Airdrops and points: a reward for showing up early
Lesson 20 of 58 in the course “Crypto”. Free, with animations and a quiz.
What an airdrop is
An airdrop is a giveaway of tokens to users. A project does it to hand out part of its governance and reward the people who were there from the start. In September 2020 Uniswap gave 400 UNI to every address that had ever used it. At launch that was about $1,200, and at the 2021 peak over $15,000. Arbitrum ran its airdrop in 2023, and in November 2024 Hyperliquid gave users 31% of its HYPE tokens. The key point: the reward went to people who used the product before any announcement.
Points: an airdrop with foggy rules
Since 2023 many protocols hand out points: scores for deposits, trades and referrals. Later they are converted into tokens, but the rate is announced only at the end, and it can disappoint. Farming points costs time, gas and sometimes risk to your deposit. And multi-accounts, known as sybils, get detected and cut from the distribution. The healthy approach: use what you actually need anyway, and treat an airdrop as a bonus, not a salary.
The fake claim
The most common theft around airdrops is a fake “claim your tokens” page. It comes from ads, replies under the project’s posts or DMs. Warning signs: you are asked to pay a “withdrawal fee” or sign a Permit, meaning permission to spend your tokens without a separate transaction. A real claim asks only for network gas and one clear claim transaction. Take the address from the project’s official X and website, and use a separate wallet for claims.
Check yourself
- Who usually gets the most generous airdrop?
Correct answer: People who really used the product before the announcement. Uniswap, Arbitrum and Hyperliquid rewarded early real users. Multi-accounts are usually cut. - A “claim” site asks you to send 0.05 ETH “to release the tokens”. What is it?
Correct answer: A scam: a real claim asks only for gas. “Pay to receive” is a classic scam. The money goes to scammers and the tokens never come. - You are farming a protocol’s points. What’s honest to say about the future reward?
Correct answer: The conversion rate is unknown, and the reward may disappoint. Points are a promise without a price. Treat them as a bonus and don’t risk your main deposit for them.
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