Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of news about new L1/L2 projects offering incentives to boost TVL. Under those posts, longtime users keep complaining about “dig/earn/sell” 😂. To be honest, I’ve gone through this kind of cycle too—at first I rushed in to do the interactions, but the gas fees ended up costing a lot. I didn’t get any airdrops, and I also wasted my time. Later on, I slowly realized that the reasons for getting “reverse-rugged” are basically just being too impulsive, too greedy, or not figuring out the rules.

My approach is actually pretty simple: first, check whether the project has long-term value, rather than going in just for airdrops. For example, if a protocol’s TVL is built entirely on incentives, then it’s very likely a celebration for arbitrageurs, and ordinary people who enter are likely to end up as fuel. On the other hand, projects that are genuinely solving real problems are worth taking your time with—even if the interaction cost is a bit higher.

Also, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. I’m used to breaking my interactions into several smaller goals: for example, spend half an hour each day researching the documentation of new protocols, or only participate in projects that have a clear interaction path and an active community. Sometimes I’d rather do less than mindlessly follow the trend.

Anyway, with airdrops, keep a calm mindset—treat them as a bonus in the learning process, not your main job. Don’t let FOMO push you forward; that actually makes it easier to get what you’re supposed to get. That’s about it—everyone can also share their experiences.