Types of Crypto Airdrops Explained

Retroactive Airdrops

Retroactive airdrops reward wallet addresses that interacted with a protocol before the token launch was announced. The project takes a snapshot of historical activity—transactions, volume, time spent, number of unique days active—and calculates an allocation for each qualifying wallet.

Uniswap pioneered the model in September 2020. Every address that had completed at least one swap received 400 UNI, worth $1,400 at launch. Those tokens peaked above $16,000 within a year. The drop was completely unexpected—no points program, no announcement, just a snapshot of past users.

Arbitrum refined the approach in March 2023. Instead of flat distribution, they used a tiered system based on activity depth. The average claim was 1,250 ARB (~$1,500), but power users received significantly more. Jito followed on Solana in December 2023, paying 4,000–10,000 JTO ($8,000–$20,000) to early stakers and MEV participants.

The defining feature: you cannot game a retroactive airdrop after the announcement. The snapshot is already taken. This makes consistent protocol usage the only viable strategy. Wallets with genuine, diverse activity across multiple months consistently receive the largest allocations.

Holder Airdrops

Holder airdrops distribute tokens to wallets holding a specific asset at the time of a snapshot. The project announces (or silently takes) a snapshot, and every holder above a minimum threshold receives tokens proportional to their balance.

ENS airdropped its governance token to every address that had registered an Ethereum Name Service domain. Early registrants and long-term holders received the largest allocations—some wallets claimed over $100,000 in ENS tokens. The criteria were retroactive: own an ENS name before the snapshot date.

Cosmos ecosystem projects frequently airdrop to ATOM stakers. Holding staked ATOM has qualified wallets for distributions from Osmosis (OSMO), Juno (JUNO), Stargaze (STARS), and dozens of other Cosmos-SDK chains. The pattern is predictable enough that staking ATOM became a dedicated farming strategy.

Holder airdrops reward passive ownership. The main risk is opportunity cost—capital locked in one asset can't farm other protocols. The main advantage is simplicity: buy the asset, hold it, wait for snapshots. Check which holder drops are coming on our confirmed airdrops page.

Testnet Airdrops

Testnet airdrops reward users who participate in a protocol's testing phase before mainnet launch. You interact with the protocol using free testnet tokens (obtained from faucets), and your activity qualifies you for real tokens when the project goes live.

Aptos launched in October 2022 and airdropped APT to users who had completed testnet tasks and minted an Aptos Zero NFT. Most eligible wallets received around 150 APT, worth roughly $1,500 at the time. Sui followed a similar model in 2023, rewarding testnet participants and early community members.

The economics are compelling: zero capital required (testnet tokens are free), and the time investment is usually a few hours over several weeks. The tradeoff is uncertainty—not every testnet leads to an airdrop, and some projects restrict eligibility to specific testnet phases or geographic regions.

Testnet farming works best for new L1 chains and infrastructure protocols that need broad testing coverage. DeFi protocols on existing chains are less likely to run testnets. Focus on projects with significant funding ($50M+) and no announced tokenomics.

Layer 2 / Rollup Airdrops

Ethereum Layer 2 networks have produced some of the largest airdrops in crypto history. Optimism distributed OP to early bridge users and active wallets in May 2022. Arbitrum's ARB airdrop in March 2023 reached over 625,000 wallets with a combined value exceeding $1.2 billion.

The qualification pattern for L2 airdrops is consistent: bridge assets to the network, interact with native protocols (DEXs, lending, NFT marketplaces), maintain activity over multiple months, and use the network during multiple distinct periods. Volume matters, but so does consistency. Both Optimism and Arbitrum penalized wallets with single-day burst activity.

zkSync distributed ZK tokens in June 2024 to users who met activity thresholds on the network. Starknet's STRK airdrop reached early adopters and developers. Scroll and Linea completed their token distributions in 2024–2025 through marks/points programs rather than pure retroactive criteria.

The remaining opportunity: Base (Coinbase's L2) has no token. Several L2 ecosystem protocols also remain pre-token. See which L2s are best positioned in our best chains 2026 analysis. L2 airdrops reward the same behaviors as mainnet Ethereum usage—swaps, liquidity provision, lending—but at a fraction of the gas cost.

