Recently, I’ve noticed more and more people around me researching airdrops. I’ve also compiled some insights and decided to share them all at once.

First, let’s talk about what an airdrop is. Simply put, it’s the act of completing tasks set by project teams to receive free tokens. To quickly grow their user base, projects often distribute a portion of tokens for free to early participants, which is called an airdrop. For ordinary users like us, the appeal of airdrops is—this is the lowest barrier to participate in blockchain projects, and if you catch a high-quality project, the returns can be beyond imagination.

I’ve seen the most exaggerated cases with Arbitrum and Aptos, where the returns are hundreds of times. Such opportunities are almost impossible to seize on the secondary market. If you invest in the primary market, even if you get in early, you have to go through a long unlocking period. But airdrops are different—they can be sold immediately upon listing, which is an advantage many overlook.

Airdrops mainly fall into four types. The first is the simplest task-based type, which involves completing actions like liking, sharing, or reading on platforms like Galxe and Layer3. This is purely time-consuming, with no capital pressure, making it especially suitable for beginners. The second type involves content interaction, requiring trading, swapping, or cross-chain operations within the ecosystem, burning gas to earn airdrops. Major projects like OP, ARB, and STRK fall into this category, with high earning potential but less transparent rules, making it easy to get caught off guard.

The third type is staking, which is a game for big investors. Staking funds to earn points, which can later be exchanged for airdrops. This method is more certain but only worthwhile with large capital. ETHFI and ENA are typical examples. The fourth is a comprehensive type, which requires both effort and money, and is the most challenging.

It’s worth noting that projects are increasingly valuing interaction frequency and time span to filter out “grabbers.” If you want to participate with multiple accounts, be sure to isolate them properly; otherwise, you risk being marked as a “witch” and losing airdrop eligibility. Witch attacks refer to controlling the network with multiple fake identities, which in the context of airdrops means operating multiple accounts.

The advantages of airdrops are quite clear. First, the investment is small—using test tokens provided by the project to test, and only paying gas fees on the mainnet. Second, the returns can be astonishing—one wallet equals one identity, and you can manage dozens or even hundreds, effectively becoming a Web3 contractor. Plus, you have time flexibility—so long as the project hasn’t taken a snapshot, you can operate whenever you want. Historically, many huge profits have been made, but those are mostly luck and insight.

However, there are also many downsides. The work hours are long; from screening projects to completing tasks, it can take a whole day. Some projects have long cycles—taking 2-3 years from Twitter announcement to token launch, with no income in between. The biggest risk is project failure—choosing the wrong project can mean wasting time and gas, and losing all your investment.

How to start with airdrops? The first step is to find projects. Platforms like AirdropAlert, DefiLlama, and CoinMarketCap aggregate information. But beware—projects that actively promote airdrops are often of lower value. Truly valuable airdrops usually come from projects that perform well and suddenly airdrop based on unexpected rules, catching everyone off guard.

The best approach is to follow the project’s official social media or keep an eye on knowledgeable KOLs and communities. The former is more reliable but requires more effort; the latter is easier but riskier. After finding a project, preparing tools like MetaMask, Trust Wallet, and a hardware wallet is essential, along with social apps like Telegram and Twitter, and a Chrome browser.

Interaction methods typically include trading, lending, participating in testnets, staking, and whitelist applications. Unlike arbitrage on exchanges, airdrops don’t require worrying about bot competition, because legitimate projects will implement strict anti-bot measures, such as banning accounts or canceling airdrop eligibility. If a project doesn’t even have basic protections, it’s probably suspicious.

Finally, let’s talk about risks, which are the most critical part. Security and privacy are vital for airdrop players. Managing dozens or hundreds of wallets requires strict confidentiality of seed phrases, private keys, and addresses. Common risks include clicking fake links leading to asset theft, storing seed phrases on cloud services, browser hacks, etc. Large-scale witch attacks can also result in thousands of addresses being blacklisted in one go.

My advice is: experienced users can find projects on their own, but beginners should consider participating in some legitimate on-platform airdrop programs for safety. These usually come with security guarantees and lower risks. Regardless, always prioritize the safety of your crypto assets—profits come second. Airdrops are indeed the lowest barrier for ordinary people to accumulate initial holdings, but always approach with caution, understand the rules and risks thoroughly before acting.