Recently, I’ve been thinking about a question: why do so many people unexpectedly strike it rich through airdrops, while most miss out? You should all have felt the recent crypto market rally last year—The Federal Reserve continuously releasing liquidity, nation-level Bitcoin allocations, Ethereum spot ETFs launching—all these pushed the total crypto market cap beyond $6 trillion. Besides directly buying coins during this rally, there’s a heavily underestimated way to participate: farming airdrops.

Speaking of airdrops, many newcomers might not be very familiar. Simply put, an airdrop is when project teams distribute tokens for free to users. It’s a marketing tactic, and also an opportunity for users to earn profits. The earliest airdrops date back to the Bitcoin era. Today, airdrop forms have become more diverse—some require simple tasks, others need deep engagement.

Why do project teams do airdrops? It may seem like effortless gains, but the logic behind it is clear: distributing tokens for free to gain reputation and ecosystem activity, which benefits long-term development. Arbitrum is a typical example: it airdropped 60k ARB tokens to 625k wallet addresses, averaging 1,859 tokens per address. This airdrop not only made participants money but also helped the ecosystem grow rapidly. Today, Arbitrum’s daily active users and trading volume are still hitting new highs.

So, how much money can you really make from an airdrop? It depends on the project’s scale. Let me list some of the most profitable airdrops in history. In 2020, Uniswap airdropped 400 UNI tokens per user, worth about $1,200 at the time, which later soared to over $10,000. During the APE airdrop, each account received 1,500 tokens, which could be sold for $9,000 to $10,500 profit. With Arbitrum, each account got nearly 2,000 tokens, priced at $1.3 to $1.4, earning around $3,000. Of course, not all airdrops are so lucrative, but earning tens to hundreds of dollars per account from airdrops is quite common.

To participate effectively in airdrops, the first step is to evaluate the project’s scale and funding situation. Projects with over hundreds of millions in funding generally distribute tokens, so the chances of airdrops are high. You can check funding info on investment and financing websites, and many airdrop-focused influencers on Twitter share opportunities and strategies. The second step is choosing the right interaction method. Testnet projects only require active engagement, while mainnet projects depend on their features. Common interaction types include task-based (retweets, likes), engagement-based (swaps, cross-chain transfers), staking (single or dual token staking), and hybrid approaches.

A particularly important reminder: the frequency and duration of interactions are becoming increasingly important. Projects use this to filter genuine users. If you plan to use multiple accounts, make sure to isolate them properly; otherwise, you risk being flagged for sybil attacks and losing eligibility.

By 2026, the form of airdrops is also evolving. Some opportunities anticipated for 2025 last year have already materialized. Modular blockchains, cross-chain protocols, DeFi innovations, on-chain social platforms—these sectors have seen some good airdrops. Projects like Starknet, Solana ecosystem, Monad, Berachain all offer participation chances. But now, airdrops are paying more attention to real user value; simply farming for free is no longer effective. Deep ecosystem engagement is required.

The new trend for airdrops in 2026 involves stricter identity binding and anti-sybil techniques. Projects may require KYC or on-chain reputation systems. Airdrop allocations are shifting from uniform distributions to dynamic adjustments based on your engagement depth. Some projects even airdrop to hardware wallet users—another new opportunity.

Overall, while the difficulty of earning excess returns through airdrops is rising, the potential rewards haven’t diminished. As long as you understand the logic behind airdrops and master the participation methods, you can seize the next wave of opportunities. But remember, to make more money in crypto, you still need to learn the fundamentals—luck alone isn’t enough.