Crypto airdrops present an incredibly valuable opportunity for crypto users to earn free tokens. They are the definition of a ‘win-win.’ Investors get free crypto, and the projects increase their user base, generate hype, and reward early community members. In the past, investors have profited tens of thousands of dollars from single airdrops, often by interacting with a protocol just once or twice.
Still, not all airdrops are created equal. Some will be so small that they won’t be worth more than the transaction fee required to sell them. Others will be worth a few hundred dollars, and on rare occasions, you could hit it big with a massive airdrop worth thousands. Also, scams are quite common in the airdrop space, so it’s vital to be cautious and do your research before diving in headfirst.
In this article, we will cover how crypto airdrops work, highlight some of the best airdrops in crypto history, and cover the most hyped upcoming crypto airdrops that you might still be able to catch.
What Are Crypto Airdrops?
Crypto airdrops are free token distributions. Projects send tokens directly to users’ crypto wallets to reward them for their support and to build their community and user base. Everyone loves getting free crypto, but airdrops are often difficult to claim. The catch is that you need to meet certain eligibility criteria before the airdrop is even announced.
Teams typically take a “snapshot” of blockchain data to check check who has interacted with the protocol, how much they have used it, or what tokens they are holding before a certain date and time.
If you try to get in after the airdrop announcement, you are probably already far too late since the snapshot will have already happened at this point. Otherwise, users could farm airdrops by creating hundreds or even thousands of wallets to meet the criteria and secure the airdrop.
Why do crypto projects do airdrops? It is all about growth. Airdrops can help:
- Reward loyal users
- Get more people using their platform
- Create hype on crypto Twitter, Telegram, and Discord
Types of Crypto Airdrops Explained
As previously mentioned, not all crypto airdrops work the same way. Depending on the project’s goals, crypto airdrops might use different strategies to reach and reward their users. Here are the most common types of crypto airdrops you can find these days:
1. Standard Airdrops
Standard airdrops are extremely simple. Crypto projects send free tokens to a list of wallet addresses that fit their eligibility requirements. Sometimes, all it takes to get free crypto tokens is to sign up with your wallet address, use the protocol once or twice, and wait. They often don’t require any major tasks or high-value deposits. Standard airdrops are usually done to build awareness before a token launch.
Some of the biggest airdrops of all time have been standard airdrops, with Uniswap being the prime example. As part of its launch strategy, Uniswap rewarded early users with a surprise airdrop of $UNI tokens. Anyone who had interacted with the Uniswap protocol (provided liquidity, made a swap, etc.) before September 1, 2020, was eligible to claim 400 UNI tokens. The tokens were worth about $1,400 at the time, but UNI later reached an all-time high of nearly $45, making the airdrop worth around $18,000.
Ethereum Name Service, or ENS, launched its token ($ENS) with a similar airdrop. ENS is a decentralized domain naming system built on Ethereum that allows users to register human-readable .eth addresses (like yourname.eth), which can be used instead of a long wallet address.
Users who registered .eth domains before October 31, 2021, received an average of 200 ENS as a reward for being early adopters. The airdrop was worth several thousand dollars at launch. The amount of tokens received varied based on factors like the age of the domain, its expiration date, and other eligibility criteria. Because ENS is a governance token, the new holders were also able to participate in the protocol’s development and decisions.
Finally, we have the dYdX airdrop. The decentralized exchange airdropped tokens to active traders, with some wallets receiving over $50,000 worth of tokens, depending on volume. In 2021, dYdX dropped 7.5% of its initial billion-strong token supply. The airdropped tokens’ value reached over $1 billion at one point.
2. Holder Airdrops
You can only qualify for a holder airdrop if you hold a specific token. This is the project’s way of rewarding its loyal community and driving interest in both tokens. Think of it as a thank-you note sent to community members, but in the form of free crypto. Sounds amazing, right?
In 2022, ApeCoin airdropped tokens to Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT holders, worth thousands of dollars at launch. ApeCoin is the most famous holder airdrop to date, though it’s far from the only example.
3. Bounty Airdrops
Bounty airdrops are more complicated and come with a task list. You might have to follow social media accounts, join a Discord server, or share posts. In this way, crypto projects turn their users into free promoters. Once you finish and fill out a form, you become eligible for the airdrop.
