How do crypto protocols incentivize and reward early users and contributors? Token airdrops. By handing out protocol tokens, the early users who helped build and propel a network or app are typically given a say in decentralized governance—and the tokens have value, too.
Not every airdrop will fill your wallet with a sizable bag of tokens, but you never know—users have collectively netted millions of dollars in tokens during past airdrops, and sometimes crypto tokens gain value over the long haul.
Recent high-profile airdrops from the likes of Blur, Jupiter, and Pyth Network may inspire you to look for the next big protocol to reward users for participation. It's important to note, though, that most projects now prefer retroactive airdrops to reward past activity. So, if you haven’t yet interacted with these protocols, you might already be out of luck.
Here’s a look at some of the biggest airdrops that either just commenced or are coming soon.
Starknet
The next huge airdrop is coming from Ethereum. Starknet, the layer-2 scaling network, will kick off its STRK airdrop on February 20, with nearly 1.3 million wallets eligible for the drop. The "provisions program" targets early Starknet users and developers, with 700 million tokens served up in this first phase.
Starknet Reveals Airdrop Details for 1.3 Million Eligible Ethereum Wallets
Ethereum layer-2 scaling network Starknet has released details about its much-anticipated token airdrop, which is now officially set to launch on February 20. Almost 1.3 million wallets will be eligible to receive free tokens during the airdrop, according to the Starknet Foundation, which is referring to the event as a “provisions program.” Beneficiaries range widely, from Starknet users and developers to users of decentralized apps (dapps) affiliated with the network, all the way to Ethereum s...
Blast
Blast, the upcoming Ethereum layer-2 scaling network from the founder of top NFT marketplace Blur, has been controversial—even one of its lead backers publicly griped about its launch. But that hasn’t stopped traders from staking enormous amounts of ETH and stablecoins, now nearly $1.8 billion worth, hoping to eventually earn airdropped tokens.
Why is there so much interest? Blur has already airdropped several hundred million dollars worth of BLUR tokens to users, and Blast is telegraphing a very similar approach, attempting to corner the market through vast incentives for users. There’s already a lot of demand, but Blast has clearly laid out how users can set themselves up to earn rewards.
Blast Deposits Top $1.1 Billion Ahead of Ethereum L2 Launch and Airdrop
Blast, an upcoming Ethereum layer-2 scaling network from the creator of leading NFT marketplace Blur, has now pulled in more than a billion dollars’ worth of deposits from users vying to earn yield and points towards an upcoming token airdrop. Some $1.13 billion worth of cryptocurrency has been deposited into the Blast bridge as of this writing, according to both the official website and DeFiLlama, making it the 23rd largest protocol by total value locked according to the latter resource. Over 8...
Wormhole
Cross-chain protocol Wormhole said in February that it will launch an airdrop for its W token, with the snapshot of wallets already taken. Wormhole began as a bridge between Ethereum and Solana, but has since expanded to include almost 30 networks. There's no ETA for when the actual token drop will take place.
Wormhole Airdrop: W Tokenomics, Unlock Schedule and Eligibility
Wormhole, a cross-chain protocol, has announced an airdrop of its W token. The team didn't provide an exact date, but did say in a blog post that a snapshot of eligible wallets has already been taken. The cross-chain protocol allows users to bridge send messages and assets between different blockchains. It initially linked Ethereum to Solana, but has since expanded to link together almost 30 different networks. Since it launched in late 2020, the company has gone on to close a $225 million fundi...
Tensor
Solana’s new leading NFT marketplace has been hinting at an airdrop for months, and has closely followed the Blur playbook, including by incentivizing trading activity with points. Those points are likely to result in a share of tokens for traders, and with Solana NFT activity on the rise, that could prove very worthwhile.
Magic Eden (NFT)
Magic Eden has launched its Diamonds rewards program that will gradually span all four chains that the NFT marketplace serves, delivering points-like incentives that will unlock unspecified benefits.
But in parallel, a Non-Fungible DAO has spun up that plans to launch an NFT token that will be airdropped to traders who use its open-source protocols—and they just happen to be the marketplace and launchpad protocols that Magic Eden developed. So it's potentially double rewards for users.
How to Farm Magic Eden's Diamond Rewards Ahead of NFT Token Airdrop
Magic Eden recently launched a cross-chain rewards program that incentivizes the use of its popular NFT marketplace across Solana, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Polygon, along with opportunities tied to its new multi-chain wallet. Beyond its rewards program, Magic Eden also recently announced that it will open-source its minting and trading protocols in collaboration with a new Non-Fungible DAO. The DAO they’re working with plans on launching a token called “NFT” that will be used to reward traders. Ac...
Pixels
Buzzy farming video game Pixels will launch its PIXEL token on February 19 following play-to-airdrop campaigns, and it has already doled out token allocations to some 28,000 of those players' wallets.
Furthermore, Pixels is handing out a total of 20 million PIXEL to Ronin network users who staked RON tokens. The game will continue to offer PIXEL earning opportunities in the future, too, beyond the airdrop.
Why Crypto Game Pixels Is Launching a Token: 'Now the Fun Starts'
It’s been a busy—and buzzy—few months for the crypto game Pixels, which saw surging interest after migrating from Polygon to the Ronin blockchain in October. But while the game has been in development since 2021, founder Luke Barwikowski said that next week’s launch of the long-awaited PIXEL token makes it feel like “day one” for the team as they fully implement the social farming game’s crypto vision. “The fact that we're launching on Binance… the fact that all of this stuff is happening and we...
Aevo
The Ethereum decentralized perpetual futures and options exchange built on Optimism tech announced an airdrop for past users in late January—and a farming program to let current users earn even more. We've explored some of the ways to maximize the farming program here.
