Airdrops, airdrops, and even more airdrops! I bet when this year is over everyone is sick and tired of hearing the word 'airdrop'.
As for now, it still has this very positive ring to it. 2024 is the year of the airdrop for me and I am in a total degen mode at the moment. It feels the deeper I dig, and the more I take part in those, the more exposed to different drops I get. Sometimes they even take you by surprise and the recent $WEN token airdrop is a good example of such.
There are quite a few ways to take part in airdrops as they come in so many forms. For example, there can be:
- Staked-based airdrops
- Airdrops that require users to test different dapps and functions on the testnet of the network in question
- Holding NFTs or using a certain wallet(Rabbit, Phantom for example)
In this article, I'm going to take a closer look at some of these and share my thoughts and plans.
WEN Surprise Airdrop
I've spent quite a bit of time on the Solana chain using different dapps and hoping it'll pay off at some point. One of the Solana dapps I've been using a lot is Jupiter and even though I missed their first drop, they still have 3 batches coming up for people who use their DEX.
Even though there's not yet information about when these 3 airdrops should occur, yesterday I was pleasantly surprised when I came across a thread on X where someone mentioned the $WEN token airdrop. To be eligible for this the one requirement was to have used the Jupiter swap!
The minimum volume required is only 5 dollars so the entry level is extremely low. I say is because if you happen to read this before January 29th, the claim window is still open. You can check your eligibility on the Jupiter launchpad which by the way is very well made - you can do everything on that one page.
So was it worth it?
I'd say, hell yeah. I would done my Solana swapping somewhere anyway so why not do it on a dapp that has even a vague promise of an airdrop? Perhaps this can be compared to using a certain wallet that is hinted to have an airdrop to interact with networks - we need a wallet anyway.
Back to $WEN, I sold half as I promised myself to stick with my airdrop strategy of always selling 50% and holding the other 50%. Of course, I knew what was going to happen next and
indeed, the $WEN price began pumping right after the sale and I was experiencing a mild sense of FOMO... Then again, I haven't been involved in token launches that many times and predicting the price development of these Solana memecoins sure ain't easy so it's better to just follow the plan.
Stake To Qualify
Dealing with these feelings is somewhat good training to prepare myself for bigger airdrops and projects and DYM is supposed to be the next big one. To qualify for the Dymension airdrop, you must have staked assets such as SOL or TIA during the past year and unfortunately, unlike the WEN drop, this window has closed.
However, DYM is a good example of airdrops that require staking assets to be eligible. To me, it's still a relatively safe way to invest if you've done your research and believe it will do well during the bull run. That being said, the airdrop rewards can very well be worth much more than the initial staked token. Or even outperform it in the long run.
I've read many different estimates on what the valuation of DYM could be on the launch day. Some suggest it starting at $1 - $2 while others put it much higher at $3 - $7. To give you a reference point, I'm getting at least 205 DYM but the amount might rise since from the 1 million eligible wallets only 500K.
My DYM play:
There are many confirmed and rumoured airdrops for Celestia($TIA) stakers. Last month I also staked some INJ as I believe stakers on Injective will also get their fair share at some point. My plan for the future is to diversify my staking/airdrop portfolio further by moving some of my profits to other Cosmos tokens such as their native one, ATOM, OSMO, and KUJI.
Testing For Airdrops
Because I follow certain types of users(degens) on X, I often come across many testnet tutorial threads. These are soon-to-be-launched chains or dapps that need users to test their network to provide valuable data on what works and what doesn't.
Some of them have a point system hinting at a potential airdrop while others don't. The latter doesn't mean that there won't be a drop in the future. On the contrary, upon many launches, I've witnessed the initial token distribution favouring the early testers.
During the past few weeks I've completed quite a many of these and here are some observations and tips:
Use "burner wallets" - in my opinion, this is a must. You don't wanna risk your hard-earned airdrop assets using your main wallet. There are many clever scams out there and creating a new wallet for airdrop hunting purposes only takes a minute or two.
Create a list of all the testnet projects you have taken part in and add all the links so you can review them later. Remember, some of these drops can happen a year or two from now.
Follow the projects on X and turn on notifications so you won't miss the drops or some additional tasks.
Note that many "influencers" post tutorial threads without paying much attention to any dates just to get more impressions so be sure to check out the actual project account and DYOR.
Berachain is a good example of a potential testnet airdrop and it was pretty easy to complete. Here's a link to a thread I followed to finish the tasks.
One other thing I would like to mention is that doing these testnet activities is quite educating and could actually be great for someone interested in Defi. You learn the basics much faster as you can try every defi function and dapps without risking real assets while already learning about how much the fees will approximately be if you ever really want to use the platforms.
Highly recommended for newbies!
Conclusion
So what about my future plans?
It seems the trends are changing rather quickly in this space. During the last fall, the airdrop trend seemed to be focused on Solana while in the early winter, it shifted more toward the Cosmos ecosystem as Celestia was the thriving force.
Still, I believe both Solana and Cosmos will be the airdrop chains of 2024 but I'm always on the lookout for something new. Lately, I've been reading a lot about people staking $PYTH on Solana and even though there aren't even APR paid on the stake, the promise of airdrops is in the air.
PYTH is a project I've paid attention to even before I became an airdrop degen so I bought and staked some. I guess sometimes it's good to trust your instincts.
I know. This is a bit nerdy and degen but it's honest work, surprisingly fun and even stressless compared to some other crypto activities. I also believe the real test is yet to come if and when I'm receiving more of those airdrops as that's the time when extreme FOMO hits, no matter what I do.
The best I can do is to stick with my 50/50 plan.
Thank you very much for reading and if you wanna follow this degen airdrop hunting, be sure to follow! Much more to come. 😊
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