Written by: CC2 (Revanchist Arc)
Compiled by: TechFlow
Here is an updated list of most of the airdrops I have been running so far.
L2 Scroll
Transactions are made on different dApps every week, with the goal of using at least 20 different dApps and achieving over $100,000 in transaction volume until the airdrop is distributed. The team actively listens to feedback and Vitalik is bullish on the project. Although this project is very popular and "over-mined", I feel good about it.
Liquidswap/Pontem/Lumio
Bridged ETH to Lumio and earned 4 badges. The main task now is to swap 2-3 times a week on Liquidswap and provide some liquidity. Aptos is also gaining a lot of exposure while the team listens to community feedback.
Orderly (+ LogX)
Driving at least $300,000 in trading volume per week. Not recommended for players with only a small amount of funds. I did this because I saw the end of the project and the mining opportunity on the perpetual DEX was attractive.
Zora
Mint 2-3 times a month. It is important to also create your own collectible and let people mint it. The proceeds from the $ENJOY airdrop are already enough to cover all expenses ten times.
zkSync
Mainly using ZyFi on zkSync, occasionally Syncswap and Bebop. Just to keep things active and very low fees.
Linea
The TX exploit seems to be over. I just spent a few hundred dollars on the Linea Surge. Sunk cost fallacy (might as well go all the way)
Cross-chain interoperability
Hyperlane is currently the most confident choice in the interoperability space. But LayerZero was once, so take that with a grain of salt. I like their modular angle and customizable security. Can currently connect to any EVM or Cosmos chain, and has lower fees/faster speeds, which gives it an advantage over better funded competitors. Technically, interoperability projects are the "pick-up" for all L1/L2/L3, but the market doesn't seem to value these projects (yet). The most important thing is probably to use their flagship bridge: https://usenexus.org.
Jumper touches 10 chains per month and tries to use it when exchanging tokens. Good product-market fit, sufficient funding, and excellent dApp performance. However, there are more than 1 million wallets, which means "over-mining".
Bungee (+Zapper) is similar to Jumper but with slightly less coverage. They are building a lot (no joke, check out the Socket Twitter). Zapper hinted at a token launch today, and I’m still using it since it’s also powered by Socket.
Mayan Wormhole still has a share of the second airdrop. Mayan is an excellent EVM<>Solana bridge without overcomplicating it.
Squidrouter has raised a lot of money and is somewhat under the radar. I like using it for bridging into/from Scroll and Base, and it's less used than other interop projects.
deBridgeWhen you mine on deBridge, you are mining an ICO. Burn to Earn airdrops have not disappointed so far, so I will probably participate to some extent (without overcommitting).
Orbiter has been used for many years. Frankly speaking, Orbiter has a high product market fit (PMF) due to its smooth UI and UX. When I am too lazy to operate, I use Orbiter because it is simple, reliable and fast. Although conservative about their airdrops, the results are still unpredictable.
Cross-chain interoperability - lower level
ZetaChain #2 is ranked lower because it already had an airdrop. Getting weekly XP is cheap and fun, so why not?
Magpie "April TGE" failed to materialize, so bearish. Still pushing for some trades as this qualifies me for Wormhole. Jump is in 500 projects though, so I'm opting in.
Rango "profile" tab doesn't work properly, bearish. Not sure if they track activity. Very mild usage on my part. Upside: available on many chains, increased unique dApp usage (e.g. for Scroll).
Zerion raised $22 million. I bought the cheapest NFT and now only do swaps and bridges once a month. They charge 0.725% which is way too expensive. If you are serious about eligibility, you should also use their wallet and other products. Maybe they will copy MM but will never issue a token.
Solana
Tensor Szn #4 has had amazing airdrops since early 2023. Might be successful again, but NFT trading is very PVP. Not recommended for people who are not well versed in the field (it's easy to lose all your funds).
PhoenixTrade does a limit trade every other day on a wallet. Does the same with Drift, huge returns. Solana airdrop = good.
Backpack Exchange conducts 2-3 transactions per day, exchanging only Meme coins. Backpack has deep connections, and you can always get your fees back in ecological airdrops (Wormhole, Pyth, Tensor, etc.).
Based on liquidity
Sanctum + Meteora is a nice 2+1. No Jito replication, but if you have enough scale, this is a very comfortable farm with Solana price exposure. Meteora has Jupiter team member overlap.
Elixir is optimistic about the perpetual mining opportunity. The trading pair offers good returns (15-20%), with BTC/ETH exposure.
Ambient (mainly on Scroll) has a lot of activity (not Meme). Because it's on Scroll, it feels comfortable, and maybe there's some kind of Berachain angle.
Was very bullish on Zircuit at first because it's L2, then realized everyone is building L2 now. Still worth getting: Zircuit, Eigen #2, LRT of choice, ETH exposure + earnings.
MarginFi took too long to launch their token, so the market won't be too generous. I'm still in it because I'm too lazy to pay back the loan and withdraw. Kamino is much more likely to be copied than Jito. *If you deposit INF, you will be eligible for 3 airdrops.
Main focus
Scroll, Hyperlane, Jumper, Liquidswap, Tensor, Elixir, Sanctum + Meteora, Zircuit combined into a 4-in-1 toy, and maybe Bungee. I would also add Ambient, but it would probably be disappointing to most people because it's so linear.
Many of the airdrop projects I’m working on will inevitably:
Worthless due to poor execution/no product-market fit
The airdrop time is too long, also known as "time scam"
But some of them will also:
Brings more rewards than you expect (similar to Jito, Wormhole, Manta Galxe)
Indirect eligibility to participate in other airdrops (results include: Avail, zkFair, Celestia)
Having high confidence in a single airdrop actually means you are placing all your trust in one project/founder and relying on them to execute correctly as well as a ton of additional variables (hopefully on their behalf). This is why the “Spray and Pray” strategy (participating widely in multiple projects in the hope of getting some significant returns from them) works best for me. “Continuously” earning a few thousand dollars here and there until it eventually builds up to a large sum and reaches critical mass.
The result is that you can now focus more closely on a handful of projects (either through more trading or liquidity) while still keeping your “Spray and Pray” strategy active.
Researching the term “airdrop snowballing” is the equivalent of “compound interest” in traditional finance. While Meme far exceeds airdrops in terms of returns, it is still the best way to acquire capital for those who only have a few hundred dollars to start, especially from a risk-adjusted return perspective.
The correct way is:
Immediately after realizing that this particular area was still inefficient, I started participating in airdrops following Arbitrum.
Strive to obtain hundreds of thousands of dollars in airdrop income.
Continue to participate in airdrops, while investing a portion of your funds in Meme for “long-term investment”.
This doesn’t mean that airdrops are over if you haven’t been capitalized yet. It just means that the market is becoming extremely saturated and competitive, there are many failed examples along the way that have led to “dust dropping”, and teams are taking advantage of the airdrop craze.
The market has become more efficient and the advantages in this particular area have been eroded, resulting in lower returns on investment.