How to Farm the Aevo Airdrop on Ethereum
Aevo, a decentralized perpetual futures and options exchange built on a custom Ethereum layer-2 utilizing the Optimism tech stack, announced an airdrop and farming program on Wednesday. The airdrop is intended to reward early adopters of the Aevo exchange with its upcoming token, AEVO. Any traders who used the exchange before the announcement will be eligible for the airdrop—but Aevo is also allowing users to gain additional tokens through its new farming program. The airdrop itself will be cond...
Drift Protocol
Drift Protocol, the top perpetual swap futures exchange on Solana, rolled out its own points program in January to reward users ahead of an airdrop. The exchange will hand out points based on various metrics of your trading activity, as detailed here.
How to Farm the Drift Protocol Airdrop on Solana
Drift Protocol, the largest perpetual swap futures exchange on Solana, just launched a points program. The points program precedes a future airdrop, where Drift will distribute its governance token to community members in an effort to decentralize the protocol. To date, Drift has seen over $5 billion in volume from around 90,000 users, equating to over $120 million in total value locked in the protocol. The company closed a $23.5 million Series A last October, with contributions from Polychain C...
Arcade
Ethereum-based NFT lending protocol Arcade is about to kick off an airdrop for its ARCD token, with bundles of tokens offered up to holders of NFT and Ordinals projects like Pudgy Penguins, Mad Lads, Bitcoin Puppets, and more. The snapshot will be taken on February 19 and the airdrop is set for February 21, though some regional restrictions apply.
NFT Lender Arcade Reveals Airdrop for Ethereum, Solana, and Bitcoin Collectors
Arcade, the Ethereum-based DeFi protocol for NFT lending, will launch the next airdrop of its native ARCD token next week, the company has announced. On February 21, bundles of 750 ARCD tokens will be airdropped to 4,000 lucky holders of select NFT and Bitcoin Ordinals collections frequently used as loan collateral on Arcade. Some 2,000 wallets holding Ethereum-based NFTs Pudgy Penguins, Lil Pudgys, and Sappy Seals will be randomly selected for the airdrop’s allowlist. Another 2,000 wallets ho...
Shuffle
Shuffle, a crypto casino that accepts Ethereum, Bitcoin, and other coins, is set to airdrop its Ethereum-based SHFL token beginning the first week of March, rewarding users from its first year of service. Second and third airdrop waves are planned for later this year.
Bitcoin, Ethereum Casino Shuffle Reveals SHFL Airdrop Plans
In a whitepaper update released Thursday, online crypto casino Shuffle outlined the project’s tokenomics and plans to distribute the Ethereum-based SHFL tokens in a series of airdrops beginning the first week of March. The first airdrop, Shuffle said, will go to users who have played in the online casino in the first 12 months since its launch. Second and third airdrop rounds are planned for later this year, targeting a wider distribution of users. According to Shuffle’s whitepaper, 31% of the t...
Portal
If you’ve been on Crypto Twitter in the last couple months, then you’ve probably seen the hubbub around Portal’s upcoming gaming token. It’s not exactly organic, either: Portal incentivized Twitter users to broadly spread the word about the upcoming PORTAL airdrop to earn points, which apparently will yield them tokens in the future.
There have been a lot of questions about the project, which aims to bridge the gap between various crypto games with a single, cross-chain token, though more details are starting to come to light. Portal previously said the airdrop was coming in January, but that didn't happen. On February 16, the project said that it's in the "last stretch" before the token is generated.
Portal Airdrop Set for January as Gaming Token Nears Launch
Portal is moving to bridge the gap between crypto games and blockchain networks with a single token and platform. And now we know when its token is set to be airdropped. The Portal airdrop will take place in January, the project’s official Twitter account announced Monday, with the current Crystal Dash airdrop farming game set to conclude then. At that point, users can “convert their shards into airdrop” and claim Portal tokens. Launched in late November, Crystal Dash is a promotional campaign t...
Saga
Saga is a crypto gaming protocol that helps developers spin up their own blockchains for games, and it has been running a play-to-airdrop campaign across numerous games. Testnet developers will benefit from the first airdrop, while community members are set to get tokens from a follow-up drop.
The campaign rewards players that perform well in competitions across a number of games building on Saga's testnet, with collaborations launched for games on chains like Solana and Avalanche too.
Saga Expands Airdrop Rewards to Solana, Polygon, and Avalanche Games
Saga, an upcoming gaming-centric layer-1 blockchain network, announced this week that it will offer play-to-airdrop rewards in partnership with games that are running on other major blockchains, including Solana, Avalanche, and Ethereum scaling network Polygon. The “Three Kingdoms” play-to-airdrop campaign offers the ability for players of games on those three networks to potentially claim a share of the upcoming SAGA token launch, which is planned for this spring. Saga co-founder and CEO Rebecc...
Solana Saga
Did you manage to snag a Solana Saga smartphone before the original production run ran out? If so, there are a number of token airdrops available to phone owners, along with other perks and benefits. We've collected the biggest ones at this link, which will be routinely updated as more and more projects get onboard.
Got a Solana Saga Before They Sold Out? Here Are All the Airdrops You Can Claim
The Solana Saga smartphone has been given a shot in the arm thanks to airdrop buzz. The rising price of leading Solana meme coin BONK helped juice the value of a token airdrop for holders, prompting a frenzy to snatch up the last units in December—and now the Saga is sold out, with demand even exceeding the expected supply. Solana Labs says it is weighing potential future moves in the Saga ecosystem, but in the meantime, other Solana-based projects are keeping the excitement alive by launching t...
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
Editor's note: This story was originally published on December 9, 2023 and last updated with new info on February 18, 2024.
