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Author: Jack Inabinet, Bankless; Compilation: Wuzhu, Bitchain Vision
In 2024, cryptocurrency developers mastered the art of airdrops.Many protocol teams have taken advantage of the bullish momentum across the industry and have attracted a large number of new users to chase airdrop tokens.
From STRK’s disappointing performance to record hype, each protocol’s differentiated approach to token placement reveals valuable insights into how token allocation shapes ecosystems, stimulates innovation and catalyzes broader market trends.
Today, we discuss the impact of five most interesting airdrops in 2024.
Jupiter (JUP)
On January 31, Jupiter’s first airdrop handed over 1 billion JUP to early users.This is the first of four annual airdrop events that will end at the end of January 2027 and distribute a total of 4 billion JUPs to the community.
Just use the Jupiter exchange aggregator by November 2, 2023 to get airdrop allocations ranging from 1k to 100k JUP tokens, meaning each wallet of JUP applicants can airdrop from this timeGet $700 to $70,000 in free assets.
What’s special:
JUP airdrops offer participants nearly six-digit rewards for simple on-chain activities and cement Solana’s position as a target chain for airdrop hunters as the liquid staking protocol Jito’s airdrop has ended.Over the next six weeks, SOL will double its price as the masses begin to join the ecosystem hoping to seize the next JUP scale.
Starknet (STRK)
After three years of development, Starknet finally issued the token in February, announcing an epic plan to distribute hundreds of millions of dollars to 1.3 million addresses, the most extensive cryptocurrency airdrop ever.
Individual claims range from 111.1 to 180k STRK, and while the recipients were generously paid when the token was released, others complained that arbitrary eligibility criteria unfairly excluded many users from this airdrop.
Unfortunately, despite the significant recovery throughout the cryptocurrency market, the STRK token has been underperforming throughout 2024, trading at 75% lower than its post-release high when it was conducted.
What’s special: Starknet is one of the most anticipated airdrop projects of 2024, and while the technologically innovative L2 has successfully brought considerable benefits to STRK recipients, it is difficult to get all year round due to the lack of excellent on-chain applications.focus on.This airdrop highlights the extremely high saturation of L2 investment opportunities, causing people’s enthusiasm for the entire industry to fade.
EigenLayer (EIGEN)
As Ethereum enters 2024, everyone’s attention is focused on “restaking,” a novel form of economic security that can use restaking ETH to provide cut-down insurance for on-chain applications.
Many in the community hope this breakthrough will prove that severely suppressed Ethereum has revolutionary use cases, and although ETH/BTC continues to decline throughout the year, emerging protocols at the forefront of re-staking have indeed successfully triggered a counter-generationCoin demand; EigenLayer alone amassed more than 5 million ETH before the airdrop was announced on April 29.
What’s special:
EIGEN’s recipients were frustrated with the fact that the airdrop was initially non-transferable and the agreement was criticized for failing to reward all airdrop participants, but the team has been working to correct the community’s concerns.
As on-chain participants began leveraging LRT, liquid re-staked tokens (LRT) protocols like ether.fi also distributed additional incentives and promoted the DeFi credit boom.
EigenLayer’s success in the lack of real-time restaking products shows that many crypto projects face extremely low barriers to achieving product market fit and forces other agreements to publish their own points plan deposit contracts, whether they actually have real-time applications or not..
Ethena (ENA)
Ethena points are scheduled to go live on February 19 the moment the app accepts its first public deposits; Season 1 ENA token rewards begin picking up April 2, and the Season 2 event is immediately launched.
Thanks to a considerable airdrop incentive program and its timely launch of the hottest financing rate environment for the year, USDe supply expanded unrestricted to $2.39 billion by mid-April, followed by weakening of ENA airdrop enthusiasm and crypto marketsThe condition has cooled down and has stopped.
What’s special:
ENA airdrops demonstrated the benefits of a well-designed points program and successfully won wide attention for Ethena’s synthetic dollar in early 2024.
Ethena uses clear points eligibility criteria to reward relatively risky on-chain activities, such as re-staking Ethena native assets in DeFi, and demonstrates that a brief follow-up to the second airdrop season allows the agreement to gain more from airdrop activities.Big profit.
Hyperliquid (HYPE)
On November 29, Hyperliquid airdropped 310 million HYPE (more than 30% of the total token supply) to more than 94,000 early users.
As HYPE’s value soared above $33 in the next few weeks, the multi-billion-dollar airdrop became the largest cryptocurrency allocation ever and replicated the success of the earliest airdrops this cycle to moreParticipants, rewarding many users with six-figure token bonuses.
Nearly 70% of Hyperliquid airdrops are left to users, making HYPE airdrops appear (at least on the surface) more equal to competitors, who usually keep the vast majority of tokens to teams and investors allocate.
What’s special:
Although Hyperliquid builds applications do not have a viable decentralization roadmap, which is very different from traditional crypto design practices, the success of this airdrop demonstrates the crypto industry’s desire for high-performance products.
The success of HYPE coincides with the general boom in the crypto market at the end of 2024, with investors starting to ask less questions and imitate more during this period.
