🪂 Top Airdrops to be Optimistic for and Why

The woke virus finally caught up with airdrops. 

It's hard to believe now, but there was a time when we used to get airdrops worth tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing almost nothing. Those days now feel like dreaming of a different ending to Game of Thrones.

Nowadays, you need to be able to jump higher than Duplantis, run faster than Usain Bolt, or outscore Haaland when interacting with token-less protocols. 

And if you, perhaps, by the kiss of Zeus, outplay these folks, you might still get a measly chunk of money from these protocols. 

But it’s still free money, though, eh?

This year, airdrops have largely been about earning points. Some protocols have really pushed the limits, extracting as much value as possible from users. 

In contrast, others have taken a more restrained approach, keeping things straightforward without trying too hard to time the market. 

On the flip side, some fresh airdrop designs strike a better balance between benefiting the protocol and its users. 

A good example of this is Tapioca’s call options airdrop model, as explained in the tweet-reply below by Gray Matter, one of the big brains behind Tapioca DAO. 

Vitalik has also weighed in on the conversation regarding the current state of airdrops, advocating for the adoption of various on-chain identification innovations to better iterate users and align actions with rewards. 

In his opinion, the goals for an airdrop are:

• (i) distribute to community members [and not randos who will all immediately sell]

• (ii) reward contributions to the project

• (iii) be reasonably egalitarian [but some disparity is ok]

• (iv) Resist extractive/adversarial farming

And frankly, we couldn’t agree more with these goals. It’s high time marketing nerds realize that airdrops can't bootstrap communities in the long term or save a product with poor user retention. 

The idea that airdrops are a great way to vampire-attack the competition or engineer attention needs to be put to rest. 

Additionally, airdrops are not a sustainable means of exit for protocols with a saturation of vicious VCs and friends and family on the cap table, especially for those protocols building vapourware. 

Inspired by Vitalik's four goals for airdrops, we investigated the industry. We discovered a few protocols that aren't just going through the motions but actively aligning their strategies with these goals, with a tinge of sustainability in the mix. 

Top airdrops we are optimistic about

For clarity and to avoid any confusion, the list will include projects in their early stages or with an opportunity to interact for a potential reward, as well as those you are late to. 

HyperLiquid

HyperLiquid is both an on-chain derivatives protocol that allows users to trade and a layer 1 network that will support other protocols to be built on it. 

The protocol uses a consensus mechanism called HyperBFT that allows it to process transactions with incredible speed. 

Unlike other protocols where farmers invade, farm, get tokens, and dump, HyperLiquid seems to have found product stickiness and a real user base. The product is relatively good and could get much better with time. 

In addition, the narrative about HyperLiquid is that it will become the “On-chain Binance” and compete with other chains targeting a high TPS. At the moment, HyperLiquid “theoretically” processes 100,000 transactions per second. 

It is a bit too late to get in there to earn some points, as the points program has been live since 2023. However, if you’ve missed out on farming or using the protocol, you can look towards playing the secondary markets. 

We think that the $Hype airdrop or whatever they choose for their ticker will be worthwhile, considering that the protocol did not raise hundreds of millions of dollars like its counterparts. 

This is a literal dream come true for retail, which has been reluctant to bid on High FDV, low float tokens with a VC infestation. 

Nillion Network

Many smart people are optimistic about data as the most important aspect of the future, and we are not dumb enough to argue against this. 

Recent advancements in AI tech support this assertion. Nillion is making sure that data on-chain is as decentralized as possible. 

In the documents, Nillion describes itself as a secure computation network that decentralizes trust for high-value data, similar to how blockchains decentralize transactions. 

Nillion also has its own language, Nada, that developers could use to define blind computational programs and deploy them on the Nillion network. 

Once live, the Nillion network will power many DePIN applications, as it’ll be an optimized network for data, which is an important part of DePIN applications. 

Okay! How do you get involved in this? 

Nillion has recently announced its verifier task, an early-stage interaction activity open to anyone to participate. 

This project, Nillion, makes our list because it is still fairly early and solves a real problem uniquely. 

Emphasis has been placed on rewards for early interactions in the verifier program. To get started, simply go to https://verifier.nillion.com/ and follow the instructions. 

Monad

If you’ve seen the purple hue plastered around X over the past few months with many memes, strange animals, and “Gmonad” posts, then you’ve been bitten by the Monad bug. 

Monad is building a parallel-execution-EVM compatible layer 1 from the ground up. It will also have its own custom-built database, MonadDB, and has touted that it will process 10,000 transactions per second. 

While Monad’s testnet is close, one thing is evident: the project has garnered a formidable community. 

