Crypto Airdrops in 2024
Some possible crypto airdrops to look out for in the second half of 2024 include Layer 2s like Linea, Eclipse, and Fuel, along with other projects like Pump.fun, Jupiter, Karak, Initia, Berachain, Zora, and Farcaster.
Key Takeaways
- A growing trend in token airdrops is the adoption of a point system which is used to stimulate user participation and liquidity.
- There has been a good number of airdrops every year since 2020. To increase your chances of qualifying for an airdrop, you can look into becoming an early user of projects that are likely to offer airdrops.
- Airdrops allows projects to bootstrap liquidity, while also distributing governance rights to users to participate in the future of the project.
This article was updated in November 2024
Interested in receiving some free crypto in your wallet? As part of their token launch, some cryptocurrency projects send free tokens to their communities to drive adoption, an activity commonly known as “airdrops.” But what are airdrops, and how do you qualify for these free tokens? Read on!
What Are Crypto Airdrops?
Cryptocurrency projects are big on incentivization as a way to drive interest towards their brand and the product itself, and airdrops are designed to introduce users to the project and reward them in the process as a dual marketing and reward system. As you’ll see in the list below, one of the most common ways to improve your eligibility for new airdrops is to use the testnet or interact with the protocol.
Early airdrop programs were basically structured to introduce a new or existing project to the cryptocurrency community by rewarding new users who perform simple social tasks. On completion, the participants receive a certain number of token rewards. Currently, airdrop programs are adopting a point system, where the points users earn are converted to a share of the airdropped tokens. Users can usually earn these points by taking part in the project’s testnet, providing liquidity, and engaging in social tasks.
Over the past five years, airdrops have changed as the goal has shifted towards rewarding early adopters and significant contributors. After Uniswap’s high profile airdrop in 2020, where $6.43 billion worth of UNI was distributed (valued at its ATH token price of $42.88), every year has recorded significant airdrops:
- On 25th December 2021, OpenDAO airdropped a major portion of its SOS token to NFT traders on OpenSea.
- Some of the most popular airdrops of 2022 were BAYC’s Apecoin airdrop to its NFT art holders, Ethereum Layer 2 network Optimism’s airdrop of its OP token, and Aptos’s airdrop to its early adopters.
- In 2023, we’ve already seen the Arbitrum airdrop, with over 42 million ARB claimed in the first hour. Other high profile airdrops in 2023 include Celestia’s TIA and Blur.
- According to the CoinGecko Q2 2024 report, there were 21 notable airdrops including Ethena, zkSync, LayerZero, EigenLayer, and friend.tech, which added $7.7 billion to the overall crypto market cap in Q2 of 2024.
With the year 2024 already upon us, let’s take a look at some likely airdrops that might be happening soon, and how you can qualify for these upcoming crypto airdrops.
Do note that unless specified otherwise, these potential airdrops are highly speculative and a feature in this list is no guarantee that an actual airdrop will happen in the future.
Linea: EVM-Equivalent ZK Layer 2 Rollup by Consensys
Linea is an Ethereum-equivalent Layer 2 zero knowledge network developed by Consensys, the developers behind the MetaMask wallet. As an Ethereum-equivalent zkEVM, its execution environment is compatible with existing applications deployed on Ethereum.
It improves transaction speed and reduces cost by using rollup technology to submit transactions to the mainnet in batches. Like other zero knowledge rollup networks, Linea uses the ZK validity proofs to assess the accuracy of data before submitting bundled up transactions to the mainnet. By recording transactions on the Ethereum mainnet, Linea inherits the level of security on the mainnet while maintaining a high-throughput execution environment.
At time of writing, Linea’s TVL is at $547 million.
Why an Airdrop Is Likely
Linea is running a points program known as Linea Voyages, where users will receive Linea XP Points (LXP) based on their contributions. This is split into Linea Voyage LXP (LXP), which is earned through exploring dApps in the Linea ecosystem, and The Surge (LXP-L), which is earned through providing liquidity in the Linea ecosystem. Linea’s Surge program will last for six months, or until its TVL hits $3 billion.
Improving Your Airdrop Eligibility
You can improve your airdrop eligibility for Linea by bridging assets to Linea and taking part of Linea Voyages to earn LXP. You can also provide liquidity by holding assets on Linea, which will let you accrue LXP-L.