A popular example of bounty airdrops is the BitTorrent airdrop. BitTorrent, the famous peer-to-peer file-sharing protocol, was acquired by TRON in 2018. After the acquisition, TRON launched the TRC-10 token BTT on its blockchain. The main airdrop campaign followed with a launch on February 11, 2019, with additional monthly airdrops running until February 2025.
In addition to the holder airdrop, where BitTorrent distributed 10.1% of the total BTT supply to TRX holders, there was a separate early campaign that asked users to complete marketing and community-building tasks such as:
- Join Telegram or WeChat groups
- Follow and retweet BitTorrent’s Twitter account
- Promote BitTorrent and TRON in forums or via referral links
4. Exclusive Airdrops
Exclusive airdrops are reserved for power users. If you interact heavily with a protocol by trading, staking, voting, or providing liquidity, you might be eligible for an exclusive airdrop. It’s not about holding a token; it’s about contributing.
Take, for instance, the $ARB airdrop for Arbitrum from 2023. This airdrop was based on network usage. Users who bridged, voted, or somehow interacted with dApps on Arbitrum received a reward.
6 Best Potential Crypto Airdrops
Getting in early is pretty much everything when it comes to free crypto airdrops. By the time a project officially launches, the eligibility window is usually closed. That’s why spotting these before they happen is key.
Below are some of the most-talked-about upcoming crypto airdrops. Some have already announced them, while others have simply hinted heavily at an upcoming airdrop.
1. MetaMask
MetaMask has never officially launched a token, at least not yet. Still, the signs are there. ConsenSys, the team behind MetaMask, has hinted at a potential $MASK token since 2021. Its CEO, Joseph Lubin, hinted at a token launch in a tweet, asking, “Wen $MASK? Stay tuned.”
Andrew, ConsenSys has thousands of tokens on our balance sheet. ConsenSys is vigorously controlled by its employees, which includes me. And we are driving towards decentralization of several of our projects. Wen $MASK? Stay tuned. Wen objective journalism, ser?
— Joseph Lubin (@ethereumJoseph) November 8, 2021
In March 2023, MetaMask officially confirmed its plans for a token and DAO governance. They have also launched a MetaMask Snaps developer program and a MetaMask Learn initiative, which are both good opportunities for you to get involved early.
How to prepare:
- Use MetaMask regularly
- Try MetaMask Swaps
- Explore Snaps and bridge features
Note that no one outside of MetaMask is even sure that there will be an airdrop of $MASK tokens, even though the team has heavily hinted at it.
2. Best Wallet
Best Wallet is a popular wallet app with endless functionality and utility. It offers daily and seasonal quests in exchange for what they call “Best Points.” The company has openly said that these points are linked to a future airdrop, so this is not just a wild guess.
The app supports Solana and EVM chains, and the interface is pretty simple to use.
How to prepare:
- Complete daily and seasonal quests
- Engage with in-app features like swaps and staking
- Collect Best Points as often as you can
3. BTCBULL
BTCBULL is a viral memecoin project that takes a rather unique approach. It airdrops tokens every time Bitcoin hits a new price milestone, aiming to help push Bitcoin to $1 million and beyond. BTCBULL is powered by a hybrid system that combines the community-driven hype of memecoins with the rewards and incentives of utility tokens.
When Bitcoin rises, so do your airdrop rewards. 🏹⭐ pic.twitter.com/9aITqaMOaG
— BTCBULL_TOKEN (@BTCBULL_TOKEN) May 9, 2025
You can always see the public airdrop schedule. When BTC crosses a certain price point (like 100k, for instance), holders get $BTCBULL rewards.
How to prepare:
- Mint or buy $BTCBULL early on Solana
- Hold through the price milestones
- Follow the official announcements on BTCBULL’s official X account
4. Meteora
Meteora is a Solana-based liquidity protocol. The team has now officially confirmed a governance token, but the date hasn’t been set just yet. They have, however, launched an incentives program and are working on “Dynamic Pools,” which are vital to the product’s growth. This is not confirmed, but users who interact with the protocol now might just be eligible for a future drop. Luckily, it’s on Solana, so using the protocol is about as cheap as it gets.
