IT'S AIRDROP SEASON!
EVERYTHING YOU'RE ABOUT TO READ IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE.
INTRO
In crypto we always try to understand which one is the current meta, for example SocialFi has been the meta for the past few months. In time we have seen AI, RWA, NFTs, DEFI...
By looking at the most recent projects and the ones that are preparing to launch, I'm convinced that Airdrop Season has begun. Actually, we were probably already in it for the past few months, but with the launch of the Blast Layer 2 , it definetely got confirmed. Blast is, well actually, will be a Layer 2. Although you can't do nothing on it and the funds deposited will be locked until February 2024, people deposited more than 500 milion Dollars on it (probably more when you'll be reading this). All of this happened for 2 reasons, first of all, the project is backed by Paradigm and also because there is a guranteed Airdrop based on the points you accumulate before its launch.
The Airdrop will be in May 2024, unless there is a delay (very likely in the crypto space), but will come back to it later.
I know that you might be thinking that there have always been Airdrops in Crypto, but this time is different, just look at how many projects are hinting at a possible Airdrop and especially at how many are launching with a points system that is going to convert into an Airdrop in the future. And that's exactly, why I'm convinced that Airdrop Farming can be considered as the current meta of this beginning of bull market, and it will probably follow us into it.
THE SITUATION
It has already been a few months since I started farming Airdrops of Layer 2 chains like ZKSYNC, SCROLL and LINEA, and recently also Liquid Staking protocols like SWELL. But, now simular projects are launching practically every day, it's not just hard to stay up to date, but especially it's almost impossible to qualify for them all. Although, I'm trying to. For a very simple reason, it's convenient. Not just because it's free money, but also because it's often a not so risky way to earn (In Crypto terms, obviously).
I've been in Crypto for almost 3 years, I Hodld, Staked and Farmed. The best thing about Airdrop Farming is that you can do all three, plus the free money. For example, you Hodl $ETH, you farm the most important farm of a Layer 2 and your pair is $ETH plus a LST of $ETH. Which means that I can do what I've always done. I get $ETH pumping, plus the interests of the farm and the Staking and on top of that I get free money. What else could you possibly want??
Sure, in some cases it's all speculation, not all Airdrops are guranteed. But given that, as said, I can do what I've always done, in case the Airdrop won't happen or I end up not being eligible, I won't have lost much time nor money.
It must also be said, that an Airdrop is usually very likely, for both chains and Dapps. We're in Crypto, and so far the best way to decentralize a project, is to launch a token. So, since decentralization is at the core of Crypto (In theory, at least), unless a better way is found, sooner or later a tokenless project will have to launch one.
That said, let's take a look at the most interesting Airdrop narratives right now, followed by some examples:
Ethereum LAYER 2s
They just don't stop coming, every day a new Layer 2 gets announced, needless to say that most of them won't survive. But it doesn't matter, because as soon as there is the possibility to get free money, all of a sudden, even the ones that don't offer anything new are full of deposits. Lets take a look at some of them. The most important one in terms of backing is definetely Zksync , then we have Linea which has been created by the same group that brought you Metamask and finally we have Starknet , which is also one of the most funded ones. If you prefer something that launched a bit more recently, we have Scroll . Lets not forget about MANTA . And finally, we have Taiko , which has yet to be launched. All the ones that I have mentioned so far, have a very high likelihood of launching their own Token. In fact, ZKSYNC, Starknet, Scroll and Manta, the developers have already confirmed a Token, that will launch as soon as they feel their technology is ready. To all of these, we have to add BASE, which is Coinbase Layer 2, even though a Token seems very distant given the current regulatory situation in the USA, it hasn't been taken off the table, if the regulations will become clearer. And at last, we get to the one I mentioned in the first paragraph, BLAST. Which as said doesn't even exist right now, but it has already achived a higher TVL than all the ones I mentioned above, even BASE and ZKSYNC that have respectively 300 and 150 milion Dollars in TVL, and it's only less than a 2X away from the 800 milion of Optimism and Polygon. Obviously, there are and will be many other Layer 2s that I haven't mentioned, but these were the ones that seemed the most relevant. If you want to stay up to date with all the various Layer 2s that are launching, I suggest you to take a look here: https://l2beat.com/scaling/summary .
