, but they also require attention and caution. Always conduct your own research and be careful in your actions in the cryptocurrency world.