Meteora has been quietly building one of the most active airdrop ecosystems on the chain. They’ve launched a scoring system called the M3M3 Score, which tracks how users interact with the platform. The score directly influences airdrop rewards. For instance, during the recent $PUMPAI airdrop linked to their AI launchpad PumpdotAI, users with high M3M3 scores received many more token rewards compared to others.
M3M3ers! Now is the time to PPP as the @pumpdotai
airdrop is being tracked and your M3M3 score will be updated.As a reminder…
Buy + stake: to improve scoring by up to 1.15
Stake: to improve scoring by up to 1.05
Hold: token or DLMM out for no change.
Any sell or… https://t.co/itsAWJynVq— Meteora (@MeteoraAG) January 4, 2025
How to prepare:
- Provide liquidity on Meteora
- Participate in vault strategies
- Stay active in the Discord or announcements channel
- Avoid selling too early
5. Berachain
Berachain is a hot name in the crypto world these days. It’s a high-performance Layer 1 built using Cosmos SDK and EVM compatibility. The token ($BERA) has already been confirmed, and Berachain is running an incentivized public testnet program.
The testnet includes missions and quests, and the company’s team has already stated that testers will be considered for airdrops. The specifics haven’t been announced yet, but the more missions and quests you complete, the more tokens you will likely receive.
How to prepare:
- Join the testnet and complete quests on artio.berachin.dev
- Use the Berachin wallet and DApps
- Stay plugged into community updates
6. Pump.fun
Pump.fun is a memecoin platform that played a big role in kicking off the 2024 Solana memecoin boom. It lets users launch a memecoin in minutes with almost no crypto required upfront to essentially crowdfund their tokens. The low entry cost was a major driver in the recent explosion of memecoins on the network, inspiring viral tokens like $BONK and $WEN.
Recently, they teased a new token, posting that they plan to reward their earliest users.
one of the BIGGEST announcements in pump fun's history is coming up (and one that tons of you have been asking for)
join us in tomorrow's spaces for the GRAND REVEAL and an AMA right after 🔥🔥🔥
set your reminders 🔔https://t.co/TX8K8rjk9y
— pump.fun (@pumpdotfun) October 18, 2024
How to prepare:
- Launch or trade tokens using pump.fun
- Interact with trending coins early
- Actively participate in the community for updates
How to Farm Crypto Airdrops
Airdrop farming is all about getting in before the hype. The idea is to position yourself for a future token drop before the project officially announces one.
Instead of chasing the confirmed airdrops, where it is usually too late to get free crypto, farming means that you look for signals. These can be anything from hints from the team, unusual testnet activity, or even growing rumors on crypto Twitter (or Telegram). Still, note that farming doesn’t always result in legitimate airdrops, and posts and rumors can often be misleading. Some teams may hint at an airdrop just to build hype with no intention of following through.
The process of farming free crypto airdrops is simple in theory. First, you need to find the projects that are likely to launch a token.
Next, you interact frequently and meaningfully with their apps, wallets, bridges, or testnets.
You’re basically signaling to the team: “I am an early and active user. Reward me”.
Projects like MetaMask, ZkSync, LayerZero, and Starknet are prime examples of this. The platforms have already hinted at an upcoming airdrop or are expected to launch tokens but haven’t made anything official yet.
Where to Find Airdrop Opportunities
To increase your odds of finding potential airdrops, you’ll need to keep track of what’s happening in the crypto world and move early. Here are some tools that can help you:
- Earnifi: Helps you check if you are eligible for past or current airdrops. You can use it to set alerts for upcoming airdrops.
- Airdrops.io: A trending site listing new airdrops, including DeFi, NFT, and gaming-focused ones.
- DappRadar: A popular analytics platform with a useful dashboard displaying likely upcoming airdrops.
Tips for Successful Airdrop Farming
Farming airdrops sounds simple, but it actually takes a lot of time and effort. The bottom line is, airdrop farming comes without guarantees. You can choose the wrong project and waste your time, or make a wrong investment. However, if you choose the right project and engage early, the rewards can be huge (just ask the early adopters of $UNI, $ENS, and $ARB).