Whether the promise of incentives socially engineers that community is one thing not to dismiss, but a deeper look into how the Monad community operates shows evidence of solid relationships and interactions beyond superficiality. 

Monad continues to reward community members who are unconventional in their support for the project, which extends to those outside the community. 

The message with Monad is clear: contribute meaningfully and steal a place in the community. 

The rumor is that there will eventually be a reward for recognizable efforts toward the project. Nonetheless, there will most likely be a testnet phase for the project, which might open the opportunity to interact directly with the protocol. 

The narrative around Monad is that it is a superior alternative to Solana — the “Solana killer” and is also compatible with the EVM. 

Monad is going “TPS for TPS” with Sonic (formerly Fantom network chain), HyperLiquid, and, recently, Story protocol. 

Berachain 

Berachain is unique in many ways. First, it uses a unique consensus mechanism known as proof-of-liquidity that revolves around a soulbound token called the Berachain governance token (BGT). 

Berachain is a Cosmos SDK-built layer 1 network compatible with the EVM. 

Secondly, the protocol has many projects built on it, most of which are ready to launch on day 1 of the protocol going live. Some of these projects somehow fit into the economic flywheel of Berachain’s design, allowing them to benefit directly from the network’s effects. 

Thirdly, the Berachain ecosystem has launched a couple of NFTs that are tied to the ecosystem and will be relevant when it’s time for rewards. 

The Berachain testnet is live, and you can still interact with it. Although there has not been a formal airdrop announcement, the Berachain community anticipates one, given its structure and the footprints of the network’s engagement activities. 

Farcaster 

Farcaster does sound like a name for a dwarf magician in a thriller movie, and though it might not be anywhere near that, it is a really thrilling project. 

Farcaster is a decentralized social network infrastructure that supports decentralized social media platforms like Warpcast. Warpcast is a Twitter-esque social media platform that allows you to connect with friends, create or join special groups, and carry out on-chain actions like minting a token or NFT. 

I’ve been using Warpcast, and I’ll tell you for free that it’s one hell of a cool product. The product still has a distance to cover to meet existing Web2 social platforms, but it is currently in applaudable shape. 

You can interact with Farcaster by getting on Warpcast via my invite link here and maintain streaks by posting to a channel at least once every 24 hours. 

If Farcaster were to release a token, it would surely reward those who are active on the platforms built on it, and gentlemen, that’s your cue to get on while it's still relatively early. 

Sonic 

If Sonic the Hedgehog were a blockchain, you would expect it to be pretty fast, right? Well, Sonic, the blockchain, is no different. 

Sonic is the rebranded version of Fantom, yes, the Fantom you used to know. Sonic is attempting to build the world’s fastest EVM compatible with Ethereum and claims to have achieved one-block finality. 

As you would expect, Sonic is being pioneered by Andre Cronje and already has many innovative DeFi protocols set to go live on the network from day one. 

The catch, however, is that the Sonic incentivized testnet is live. And you can interact with it in a few steps: 

• Go to testnet.soniclabs.com 

• Connect your address (using an EVM-compatible wallet)

• Add the RPC by clicking on “add testnet to wallet”

• Request testnet tokens from the faucet 

• Proceed to perform swaps 

You can also find an ongoing Galxe task here. 

Secondly, 

You can join the foremost version of the $S airdrop by playing arcade games on the testnet to earn points.

Firstly, register on airdrop.soniclabs.com

You can use this code: YZBD18

Then, proceed to play the games daily to earn points. 

Sonic has announced that 200 million $S tokens will be distributed to point holders. 

Sophon

These guys want you to think of them as the first thing you think of when you think of entertainment on-chain. Phew! Pretty wordy there!

 Sophon is building an entertainment layer that abstracts the complexities of on-chain interaction to provide an exciting and lasting experience. 

They’ve chosen Zksync’s elastic chain as the host infra, and while the Sophon website's front page does not contain much information, it does seem pretty interesting.

Rumors suggest that there might be an airdrop since a token ($SOPH) is discussed in their docs, and a points program is mentioned, too. Additionally, Binance's recent investment in Sophon further fuels interest.

We think this is one to keep an eye on. 

Closing thoughts 

Contrary to popular belief that few innovative protocols are being developed at the moment, we think there are a handful of projects being developed that just happen to go under the radar. 

There have been many developments in privacy, data, decentralized social media, AI, RWAs, and DeFI, and these developments will present opportunities for you to earn a few bucks in user incentives. 

However, given the recent disasters caused by airdrops, it is imperative to nitpick projects and identify signs of a possible sustainable incentive model.