Berachain: EVM-Identical Layer 1 Utilizing Proof-of-Liquidity
Berachain is an EVM-Identical Layer 1 blockchain built on the Beaconkit framework – a Cosmos SDK-based framework that enables developers to build execution layers tailored for the Ethereum Virtual Machine. This means its execution layer is identical to the EVM, allowing developers to directly deploy their Ethereum-based apps onto Berachain, while allowing Berachain to adopt the latest version of the EVM whenever it is forked or updated, without required any modifications.
Berachain runs on the Proof-of-Liquidity (PoL) consensus mechanism that builds on Proof-of-Stake by introducing a soulbound governance token that determines the rewards for stakers. This separates token responsibilities by separating gas tokens from tokens used to govern chain rewards for security. In PoL users who wish to contribute to the consensus layer are required to provide liquidity by committing the native BERA coin or any other token accepted on the rewards vault and receiving BGT (BeraChain Governance token) which is then delegated to a validator.
Bera Chain has raised over $140 million through multiple funding events to develop the network.
Why an Airdrop Is Likely
The BERA token is confirmed and BeraChain is running a public testnet program. While a community airdrop is yet to be announced at the time of writing, participants in the testnet program and other promotional programs expect the project to reward early contributors via a token airdrop, as seen in previous airdrops from other protocols that have run similar programs.
Improving Your Airdrop Eligibility
Participating in the testnet program and other social media promotional programs are some of the best ways to improve your chances of benefiting from a potential BERA airdrop. Follow this guide to learn more.
Jupiter: Solana’s Largest DEX Aggregator
Jupiter is a decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator on the Solana network. As a DEX aggregator, it helps traders find the best rates for token swaps by efficiently routing orders across various decentralized exchanges on Solana, such as Raydium, Meteora, and others. To date, over $345,000,000,000 in trading volume has been routed through Jupiter. This means that roughly 50% of all trades on Solana are routed through Jupiter.
Since its launch Jupiter has experienced rapid growth, introducing their very own perpetuals exchange, memecoin terminal and even acquiring other crypto infrastructure firms, SolanaFM and Coinhall. Jupiter is a fast grower in 2024, quickly positioning themselves as a major DeFi conglomerate in Solana, making their airdrop one to look forward to.
Why An Airdrop Is Likely
On January 31, 2024, Jupiter launched its first airdrop campaign, “Jupuary”. The team also announced plans for 3 additional Jupuarys (airdrop campaigns), to be held annually on 31 January for the next three years. As the next Jupuary approaches on January 31, 2025, there have been no further official announcements from the Jupiter team. However, there has been growing discussions on the community forum regarding how the next Jupuary should be allocated. It is expected that the team will make official comments to this in coming months.
Improving Airdrop Eligibility
You can improve your eligibility by using the large suite of products Jupiter launched this year. Some of your options include, staking JUP tokens and voting on community proposals, liquidity providing to the perpetuals exchange, using the native dollar cost average (DCA) function and more! For a more in depth guide on farming Jupiter read our Solana airdrops guide here.
Karak: Restaking Platform as an Alternative to EigenLayer
Like EigenLayer, Karak is a multi-chain restaking layer designed to provide crypto-economic security across various blockchains. It supports assets including Ethereum, Solana, and Layer 2 tokens. It also operates as a marketplace where developers can incentivize users to restake their staked assets, providing on-demand crypto-economic security for developers of new protocols, removing the need for these developers to build a new trust network from scratch.
On the Karak platform, users who staked their assets can allocate them to a Distributed Secure Service (DSS) which enables these staked assets to be reused for security purposes by other protocols. By allocating their assets to the DSS, stakers agree to additional slashing conditions in return for improved staking income.
Karak reportedly raised $48 million at a valuation of $1 billion in their Series A funding round led by Lightspeed Ventures and supported by Coinbase Ventures, Digital Currency Group, Pantera Capital, and more.
Why an Airdrop Is Likely
Karak is currently running a point program where users earn XP points by interacting with the platform through restaking and also by referring other users. Points earned from this program could translate into token rewards in a prospective airdrop, as seen in the current points meta taking place.
