What is an airdrop? How to do airdrop hunting? Can you do it on your own, and for free?

With this, the BitPinas Webcast has invited NFT artist and web3 content creator Marso Ya and The Roundtable founder Patrick Ferrer to discuss the basics of airdrops and what the best strategies are to start airdrop hunting for free! 

Watch the video here:

Introduction

Airdrop has been one of the most hyped trends in this ongoing market cycle. 

Basically, airdrop campaigns are activities hosted by web3 projects, decentralized protocols, crypto platforms, or startups that require users or participants to do some tasks, like following their social media accounts, referring new users, testing their features and services, and even trying their test networks, in exchange for rewards, which are normally their native token, NFTs or other digital collectibles, or free gas fees. 

Read: Boost Your Crypto Portfolio: How to Earn Free Crypto Through Airdrops in 2023 

But how do airdrops exist in this season where Bitcoin has recorded a new all-time high? Well, most probably, projects that have been building during the recent crypto winter (which was like a century-long) are now earning their persistence and perseverance; thus, giving credit back to the community that believed in them. 

Episode Notes

About the guests: Are they airdrop hunters? 

Marso Ya, a known NFT artist, calls herself “Crypto Degen.” She shared that her first airdrop was in 2021, when received around $1,000 after buying a domain name from Ethereum Name Service, or the popular name.eth domain. Ya then revealed that she was one of the unlucky participants during the recent Starknet airdrop, where she received nothing despite her efforts. 

Read: Sayang Pagod: Pinoys Grind For Airdrop Points But Ended Up Not Being Eligible

Meanwhile, Patrik Ferrer first entered the crypto industry in 2017. However, he paused for a while and came back around 2020, but he did not earn airdrops then even though he joined some campaigns.

Why do web3 firms host airdrops? 

“For me kasi it’s one of the ways to onboard new members or build community. Right now, ang daming nagpapa-airdrop kasi they want din to show to people ‘yung product nila,” Ferrer answered. 

The founder then shared that he sees airdrop campaigns as a marketing strategy by web3 firms, as instead of hiring marketing experts, the funds can be used as rewards:  

“Actually it’s a marketing type kasi you don’t need to hire marketing agencies; you just do an airdrop campaign (and attract people). Ang daming platforms where airdrop campaigns are being published.”

Joining an airdrop campaign: What prerequisites should be prepared? 

For crypto degen Marso, she has a number of tips on how to be prepared to join airdrops campaigns: 

• Basic knowledge on blockchain: “Unang-una sa laaht, dapat mayroon kang at least basic knowledge sa crypto, about sa mga network, sa mga wallet, kasi iba-iba yung required na wallet per network.”
• Learning to protect yourself, as it involves money: “Next is yung capability mo na maglabas ng pera or not. Kailangan alam mo sa sarili mo kung maglalabas ka ng pera, dapat responsible ka rin kung ano yung dapat mong i-handle at kung ano yung dapat mong mapagdaanan. Yung self-custody na kailangan mong i-protect yung sarili mo.”
• Joining communities: “I can say na marami dito sa community na nagbibigay ng freebie sources, at may mga pwede kang salihan na Discord group na libre lang.” 

“Sa sobrang dami lalo na sa hype ngayon, kailangan mong mag-focus. Mamili ka kung ano yung kaya mo within your budget, within your time. Hindi lang kasi to about sa opportunity, dapat alam mo yung risk reward na kaya mong ibigay doon sa mga gagawin mong actions eh,” she added. 

Ferrer also shared an acronym—PET: Patience, Effort, and Time. 

“You need to have a PET pag magjojoin ka sa airdrop. Kasi hindi lahat ng airdrop kikita ka, may mga airdrop na malulugi ka. First thing you do, prepare a web3 wallet para may idea ka kung anong gagawin bago ka mag-participate sa mga campaign. 

He also advised web3 natives to use online wallets such as MetaMask, Trust Wallet, and Phantom Wallet, which are the most common compatible wallets in platforms hosting airdrops. 

What are the usual airdrop tasks that participants should be prepared for? 

