In this article, we are going to explore the beginners guide for crypto airdrops. If you’re newbie in airdrops route then this guide is a saviour for you so, read the full guide very carefully because it contains everything you need to know about crypto airdrops.
What is an Airdrop?
Airdrop is basically a process of distributing tokens to the community shortly before or after listing. Farmers take profits after selling airdropped tokens on CEX/DEX.
Why do projects airdrop?
To build a strong and devoted community and “decentralize the network” in case of blockchain airdrop. That’s all you need to know.
Do airdrops benefit the space?
Airdrops is a healthy way to onboard new people on crypto and provide them with good opportunity to earn some $ in exchange of testing the network/dApp.
Basic Requirements for Airdrops:
Before you start farming crypto airdrops, make sure you’re all set with the following things:
Farming Airdrops:
Farming airdrops is nothing more than contributing to a project you’ve selected. We will split the farming stage into 3 sections (Testnet, Mainnet and a dApp/protocol)
Types of Airdrops:
Basically, there are 3 types of airdrops as we already discussed Testnet, Mainnet and protocol.
| Testnet | Mainnet | Protocol |
| Special NFT/OAT Holder | Number of transactions | Trading/Bridging/Supplying/Borrowing VOLUME |
| Discord Member with specific roles | Amount of apps/smart contracts interacted | XP Leaderboard rank/points |
| Node Runner | Volume bridged/Volume bridged/Volume traded/Volume supplied | Special NFT/OAT Holder |
| Special Campaign Participant | Interactions with early stages of Mainnet | Snapshot Voter |
| Guild Member/Contributor | Unique days/weeks/months of interactions | Number of transactions |
| XP Leaderboard rank/points | Special NFT Holder | Unique days/weeks/months of interactions |
1. Testnet Airdrops:
Almost free. Require time. Best choice for newbies/low banks
The Biggest Previous Testnet airdrops:
Aptos – $5000+
SUI – $2000(even though it was a token sale)
What do you need to know, before you start?
There are so called “Faucets” which drip the testnet tokens to your wallet.
You use these tokens to interact with dApps and pay for gas fees.
They are also the easiest airdrops by the time spent. Let’s take a look at the requirements from the biggest testnet airdrops
- Aptos – Fill in the form/ Run a node = get $5000 per account
- SUI – Join Discord = get $2000 per account
Aptos Airdrop Criteria
You never know what the criteria for the airdrop will be, so make sure to do the activities below.
- Join the project’s discord
- Interact with dApps in the ecosystem
- Deploy a contract if possible
- Run a node if possible
- Complete every quests/campaigns available. Includes Galxe, Guild etc
Testnet Airdrop Criteria
Some Testnet airdrops, like Scroll and Linea require Goerli ETH. You can get it here
- Testnet Bridge – 10 gETH for 2$ on Arbtrium
- Coinbase Faucet (Import ur MetaMask into Coinbase) – 0.1 gETH daily for funded wallets(>0,0001 ETH)
That’s it for Testnet airdrops, there isn’t anything else to do.
Get ready for the biggest upcoming Testnet Airdrops
- Berachain
- Taiko
- NuLink
2. Mainnet Airdrops:
A Layer2 network has launched on Mainnet, but doesn’t have a token? Prime example of a juicy upcoming airdrop!
Some of the previous successful Mainnet Airdrops are:
- Arbitrum – $3-10K per account
- Optimism – $2-8K per account
- Starknet – $2-5K per account
This type of airdrops requires you to spend some $ on gas fees. Fair to say that these airdrops are more profitable, since not everyone is willing to spend money for it → reducing the numbers of winners → more $ per wallet.
Mainnet Airdrops often refer to Layer2 Networks on top of Ethereum.
First, you need to top up your wallet with some $ETH and to spend less $ on commissions stick to the following way:
- Find a bridge, that allows you to transfer funds to the selected L2 (every project has their main bridge)
- Check which source chains are available → Top ur wallet up with ETH in selected network( via OKX, Binance)
- Transfer ETH from the selected network to the destination chain.
Congrats, you have your ETH on your “airdrop chain”. Now, we want to become eligible for the airdrop. Generally speaking, we just need to contribute to the chain to get the airdrop.
Mainnet Airdrop Criteria:
These are the basic eligibility criteria/multiplicators for the Mainnet Airdrops:
- Bridged funds to “Airdrop Chain”. Use the official bridge
- Has conducted 10,25,50+ transactions on the “Airdrop Chain”
- Has been active for 3,6,9+ months on the “Airdrop Chain”
- Interacted with more than 5/10/15 smart-contracts
- Has passed the Sybil Check
- DAO Voter
- Trading volume > $1000/$10.000/$25.000
- Other multiplicators might include donating on Gitcoin/ holding ENS domain/Gitcoin Passport > 20 etc.
3. Protocols/dApps Airdrops:
These types of airdrops use wider range of criteria and multiplicators, based on the services the project provide.
Here is an example,
Maverick – a DeFi AMM Protocol has recently airdropped their tokens to the eligible users. Let’s check the criteria:
- Liquidity Providing, by TVL and duration: Providing Liquidity → Supporting the Protocol with your funds → Contribution
- Achieving Contributor or higher roles in Maverick Warrior Program: Get your discord roles and participate in ambassadors program and related stuff. Sui has airdropped for only having a role in discord.
- Participation in Snapshot governance votes: Once again, voting on snapshot is one of the most frequently used criteria for the airdrop
- Trading volume using Maverick UI: Since its an AMM, trading on the platform is fundamental to become a contributor.
- Holding Maverick MAVA NFTs: MAV had their own NFTs, of course holding one would be a rational move. Same stuff again, you spend money to support the project → you are rewarded
Generally speaking, DeFi protocols and dApps have their own “niche” criteria for the airdrop, always related to their service with some specifics.
Protocols/dApps Airdrop Criteria:
Points: One of the main airdrop criteria nowadays is “Points”, Each protocol with the points program is trying to incentivize users to keep using it to farm these points. Later on, these points will be used as the criteria for the airdrop allocation, so please always try to find a way to maximize points farming, for example:
- Perpetual DEX Protocol (Drift, Orderly, LogX) – Trading Volume, Holding special NFTs, Months of usage, Number of trades, Providing Liquidity, Ambassador/Contributor, Special roles in Discord.
- Interoperability Protocol (LayerZero, Wormhole, Socket(Bungee) – Amount of bridge txn, bridged volume, unique days/weeks/months of interactions/ number of apps used/ amounts of source and destination chains, DAO voter, ambassador, special roles.
- NFT Marketplace ( Tabi, Tensor, Magic Eden) – NFT Traded volume, NFT traded amount, months of usage, special roles, special NFTs, points!
Wrapping Up:
That’s why we need to analyse the project. List all the basic forms of contribution.
Join the Discord and check for the ambassador/contributor programs and roles.
Show activity and spend some funds for our contribution.
