Which Project Has Delivered the Biggest Airdrop in the World?

In the ever-evolving world of crypto, airdrops have become one of the most attractive ways to distribute tokens to users.

Airdrops not only enable widespread token distribution but also serve as an effective marketing tool to increase awareness and adoption.

Here's an in-depth look at eight of the world's biggest airdrops, based on data from CoinGecko according to the all-time high prices achieved.

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Internet Computer Protocol ($ICP)

The community airdrop of this project was held in May 2021, and involved 50,000 participants who each received 2,513 tokens. By multiplying this calculation by the highest price of US$700, the airdrop value was once worth more than US$87 billion.

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Uniswap ($UNI)

Uniswap, a leading decentralized exchange (DEX) platform, launched the largest airdrop in crypto history by distributing 150 million UNI tokens on September 16 2020. Referring to the highest price of UNI on Coingecko at US$42.8, the airdrop was worth US$6.43 billion.

This airdrop became one of the most important events in the ‘DeFi Summer’ and marked the revival of the airdrop model first introduced in 2014. Uniswap allows the exchange of ERC-20 tokens without the need for traditional exchanges, changing the way users interact with crypto assets.

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Apecoin ($APE)

Apecoin conducted the second largest airdrop on March 17, 2022 with 10,950 tokens valued at US$3.54 billion, referring to its highest price of US$23.63. Apecoin aims to be a utility and governance token for growing ecosystems, including games and metaverse projects in the Yuga Labs ecosystem.

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Ethereum Name Service ($ENS)

ENS is a naming service that allows users to replace long crypto addresses with easier-to-remember names. This makes it easier to interact within the Ethereum ecosystem and improves user experience.

This project airdropped around 25 million tokens in 2021. Referring to its all-time high price on Coingecko of US$83.5 then the airdrop was worth US$2.08 billion.

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dYdX ($DYDX)

dYdX, a decentralized derivatives trading platform, distributed DYDX tokens on September 8, 2021, which at its highest price of US$26.80, the dYdX airdrop is worth around US$2 billion.

The total value of the $DYDX airdrop can only be unlocked over a five-year span, with portions released in stages. Therefore, although the initial distribution may appear large, its full value can only be realized through an extended vesting period.

dYdX enables leveraged trading and derivative products in a decentralized environment, offering an alternative to traditional trading platforms.

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Arbitrum ($ARB)

Arbitrum, a layer-2 solution for Ethereum, with an airdrop of approximately one billion ARB tokens on March 23 2023. Referring to its all-time high price according to Coingecko at US$1.69, the ARB airdrop value is US$1.69 billion. This airdrop from Arbitrum is one of the biggest this year.

Arbitrum improves Ethereum's scalability by reducing gas fees and increasing transaction speed, making it critical to the development of the Ethereum ecosystem.

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BONK ($BONK)

Memecoin Bonk has allocated 50% of its supply as an airdrop from the total token supply of 100 trillion. This means that with 50 trillion tokens multiplied by the highest price of US$0.00003416, the value of the token airdrop is around US$1.5 billion.

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Celestia ($TIA)

is the second largest crypto airdrop in 2023, distributing $TIA of 60 million TIA tokens, with the highest price achieved on Coingecko being US$15.04, so the value of the TIA token airdrop is US$902 million.

Unlike other crypto airdrops, the $TIA crypto airdrop does not include a 'farming' mechanism. Instead, $TIA targets specific beneficiaries: developers and researchers contributing to public goods and critical protocol infrastructure, the most active users on the Ethereum rollup, and IBC stakeholders and relayers associated with Cosmos Hub and Osmosis.

Airdrops have become a very effective tool in the crypto ecosystem, not only for distributing tokens but also for building communities and increasing adoption. From Uniswap to Celestia, these airdrops have played an important role in the growth and evolution of various crypto projects.