It is quite interesting to see how the idea of airdrops unfolded throughout the years and turned into a staple of the crypto industry. These amazingly effective marketing tools are used by many DeFi protocols and can be quite useful if you are interested in making money without investing much in various platforms.
Since many interesting protocols are either preparing for first airdrops or have active campaigns going on as of the time of writing, contemporary crypto investors have to keep their hands right on the pulse of the industry to benefit from the freebies given out by projects trying to make a name for themselves and capture interested audiences.
The history of DeFi airdrops
While many enthusiasts think that airdrops are a relatively new phenomenon, the pioneers launched back in the early 2010s. For example, Auroracoin was one of the first projects to launch with an airdrop. It was supposed to become a viable alternative to the Icelandic Krona. The creators distributed 31.8 AUR to each citizen of the country. The government was not interested in supporting the initiative at the time and the project largely failed. However, you can still trade the token which is currently priced at $0.05 USD.
AirDrops became the biggest marketing tool available to various decentralized finance (DeFi) startups in 2017. Bitcoin Cash is the most famous example of a large airdrop. BCH is still a big digital asset with an impressive $7.27 billion market cap and over $315 million in daily trading volumes. The price is low compared to BTC with many experts saying that dillation of the supply played a key role in price reduction.
Below are some other notable projects that have gained notoriety since 2017 due to their generous airdrops:
- Stellar with its token XLM is a perfect example of the ICO era when all projects tried to capture an audience by distributing tokens among early adopters and supporters before launching on open markets. While many projects failed to create any buzz in the media, Stellar was doing some serious leg work to ensure that their partnership with Blockchain.com could produce impressive results. Their airdrop was the biggest in history generating a lot of social media engagement and establishing a firm foundation for the DeFi ecosystem to embrace the concept of airdrops. Stellar distributed $125 million worth of XLM tokens.
- UniSwap managed to impress the whole crypto community by distributing 400 UNI to all eligible crypto wallets that used the DeFi protocol before 2020. It was a gesture of appreciation for users who have been loyal to the platform throughout its early days. UNI prices reached ATH shortly after allowing some users to cash out $16,000 as UNI rose to $41 in April 2021. This particular campaign was especially important since it showed that DeFi protocols can use these marketing campaigns at any given moment to generate user activity and participation.
- Arbitrum’s airdrop conducted in March 2023 was a qualitatively different event since it focused on distributing governance tokens to encourage user engagement. ARB tokens were distributed among several million users, and the total price of all assets given away exceeded $1 billion. Many modern protocols are trying to shift their marketing efforts to events that feel rewarding and generate a long-lasting effect. The distribution of governance tokens did not tank the price significantly and created a strong community of supporters.
Using these marketing tools to incentivize loyal behavior from users is a great idea for many DeFi protocols that want to increase adoption rates. By using smart proof-of-participation algorithms and creating the necessary conditions to reward investors who become early adoptions, these projects can build communities interested in actively supporting projects and even contributing to their growth in the long term.
Excellent airdrop opportunities in 2024
The DeFi sector is experiencing contraction but it does not matter that developers are sitting with their hands crossed. Many protocols are actively deploying new solutions and conducting massive marketing events hoping that investors will be once again drawn to the world of decentralized finance. With the current situation in the global economy, expecting a large influx of capital into the ecosystem that is slowly adapting KYC/AML procedures and introducing novel safety protocols is quite reasonable.
Let’s go over some interesting projects that have active airdrop campaigns as of the time of writing in October 2024:
- GRVT on zkSync is an interesting project that tries to blend together CeFi and DeFi by offering a seamless experience to all sorts of investors whether they are focused on fiat or crypto. The protocol has derivatives, a functional spot market, and a P2P marketplace. On the technological side, GRVT is already partnered with Galaxy Trading, Flow Traders, and Ampersan. It is a licensed provider that wants to secure a market share dominated by fully decentralized entities. The airdrop is a multistage operation where users must register, go through a KYC procedure, join the Telegram channel, and invite friends to receive 300 GRTV points and 80 ZK.
- The Camino ecosystem is a great destination for active investors interested in earning rewards for their contributions to the network. The current airdrop campaign is aimed at the audience of potential loyal users who will form the core of the user base once the CAM is fully launched sometime in the last quarter of 2024. Users who want to participate must go to the Zealy campaign page and connect an eligible wallet. By completing tasks, you will be earning various quantities of CAM tokens. The most active users are automatically included in a lottery with 10 winners receiving 50 USDT directly to their wallets.