Improving Your Airdrop Eligibility
You can improve your chances of benefiting from a potential Karak airdrop by participating in the ongoing XP program. However, you will need to get an early access invite code to participate. You can take part by acquiring and restaking supported assets and inviting others to the program.
Pump.fun: The World’s Most Successful Memecoin Generator
Pump.fun is currently the leader in crypto launchpads for memecoins, operating on the Solana network. Pump.fun is a platform that simplifies the token creation process, abstracting away all technical complexities allowing everyday users to create their own memecoins for as low as $2.
Since its inception in early 2024, Pump.fun has generated over $170 million in revenue with almost 3 million tokens launched via the platform. This means that an airdrop from the platform could potentially be highly lucrative given the platform’s current success.
Why An Airdrop Is Likely
The Pump.fun team teased launching their own token during a Twitter Spaces on 19 October 2024. One of the team members said “We’re going to make sure we’re going to reward our earliest users”, making it likely the project will launch their token via an airdrop.
Improving Airdrop Eligibility
While there are currently no points programme available, it is presumed that active use of the platform will improve one’s airdrop eligibility. To improve your eligibility, you could consider creating your own memecoins and trading memecoins through the platform.
Fuel: Modular Layer 2 Designed for Scalability Utilizing Parallelization
Fuel Network is a modular scaling solution for the Ethereum network, separating the execution layer from the data availability and consensus layer. By separating responsibilities based on their layers, modular blockchains are built for scaling, allowing for faster and cheaper transactions.
To improve transaction processing speed and scalability, Fuel employs parallelization in its execution layer. Fuel has also created a virtual machine that reduces energy wasted on processing, while offering increased design flexibility. The network is built using the Sway programming language – a flexible language that draws on the best of Rust and Solidity to reduce time to production.
At time of writing, Fuel network has raised $81.5 million over two funding rounds, with backers including Origin Capital, CoinFund, Stratos Technologies, and more. Fuel has also launched its public testnet on Sepolia.
Why an Airdrop Is Likely
Fuel has also launched the Fuel Points program, where early contributors can earn points by depositing assets into the Fuel pre-deposit contract. Assets locked on the contract earn points as long as they remain deposited in the contract, although withdrawal of deposited funds before the Fuel Mainnet launch will result in the loss of associated Fuel points. While it is not guaranteed that accumulating Fuel Points will equate to a token airdrop, it is likely based on other projects that launched similar programs.
Improving Your Airdrop Eligibility
Taking part in the Fuel Points program is likely to be the primary way to qualify for the prospective airdrop. In the future, when the mainnet is launched, early depositors can also earn points for activities on the mainnet.
Initia: A Network for Interwoven Rollups
Initia is a Cosmos-based network focused on interoperability, creating interconnected blockchains through its infrastructure that combines Layer 1 and Layer 2 technology. On Initia, different Layer 2 networks and appchains (Minitias) can operate without requiring native consensus mechanisms. Through Initia’s Enshrined Liquidity mechanism, multiple tokens can be staked directly with validators to gain voting power through a Delegated Proof-of-Stake mechanism. This will allow for efficient allocation of assets, while allowing other tokens within whitelisted liquidity pools to be utilized for gas payments.
Initia also simplifies the process of creating a new appchain, by combining its tech stack with offering features such as native stablecoins and multi-chain bridging, while using the Initia Layer 1 for security and data settlement.
Rollups on the Initia network are known as Minitia and the interoperability infrastructure is termed Omnitia. Thanks to Omnitia, validators can validate a basket of Minitia, securing multiple networks and earning rewards from each network. According to Initia, Minitias are high-throughput L2 networks with a block time of 500ms and transaction speed of over 10,000 TPs.
Initia Network reportedly raised $7.5 million in its seed round fundraiser program backed by Binance Labs and Co-led by Delphi Ventures and Hack VC with participation from Nascent, Figment Capital, Big Brain, A.Capital, and various angel investors
Why an Airdrop Is Likely
Initia has confirmed a token launch, although there is no official announcement regarding a token airdrop. However, the launch of an XP program suggests that there is the possibility of a future airdrop.
Improving Your Airdrop Eligibility
To improve your airdrop eligibility, you can complete tasks including getting testnet tokens, buying an Initia username, swapping tokens, staking INIT with validators and more. Completing these tasks will let you create a Jennie, which is an NFT. After completing the Jennie, you will have to continue earning XP by interacting with the Minitia and completing weekly bonus tasks in order to feed your Jennie.