Here are some tips for successful farming:
- Be consistent; one interaction is often not enough
- Spread your effort; don’t just bet on a single protocol
- Stay informed by following project Discords, Telegrams, newsletters, and X accounts
- Avoid shortcuts like bots and fake activity (these might get you filtered out since most teams use anti-Sybil tools to detect real users)
10 Largest Crypto Airdrops of All Time
Some crypto airdrops have turned out to be pocket change or a waste of time. Other projects have been life-changing. Over the years, a few projects have truly surprised early users, giving them tokens worth thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars. These airdrops weren’t just marketing stunts. They rewarded loyalty and early adoption.
Below is a list of the top 10 crypto airdrops ever, ranked by estimated total value and how much users could have made.
| Project | Token | Estimated Airdrop Value at the Time | Total Airdrop Value | Year |
| dYdX | DYDX | $4,400-100,000+ | ~$1 billion+ | 2021 |
| Uniswap | UNI | around $1,200 (400 UNI) | ~$400 million+ | 2020 |
| Ethereum Name Service (ENS) | ENS | $1,250-10,000+ (heavy users) | ~$200 million | 2021 |
| Optimism | OP | $1,000-$5,000 | ~$300-400 million | 2022 |
| Arbitrum | ARB | $1,000-$10,000 | ~$1.5 billion+ | 2023 |
| Starknet | STRK | $500-$2,000+ | ~$250+ million | 2024 |
| Blur | BLUR | $1,000-$10,000 | ~$300-400 million | 2023 |
| Aptos | APT | $200-$1,500 | ~$100-$150 million | 2022 |
| 1inch | 1INCH | ~$1,500+ | ~$100 million | 2020 |
| Sui | SUI | $500-$1,500 | ~$50-100 million | 2023 |
Tips to Avoid Airdrop Scams
Airdrops are great, but scammers know this just as well. The biggest threat with airdrops is phishing. Fake airdrop links often circulate on Twitter, Discord, and Telegram, tricking users into connecting their wallets or signing malicious transactions.
In 2022, scammers ran a campaign using deepfake videos of Elon Musk to promote a fake $BTC giveaway and airdrop. The scheme aired during hacked YouTube livestreams, where Musk promised users they’d double their crypto holdings if they sent BTC to a listed address. This is just one of many Elon-related crypto scams.
Another case involved a fake token called $OPENAI in 2023. By clicking the fake airdrop link, users quickly had their wallets drained.
Here is how to stay safe:
- Never connect your wallet to unknown sites. Only use official links, ideally ones from the project’s verified social channels or website.
- Never share private keys/seed phrases. Legitimate airdrops will never ask for it.
- Double-check the URL. Scammers often use slight typos (e.g., “metamàsk.io” instead of “metamask.io”)
- If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Airdrops worth thousands won’t just drop into your wallet without any prior activity.
Final Thoughts: Are Crypto Airdrops Worth It?
Crypto airdrops can be really exciting and sometimes, shockingly rewarding. For early users, testers, and people willing to dig into new platforms, free crypto airdrops offer a way to get tokens without directly investing money. Some users have made tens of thousands of dollars just by being early and active.
Still, airdrops aren’t guaranteed. You’ll need to be consistent, very cautious, and smart about which projects you spend time on. Scams are real and more numerous than ever, so security should always come first.
If you are ready to explore airdrops, start small. Try out trusted platforms, stay active in communities, and keep an eye on tools that tell you about upcoming airdrops. You won’t catch every airdrop, but if you are lucky enough, you might just land a big one.
FAQs
What was the first crypto airdrop ever?
The first known airdrop was Auroracoin (AUR) in 2014. AUR was launched as an Icelandic national cryptocurrency, distributing coins to citizens based on their ID numbers.
Did El Salvador airdrop Bitcoin?
Yes. In 2021, El Salvador gave $30 worth of Bitcoin to every citizen who downloaded the Chivo Wallet. This was part of their national BTC adoption program.
Can you profit from crypto airdrops?
You can, and many people have. But it is not guaranteed. The most profitable airdrops usually award early adopters, testers, and contributors. Timing and luck play a major role here.
What are the risks of crypto airdrops?
The biggest risk is scams, especially phishing. There is also the risk of wasting your time on projects that never launch a token, or tokens that crash in value after the launch.
Are crypto airdrops worth farming?
They sure can be, but this depends on your time, risk tolerance, and goals. Some airdrop hunters have made tens of thousands in profits. Others spend months farming and get very little or nothing. This is a long game that sometimes pays off.