- NebulaStride is a multi-chain protocol that operates across Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, Ethereum, Optimism, and BSC among others. The total value of the ongoing airdrop is 200 million NST tokens. If you go to the airdrop page and connect an EVM-compatible wallet like Metamask, you will be able to start minting non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and claim lootboxes that contain a variety of rewards like ecosystem points, NST tokens, BNB tokens, and more. All users will receive 500 NST for inviting friends and 150 NST for any user invited by referrals. NebulaStride has a very ambitious goal of securing a share of the market that has many established brands. The protocol offers a wide range of financial services including farming, staking, and affiliate programs.
- WalletConnect has been doing a lot of groundwork recently. It is a protocol that wants to bridge all the gaps between different types of software and hardware wallets to empower users and give them the freedom to interact with any DeFi protocol regardless of wallet compatibility. This goal is a huge technological challenge. Hopefully, WalletConnect will achieve it sometime in the near future. Right now, users can participate in a generous airdrop campaign. The token economics allow for several seasons of drops with a total value of 185 million WCT tokens. Note that the first season is concluding in 2024 with 50 million WCT given away. The total supply of WCT tokens will be exactly 1 billion issued in multiple phases.
Prospera is an ambitious Solana-based protocol with the noble goal of creating an international decentralized currency. If you are interested in free crypto airdrops and want to receive generous rewards for active participation, Prospera is a great choice. The airdrop is designed to resemble a game where users are encouraged to complete multiple steps from registering to using the network. You start by becoming a citizen of the protocol and holding ISC tokens. Using them on partnered protocols like Orca, Jupiter, and DeBridge yields additional rewards. The only problem is that you must purchase ISC tokens somewhere. The protocol promises to dedicate 40% of the special INTL tokens to various community projects.
Earn free crypto tokens in 2024 and 2025
You can track a variety of upcoming airdrops and make sure to be ready for an announcement by developers that they are going to give away freebies. We want to discuss several interesting protocols that may start airdrops somewhere in Q4 of 2024 or the next year.
- Yala is a BTC-adjacent protocol that wants to issue a stablecoin backed fully by Bitcoin reserves. The idea is quite interesting since not many projects are focused on trying to merge the value-storing capability of the biggest cryptocurrency with the flexibility and utility of DeFi assets. The Yala airdrop is already confirmed. Right now, users can check out the testnet and use BTC and ETH tokens to start earning berries which are points that will be useful when the mainnet is launched. Users can earn berries by completing surveys, interacting with the Twitter account, and providing feedback.
- Caldera is an Ethereum-based platform that offers a variety of products for multiple frameworks like ZkSync, Polygon, and Arbitrum. Users can participate in an ongoing airdrop where experience points are distributed among users if they complete tasks appearing from time to time on the official website. Note that XP is not valuable right now since Caldera does not have a native token right now. However, it is possible that it will be launching one sometime in 2025 making it a prime candidate for investors interested in cryptocurrency airdrop hunting.
- Unichain by UniSwap Labs is running a testnet that is already generating buzz in the community. Unichain plans to create a liquidity hub for interchain trading allowing a seamless operation between different blockchains. Right now, the protocol is focused on delivering core functionality and polishing existing features. Any user can join the testnet and get some test tokens from the Sepolia Faucet. Unichain is a promising platform that can become a huge player in the DeFi ecosystem. It means that users who use bridges, mint NFTs, and otherwise interact with the protocol will be eligible for free blockchain token distribution if the development team has an airdrop in plans.
- Ebius Finance is a DeFi protocol that offers liquid restaking and staking. You can already interact with the test version of the network. Here, earning free points is the main goal for investors. You have to stake ETH to claim points that may be eligible for conversion into native tokens if there is an upcoming airdrop campaign. Since the protocol is interested in attracting as many users as possible before the big launch, you can expect it to prepare a generous airdrop ahead of its launch date sometime in 2025.
- Prolific Game Studio is a team of developers building unique web 3.0 experiences for gamers. The studio announced its upcoming airdrop in Q2 2025. However, it is not yet confirmed. Right now, you can play a variety of games to prove participation. The games are novel slot machines using blockchain verification to provide the necessary level of transparency and fairness. The $PRO token is awarded to active users and will be used to play other games in the growing ecosystem. If you are interested in web 3.0 gaming, this project will be right up your alley.
- Joule Finance is a next-gen DeFi protocol that acts as a liquidity hub for the Aptos network. Users of the platform have access to LRT bridges, money markets, and so-called liquidity anchors. Lending and borrowing are also heavily featured with users earning points by interacting with lending pools or inviting friends. The development team is working on improving the security of smart contracts and deploying new features. However, it seems that they are also preparing for an airdrop in 2025. Right now, users receive 1 point per unit of currency lent and 4 points for borrowing it.
Modern airdrops have complicated structures and distribute rewards in several phases making it easier for users to search for valuable earning opportunities. If you want to get freebies from promising protocols, it is a good idea to keep tracking all platforms that have announced upcoming airdrops or have points systems in place that suggest an airdrop.