Collectively, the two guests agreed that among the “easy” tasks in an airdrop campaign include completing quests on Zealy (https://zealy.io/), Galxe (https://app.galxe.com/quest), and Tasks (https://tasks.org/). 

These platforms are basically where the quests of a campaign are listed, and once a participant completes a certain task, they will receive points. 

Another task in the “easy” tier is the social task, where participants should follow the social media accounts of the project, actively engage in its posts, and spam the official hashtag on all posts to collect points. 

Lastly, the referral system. Just like loyalty programs, a referral system seeks to reward older users that will onboard new users to create an account on the platform. Normally, referral systems have referral codes for each participant. 

One of the most known airdrop campaigns today that uses purely a referral system is Grass, an innovative application that allows users to sell their unused internet bandwidth: Grass Airdrop Guide: Earn By Selling Unused Bandwidth

On the other hand, here are the airdrop tasks that can be considered “difficult” tasks are testnet campaigns, where participants must try the test network and use its features to gain rewards, and liquidity pools, where users must stake tokens to earn rewards. 

Read: 

• Mar. 2024 | List of Testnet Airdrops to Farm or Participate
• Liquidity Protocols: Rewarding Liquidity Providers Through Airdrops

“Basta the complicated ones is more of using the platform itself, which is kailangan mo ng extra knowledge on how the platform works,” Ya reminded. 

Setting the right mindset: How to cope with when you did not receive the airdrop? 

Today’s airdrops implement a crypto points system. Crypto points are the points obtained by participants by doing tasks, which can be converted to rewards. 

This means that the higher the crypto points obtained, the higher the rewards a participant might get. 

Read: Crypto Points 101: New Version of Airdrops?

However, some participants, despite securing a high number of crypto points due to their time and effort, still received only a small reward, or worse, nothing. 

For Ferrer and Ya, this is not an isolated case, but rather a common case, especially for those who joined airdrop campaigns that did not research about the eligibility for a reward. 

“‘Yung mga gina-grind natin na free airdrops, they can’t guarantee you big litter—kahit gugulin mo pa yung oras mo—kasi free siya. Just don’t focus on one airdrop campaign. Maraming campaign jan na may free tutorial from friends, community, and sa socmed. For me, it really depends on how you give your effort to the campaign. Mas marami kang network, mas marami kang kaibigan, mas maganda,” Ferrer advised. 

“Ako mismo na experience ko siya nung 2023, since bago pa lang ako sa airdrop, nagla lash out ako ng staking, which is minsan ang tagal, tas nagiging thin na lang yung pang talpak ko o maghihintay ako ng sahod bago ko makapasok sa ibang airdrop. So it is not necessary na maglagay ng malaking pera sa staking. Hindi ka dapat mag-expect, pero kailangan mo lang gawin yung makakaya mo para makauha. Kasi if di ka magririsk, baka di ka makakakuha. I think yung mindset dapat is regardless kung matalo o manalo, dapat mahanap mo pa rin yung opportunities adn tanggapin mo if minsan wala and move on to the next tsaka ‘wag kang ma-fo-FOMO,” Ya seconded. 

How can we prevent scam airdrops?

“For me, parang nag DYOR lang ng new projects or startups. Check mo kung ano ba ‘yung road map ng project, ‘yung whitepaper nila, kung sino yung team behind it, tsaka ‘yung mga backer nila,” Ferrer emphasized. 

According to the founder, legitimate projects are often backed by known brands, others know them as “investors.” 

A commenter then shared this: 

This is where the conversation about having burner wallets started.

What is a burner wallet?

Burner wallets are crypto wallets that have no other asset except the funds needed for an airdrop campaign. It is basically the secondary wallet to the main wallet, where all the funds and assets are stored. Burner wallets are needed in case that if an airdrop campaign is fraudulent, the other assets are safe because they are on your main wallet. 

“Dapat mayroon kang main at burner wallet. Dapat ding magkaroon ng second opinion from other participants, kasi nagiging emotional ka talaga pag may attraction ka sa pera. Always check yung Twitter ng project. Kung ako lang, I always check ‘yung Twitter or Discord kung legit. Always diversify your assets, kasi pwedeng mabiktima ng phishing. Mahirap siyang maiwasan pero pwedeng maiwasaan through precautions,” the crypto degen highlighted.