Eclipse: Layer 2 on Ethereum Leveraging the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM)
Eclipse is an EVM-compatible zero knowledge Layer 2 that is built using the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM). The project aims to fuse the speed and performance of the SVM – leveraging features like parallelization – while settling transactions on the Ethereum network. This creates an extremely fast rollup while maintaining Ethereum-level security and decentralization, while utilizing Celestia for data availability. As a
Moreover, by utilizing the SVM, developers can now deploy Solana apps on Eclipse with minimal changes. The project also recently unveiled Neon Stack, a technology suite that will make the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and SVM interoperable.
Why an Airdrop Is Likely
Eclipse is currently running a testnet program, and while it is not certain that participation in the testnet will result in an airdrop, there is a good chance of early adopters receiving an airdrop, as many past projects have rewarded testnet users for their contributions to the final product.
Improving Your Airdrop Eligibility
To improve your eligibility for the potential airdrop, you can start by getting involved in the project. On Eclipse, you can do so by installing the Eclipse wallet and interacting with dApps on the testnet. As Eclipse is still in the testnet stage, you will need to acquire Sepolia ETH to engage in testnet activities.
Zora: Creator-Focused Protocol With a Layer 2 to Bring Media Onchain
Zora is a creator-centric decentralized NFT platform that enables creators to capture a share of the resale value of their work. On Zora, creators and collectors come together to determine the value of an NFT through auctions, fostering a decentralized market dynamic. According to the project, over 4 million NFTs have minted, with $300 million generated in secondary sales, since its launch in 2021 on Ethereum.
In addition, there is also the Zora Network which was created to bring scalability, speed, and cost efficiency to the Zora marketplace, simplifying NFT creation and minting operations via its SDK. The Zora Network, an EVM-compatible Layer 2 blockchain solution built using the OP Stack and designed to support media on the blockchain, was launched in June 2023. While the Zora Network is designed to complement the Zora marketplace by facilitating the minting, pricing, and trading of NFTs, it also functions as a standalone Layer 2 blockchain on Ethereum.
Why an Airdrop Is Likely
There is the possibility for a ZORA token, as it has raised $60 million in funding from investors including Paradigm and Coinbase Ventures.
Improving Your Airdrop Eligibility
To improve your eligibility for a potential Zora airdrop, you can interact with Zora and Zora Network by buying, listing, minting, and selling NFTs. Also, given Zora’s creator focus, creating an NFT and getting as many mints as possible may also determine the size of a potential airdrop.
Farcaster: Decentralized Web3 Social Protocol on Optimism
Farcaster described itself as a ‘sufficiently decentralized’ social media protocol built on the Optimism network. It is developed to serve as a base layer for a range of social media applications. The most popular application on Farcaster is Warpcast, which takes inspiration from Twitter (X), where users can share short posts (or casts) and follow personalities and join interest-based channels. Warpcast features Farcaster protocol innovations like Frames – a feature that allows users to access another app from within their social feed, improving the user experience.
Farcaster has raised about $180 million across two funding rounds, with investors including Paradigm, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Coinbase Ventures, and more.
Why an Airdrop Is Likely
Farcaster is expected to follow in the steps of a fellow decentralized social media project – friend.tech. Both projects are funded by Paradigm, which has a record of investing in projects that issue tokens. Moreover, with significant potential as seen in its $1 billion valuation and substantial funding, it is possible that the project will eventually offer an airdrop to reward its users.
Improving Your Airdrop Eligibility
As in the case of friend.tech, user interactions and activity on Warpcast is likely to be a determining factor for the airdrop. Earning a Powerbadge (a small purple badge next to your name) could also improve your chances of scoring a potential Farcaster airdrop, as it will prove that you are a power user of Warpcast.
Final Thoughts
We’ve gone through some likely drops for 2024, however, this list is non-exhaustive and there are no guarantees that the drops listed here will eventually happen. That said, there are recurring trends in what you can do to improve your eligibility, such as staying active in the space and interacting with the project.
Finally, this content is provided for educational purposes and should not be taken as financial advice. Always do your own research before choosing to interact with any protocols or decentralized applications.
😲😲 really need to work on eligibility criteria