Best Crypto Airdrops of 2024

EUNt...wiEe

17 Jan 2024

As we dive into 2024, take advantage of the growth of crypto markets by setting yourself up for airdrops that are worth a decent amount of money. Airdrop farming is the hidden secret that will get you ready for the bull market of 2024. However, not all airdrops are created equal, and discerning the diamonds in the rough can be a daunting task. In this comprehensive guide, we will unravel the mysteries of the most promising crypto airdrops of 2024.
If you want the short and dirty, these are my top picks for 2024:

Eigenlayer (Ethereum)
Blast (Ethereum Layer 2)
Manta (Ethereum Layer 2)
Marginfi (Solana)
ATOM (Cosmos)

ETH Liquid Staking

If you are looking to gain some extra yield on your ETH or looking for an added bonus, there are a few new liquid staking protocols on the market that will probably have an airdrop. Lido and Rocket Pool both have their own tokens so it is a safe assumption these ones will as well:

Swell

Swell is a non-custodial liquid staking protocol with a mission to deliver the world’s best liquid staking experience. Basically, it is the same as the others besides the fact that they don’t have a token yet. You can collect “pearls” which are the same as points to prepare for a token airdrop in the future.
What you need to do:

Stake your ETH on Swell and start earning pearls

ether.fi

Similar to everyone else, another liquid staking token that doesn’t have a token yet. Probably the newest of all of them that has enough TVL (~$168M) to make it seem less risky.
What you need to do:

Stake your ETH on ether.fi. Just make sure you wrap it for tax purposes (value increases instead of being rewarded tokens on a daily/weekly basis that are taxable).

Layer 2s

DApps aren’t the only ones offering tokens. If you have heard of Arbitrum or Optimism, then you know that ecosystems such as Layer 2s also offer tokens eventually. The new buzz right now are zkEVMs (zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine). Zero knowledge proofs are the future for a lot of cryptography so a lot of teams are trying to come up with the best one. The goodness of all this is that the teams will eventually have an airdrop. By putting just a little money on each chain, you can potentially get a lot more in return. I’ve been throwing about $50 into each of these. Obviously, the more you put in, the more you could potentially make. I don’t have that type of money so $50 is just right for me.

zkSync

Their Chief Product Officer has stated they will do a token airdrop with about two-thirds going to users of the zkSync ecosystem.
What you need to do:

Bridge ETH to zkSync using Orbiter Bridge
You can add the zkSync network to your metamask here (add the Mainnet)
Once you bridge, you should use some of the DApps. I’ve added to a liquidity pool (LP) on SyncSwap

Scroll

No confirmed airdrop but the Scroll team will most likely follow the rest of the crowd and offer an airdrop.
What you need to do:

Bridge ETH to Scroll using Orbiter Bridge
You can add the Scroll network here
You can put a little money into LPs on Ambient or SyncSwap

Linea

Linea announced the start of their 9-week Voyage campaign back in May 2023. The more you interact with the network, the more points you got. The token hasn’t dropped yet so you still may be able to qualify for the airdrop but the payout will probably not be as good as the others.
What you need to do

Bridge ETH to Linea using Orbiter Bridge
You can add the Linea network here
You can deposit into Mendi Finance or make an LP on SyncSwap

Blast (if you need an invite link: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 8)

Blast and Manta are not zkEVMs but instead are innovating by enshrining yield-bearing assets as the base layer. Instead of ETH as the main token, it will be staked ETH so you are always gaining yield. This could be one of the largest airdrops of the year so it may be worth throwing a little money into Blast.
What you need to do:

Sign up for blast using a referral link, you have to do this or you can’t deposit. I have a few links above. Just try different ones and it will eventually work
Blast will walk you through some next steps (join discord, follow on twitter)
Wait for the airdrop

Manta

Similar to Blast, Manta is another Layer 2 where the underlying assets are staked. This is really starting to play towards the degens so of course I got in. This is definitely a marketing ploy but hey, they already have $1B in assets bridged over. Regardless of the longevity of the project, the airdrop could have some value by bridging over a little money.
What you need to do (2 options):
Option 1:

Find a referral code online (twitter, discord)
Bridge your ETH into Manta
Deposit assets into a DApp like LayerBank or Shoebill

Option 2 (recommended):

Skip the referral code
Bridge ETH to Manta (if you deposit in Option 1, it automatically converts to an LST). If you use the bridge, you skip that step and have ETH available to use on Manta
Swap your ETH for STONE ETH. This is another LST but due to airdrop farming, STONE is trading at a 5% discount, so you can get 5% more ETH for free (thank you Taiki Maeda for this idea)

Restaking

The hotness right now is restaking. As the name suggests, you are restaking the staked asset to get additional yield. The staked asset is securing other protocols and receives fees in return.

Eigenlayer

The Eigenlayer team has not disclosed if there will be an airdrop, but if you are staking, you can get “restaked points” which is a pretty good indicator that something is coming. Eigenlayer already has $1.6B in total value locked and will probably be one of the largest launches of the year
What you need to do:

Stake your LST or ETH in Eigenlayer. Right now deposits are capped but Eigenlayer has been upping the caps every few months so keep your eye out. Or you can stake ETH directly if you have a validator.

KelpDAO

In case Eigenlayer restaking wasn’t enough, KelpDAO has created a liquid staking token of the Eigenlayer restaking. Starting to get a little confusing but basically, KelpDAO will stake in Eigenlayer for you. They have about $173M in TVL so a lot smaller than Eigenlayer but also fairly new.
What you need to do:

Stake your stETH in KelpDAO, to start earning Kelp Miles and Eigenlayer Restaked Points. Unfortunately, Eigenlayer has capped deposits so you may or may not get points for either

Solana Liquid Staking

marginfi

A protocol on Solana where you can stake SOL, lend, and borrow. They currently have a points system which has been in place since Jul 2023. The team hasn’t said they will do a token but the point system and the success of Jito’s airdrop, make it seem very likely there will be one soon.
What you need to do:

Make sure you have a Solana wallet (I have Phantom but there are a few out there)
Go to marginfi and stake some SOL for their $LST
Deposit the $LST into marginfi
To go one step further, you can borrow SOL and repeat the step above to make sure you cover all the potential bases for accruing points in marginfi

Solend

Solend is a lending protocol on Solana. They have a points sytem ongoing and will most likely result in an airdrop in the future.
What you need to do:

Deposit assets into the pools
Borrow assets if you want to accrue more points

Kamino

Similar to Solend, Kamino is a lending protocol on Solana. You can also take leverage trades. The protocol says points are coming so they will be instituting a points system in the near future.
What you need to do:

Deposit assets into the pools
Borrow assets if you want to accrue more points

Cosmos

The easiest of all of them. Just stake your cosmos and expect an airdrop from the protocols that are making chains on the Cosmos ecosystem.

Conclusion

These are just a few airdrops to keep an eye on in 2024. If you want to know how to find these airdrops, you can look for airdrop hunters online (e.g. Bankless Airdrop Hunter) or watch youtubers who do the work for you (e.g. Taiki Maeda). Just putting a little money into a few DApps may result in a nice payout down the road. None of this is financial advice so make sure you d your own research.
-Just Another Crypto Analyst
Doing this for fun but if you want to leave a tip:
Ethereum: 0xa33aE4207466cD866D13fA587067B1F824C06d4A
Solana: 6bYE5H4qXW5oa8Y1Jxk7zXZXSaJGHGhcrV3UUPCejzXF
Cosmos: cosmos1uv0cu8mcmpdcfdemt28aej6zxw8vrr4kmdd5gr

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