If you want to join me in farming $BLAST, which is a guranteed Airdrop, I'll leave you a few codes (Remember that your funds will be locked until February 2024 and that the invite structure is basically a pyramid scheme. But, hey, you get yield on your deposits and extra points for the future Airdrop... ):
http://blast.io/EKSPA
http://blast.io/65O83
http://blast.io/DZYRW
http://blast.io/231BQ
http://blast.io/HBMKE
http://blast.io/BU750
http://blast.io/Y0C3M
http://blast.io/LC0QV
Liquid Staking Derivatives
Liquid Staking is a very important subject, because it's increasing in adoption very very rapidly and at the same time because it is concentrating itself on very few protocols. So, in this case, the Airdrop is a very good thing, because it helps attracting users towards new protocols, thus increasing decentralization. The most interesting Airdrops regarding this sector are mainly on Solana and Ethereum, but since I'll have an intire Paragraph dedicated to Solana later, lets start with Ethereum. The most obvious one is SWELL , this one has been doing a point campaign for a few months now, a campaign based on points called "PEARLS" , that will be converted into $SWELL token in the future (guranteed Airdrop). Furthermore, than staking it, you can put it to work in various DEFI Applications to earn extra "PEARLS". To those Applications, it will soon be added Eigenlayer , which is a Restaking protocol, on which we will soon be able to restake our $swETH (ticker of SWELLs LST). This will allow us to earn more "PEARLS", plus points for the EIgenlayer Airdrop. Obviously, you can already farm the Eigenlayer Airdrop with the most known LSTs: $stETH, $rETH and $cbETH. Personally, though, I'm farming Eigenlayer with ether.fi , where you can stake your $ETH and simultaneously earn points from ether.fi and Eigenlayer, just by holding their LST ($eETH). Finally, if you're searching for something less known, that still hasn't got a Token, you can go for $mevETH (watchout, because here it's just speculation, no hinting at Airdrop nor points system).
Also in this case, I'm pretty sure there are many others, but I listed the ones that in my opinion have the highest likelihood of an Airdrop.
BRIDGES
Before getting to Solana, I can't avoid talking about Bridges, especially with all the hype around a possible LayerZero Airdrop. Which is a protocol that allows the creation of various different bridges. There's plenty of tokenless bridges out there and many of them use LayerZero. The most used LayerZero bridge is Stargate , but it already has a token ($STG), which means you can only farm $ZRO with it. Otherewise, you can try Orbiter Bridge , which is tokenless, thus exposing you to a possible double Airdrop. Other tokenless bridges are: JUMPER, LayerSwap, Owlto, Bungee Exchange, Mayan Swap ...
In short, if you find a decently used Bridge, tokenless and that leverages LayerZeros tech, it might be worth making a few transfers, perhaps go from a Layer 2 to another...
SOLANA
Regarding $SOL, the recent pump brought the attention to various interesting and tokenless projects in its ecosystem. Above all JITO , which offers $SOL Liquid Staking with its LST $jitoSOL. The Airdrop isn't confirmed, but they have a points system, which rewards you for staking and using $jitoSOL on various DEFI Apps. One of those is marginFI , which is a lending and borrowing protocol that also has a points system. They also have their own LST called... $LST. Then we have Jupiter , a DEX Aggregator, I warn you that it seems that they have already taken the snapshot. Even though, some are talking about a possible second snapshot, so it might be worth it to make a few swaps. As always there are many others like DRIFT, TENSOR, KAMINO, ZETA... And, In addition to those in the last few days a new project has popped up, NOVADEX , which is still in testnet, you can follow the link if you want to give it a try (nothing special, but Airdrop has been rumored). Finally, we can also add BULBapp , which you can farm by writing and reading articles.
Cosmos $ATOM
Not much to say here, you just have to stake your $ATOM , and you will expose yourself to possible Airdrops. Which, usually come from chains using Cosmos tech. Among these, there's $NAM , whose Mainet is imminent.
If you want to stay up to date with all the Airdrops in Cosmos, I suggest you to follow airdrops.one .
SOFI
Even though I don't find it very interesting, I remind you that there's the ongoing narrative of SocialFi and friend.tech , that with all its various forks, are in most cases running a points system campaign, that is highly likely going to turn into a future Airdrop.
CONCLUSION
It is very likely that this narrative is going to continue for a while, especially because we have to consider that it goes to the benefit of the users in terms of tokens earned, to the protocols in terms of usage and TVL and in general it's a net positive for decentralization, not just thanks to the distribution of tokens, but most importantly because it moves people from the old routine protocols to the new ones.
As already said, I haven't covered them all, and I also skipped Airdrops like ALEO, 5ire, VENOM... because, even though they're important ones, they're all still in testnet, and testnets are very time consuming that often doesn't translate into an Airdrop. In my opinion it's much better to put a bit of money on the table and less time, to farm something guranteed like $SWELL , than losing time on a testnet.
I remind you to pay attention, as some project are definetely going to try to exploit the situation, and I also remind you that some of these Airdrops are on Ethereum, mainly LSTs but also Blast , which means transaction costs of 5$ on a good day. And above all, remember that nothing that I have written was financial advice.
I wish you a good hunt, and if you know any interesting Airdrops that I haven't mentioned, I invite you to share them in the comments below.
P.S. UPDATE: $JITO (actually it's going to be $JTO) has been officialy confirmed, snapshot has been taken on 25 November.