Solana Ecosystem Airdrops

Solana's DeFi ecosystem entered its airdrop era in late 2023. Jito launched JTO in December 2023, rewarding liquid staking participants with allocations worth $8,000–$20,000 for active users. Jupiter followed in January 2024 with a massive JUP airdrop to DEX traders based on historical swap volume.

The Solana airdrop model differs from Ethereum L2s. Individual protocols distribute their own tokens rather than the chain itself. This means farming on Solana involves using multiple protocols—DEXs, lending platforms, liquid staking, NFT marketplaces—each of which may independently airdrop.

Tensor rewarded NFT traders with TNSR tokens. Bonk emerged as a community airdrop to Solana developers and ecosystem participants. Marinade Finance, Drift Protocol, and Parcl have all either completed airdrops or run active points programs heading into 2026.

Solana's low transaction fees (under $0.01) make it one of the cheapest chains to farm. High transaction throughput means you can generate significant on-chain activity without the gas cost burden of Ethereum or its L2s.

NFT Airdrops

NFT projects occasionally airdrop fungible tokens to their holders. The most prominent example: Yuga Labs airdropped ApeCoin (APE) to Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape holders in March 2022. BAYC holders received 10,094 APE each, worth over $80,000 at peak prices.

Pudgy Penguins launched PENGU in December 2024, distributing tokens to NFT holders and broader Solana ecosystem participants. The PENGU airdrop reached a wide audience beyond just Pudgy holders, using a points-based allocation for non-holder participants.

NFT airdrops carry high capital requirements. Holding a BAYC floor NFT cost tens of thousands of dollars during the airdrop period. The strategy works for existing collectors who benefit from airdrops as a bonus on top of their NFT holdings, rather than as a primary farming target.

Blue-chip NFT collections on Ethereum and Solana remain potential airdrop candidates if the parent project launches utility tokens. Check NFT airdrops for current opportunities.

Telegram / TON Airdrops

The TON (The Open Network) ecosystem exploded with airdrops starting in 2024. Notcoin led the wave—a Telegram-native tap-to-earn game that distributed NOT tokens to over 40 million players. Individual allocations were small ($5–$50) but the sheer user base was unprecedented.

Hamster Kombat followed with an even larger audience, reaching 300 million registered users. DOGS distributed tokens to Telegram users based on account age and premium status. These Telegram airdrops prioritize massive distribution over per-wallet value.

The farming mechanic is simple: install a Telegram mini-app, complete daily tasks (tapping, inviting friends, checking in), and accumulate in-app points. The time investment is minutes per day. Capital investment is zero.

The per-wallet value is significantly lower than DeFi airdrops. Telegram drops optimize for reach, not per-user reward. They work best as zero-cost side activities alongside more capital-intensive farming strategies on Ethereum L2s and Solana.

Task-Based Airdrops

Task-based airdrops require completing specific actions to qualify: follow the project on X, join their Discord, retweet an announcement, fill out a form, or complete on-chain quests. Platforms like Galxe, Zealy, and Layer3 aggregate these tasks into campaign dashboards.

The payout per task is generally small—$5 to $50 per campaign. Galxe campaigns for well-funded protocols occasionally pay more, especially when combined with on-chain activity requirements (bridge to a new chain, make a swap, mint an NFT). The qualification is guaranteed: complete the tasks, receive the allocation.

Task-based drops serve a different purpose than retroactive airdrops. Projects use them for marketing—growing social followings, driving testnet activity, building Discord communities. The tokens distributed are often a small percentage of total supply.

The strategy for task-based farming: batch them. Run through 10–20 campaigns in a single session rather than checking daily. Focus on campaigns from projects with real VC funding rather than unknown tokens. Check DeFi airdrops and gaming airdrops for active campaigns.

Points-Based Airdrops

Points programs are now the dominant airdrop mechanism. Projects award visible points for every qualifying action—deposits, trades, referrals—and these points convert to tokens at TGE. Hyperliquid, EigenLayer, and Ethena all used this model for their 2024 distributions.

The key difference from retroactive airdrops: transparency. You can see your points balance grow in real time and adjust your strategy accordingly. The key risk: dilution. As more capital enters a points program, each point's value decreases.

Points-based airdrops are complex enough to warrant their own analysis. Read the full points program breakdown →

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