How to handle airdrop campaigns from anonymous developers? 

Since airdrop campaigns are commonly hosted by newly launched projects, we cannot avoid having a project with anonymous, or undoxxed, team of developers. 

“Ako usually, ‘pag ‘yung builders ay anon, doon ako sa VC tumitingin. Tsaka kung anong possible narrative niya in the future, kung magkakaroon ba siya ng ambag sa space,” Marso stressed. 

“Ako if the developers are undoxxed, medyo less ‘yung effort at time ko sa campaign. Kasi we’ll never know kung mag-e-airdrop ba talaga sila o hindi, malay natin kung nagpaparami lang sila ng community. We need to really manage our expectation and maging secure. Sa crypto kasi, conduct at your own risk. It’s your risk management kung sasali ka,” Ferrer shared. 

Airdrop trends: What should we expect from upcoming airdrops? 

Ya: “Ang pinakanakikita ko ay yung social farming talaga, kasi yun yung only way para paramihin talaga yung community at makaalam ng projects—social farming at referrals. Sa narratives, magfocus tayo sa gamefi, RWA, at AI.”

Ferrer: “For me, yung kay Block Games, yung may kailangan kang i download na specific apps tas watch adds, yun yung nakikita kong trend sa airdrop. Join kayo sa maraming community, the better community you have na nagbibigay ng sources sa free airdrops, mas maganda. Kasi makakapili ka sa maraming option kung saan ka pwedeng mag-join na airdrop.”

Community Survey

During the webcast, BitPinas is also doing a community survey in the comment section. It is a series of questions, that are of course related to the topic, where viewers can react or reply to express their answers. 

Here are the results: 

COMMUNITY SURVEY: Anong pinakaunang airdrop ang nasalihan mo (Or anong taon)?

• One of the commenters shared that the first airdrop he participated in was about 2017 to 2018.
• Another answer seems to be a fresh airdrop hunter, as his first airdrop participation was during the Jupiter campaign this year.

COMMUNITY SURVEY: In one word or phrase, describe AIRDROP

• Paldo
• Grind-y
• Opportunity
• Discovery
• Incentives
• Paldo’nt
• Free Money!
• Speculative
• Grind
• Ayuda

COMMUNITY SURVEY: Saan magandang blockchain mag focus para sa mga airdrop campaigns?

• Solana had the most number of answers.
• Ronin is the second.
• Ethereum is another answer.

COMMUNITY SURVEY: Nakaranas na ba kayo ng moment na ginawa niyo naman ang lahat ng tasks, tapos mababa lang ang points o rewards?

• 14 said that they already experienced having no or low rewards. 
• 3 said that the had not experienced it yet. 

COMMUNITY SURVEY: Mas mahalaga na ba ngayon ang makakuha ng rewards kaysa sa mental health?

• Actually, it is a satirical question. 
• Most answers emphasized giving importance to mental health first. 
• But of course, there are also “kengkoy” answers:
  • “Opo, kasi mas magagamot ng airdrop ang mental illness”
  • “Ako ang mental health ko nakadepende sa pera eh HAHAHA”
  • “Maganda po sa mental health ko yung maraming rewards”
  • “Nakakaganda ng mental health ang incentives haha”

COMMUNITY SURVEY: Mahalaga ba ang date of entry para sa rewards na matatanggap sa isang airdrop?

• Apparently, all of the commenters said YES, the date of entry is important. 
• “Mas maagang mag-grind. Mas paldo”
• “Yes, mas maagang makaipon.”

COMMUNITY SURVEY: Sa airdrops, anong mas gusto niyong rewards ang matanggap?

• 18 answered they prefer receiving crypto as a reward. 
• 1 answered they prefer receiving NFTs as a reward. 
• Marso Ya participated in this survey. Her answer? She prefers receiving cuddles as a reward. 

This article is published on BitPinas: Guide to Airdrops – How to Do Airdrop Hunting For Free