- This year, airdrops have given bitcoin users access to over $4 billion in value.
- In 2024, a few significant airdrops are still to come.
With a few significant airdrops left to come, cryptocurrency airdrops have proceeded at full pace into 2024, disbursing around $4 billion in value thus far.
The three largest airdrops were Notcoin, Jupiter, and Starknet, each of which distributed tokens valued at approximately $1 billion, based on the quantity of tokens distributed and a ballpark average price during the succeeding months. They were supported by a combination of Ethereum- and Solana-based initiatives, including Wen, FriendTech, Ether.fi, and Wormhole.
Crypto airdrops are when a project distributes a certain amount of tokens to users of a previous protocol. They are usually completed when the project gives its community control by releasing a governance token that allows users to cast votes.
Airdrops are occasionally divided into several seasons, and tokens are frequently withheld from wallets that have solely used the protocol in the hopes of receiving the airdrop.
The biggest airdrops in the past have been Uniswap, Apecoin, and dYdX, per a CoinGecko research. The study found that the total value of all airdrops up until December 2023 was $26.6 billion. This is based on the highest prices that have ever been documented for each token, which may be very different from their actual potential value.
With the airdrops of 2024 valued at their highest included and using CoinGecko’s methodology, this would imply an upper bound of $34 billion for all airdrops to date.
Anticipating ahead, several cryptocurrency airdrops are scheduled for this year.
The Ethereum Layer 2 network ZKsync will airdrop next week. In June, Zeta Markets, a Solana-based decentralized exchange, will airdrop.
The airdrop for EigenLayer, an Ethereum restaking protocol, has commenced, although the token won’t be traded until later in the year. Furthermore, the cross-chain messaging system LayerZero is still getting ready for an undisclosed airdrop.
The curse of farmers who use airdrops
Even while airdrops have been giving out substantial amounts of money, they are now having to deal with an increasing number of people attempting to take advantage of the system. Known as “airdrop farmers,” these individuals frequently communicate with projects they anticipate may eventually release tokens using hundreds of wallets. However, initiatives make an effort to recognize and remove these wallets from distribution.
One project that seems to be taking a strong approach to eradicating any airdrop growers is LayerZero. Anyone can report possible airdrop farming and be eligible for a bounty, according to this. Presently, the project is reviewing every report to resolve every potential claim.
Similarly, the team located several wallets belonging to airdrop farmers for ZKsync’s impending airdrop. It eliminated certain wallets through this procedure that had used ZKsync and satisfied some of its requirements, but did not produce the necessary minimum amount of tokens. Additionally, it recycled part of the wallets’ tokens back among all beneficiaries and placed a cap on the wallets with the biggest planned dividends.
Therefore, even though airdrops can be extremely profitable, qualifying for them has become more difficult, and even legitimate users may not be included.
Disclaimer : This article was created for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. An asset’s past performance does not predict its future returns. Before making an investment, please conduct your own research, as digital assets like cryptocurrencies are highly risky and volatile financial instruments.
