The year 2023 has already witnessed remarkable airdrops by projects like Arbitrum and Space ID, extending generous rewards to their early adopters.
Space ID rewarded users who purchased an “id.bnb” or “id.arb” domain with ID tokens worth at least $50. The beauty of this? The average cost to purchase these domains was just $5, a staggering 10x return within a few months. Similarly, Arbitrum distributed up to $12,000 per wallet to its early users.
However, what makes hearts race even faster than these past airdrops is the anticipation of the ones to come throughout the rest of 2023. And that’s probably why you are reading this.
This article gives you a peek into some airdrops expected to still happen in 2023. You’ll also learn how to position yourself to make the most out of these airdrops. Let’s get to it!
Top 10 Upcoming Airdrops In 2023
Here is a list of anticipated and rumoured airdrops slated for the second half of 2023.
However, before we proceed, here is a caveat: Some of the airdrops in this list have been officially confirmed by their development teams, while others are speculative based on the patterns observed in projects that have previously conducted token airdrops.
1. Blur Season 2
Blur is an NFT marketplace aggregator for trading NFTs on the Ethereum network. It quickly gained traction because of its unique approach of zero-commission on trades and support for a peer-to-peer NFT lending feature which provides further liquidity into the NFT market.
Blur distributed 360 million of its BLUR token to its early users in February 2023. Following the success of that airdrop, Blur announced another airdrop for its community of up to 300 million BLUR. Please note that the date for this airdrop hasn’t been confirmed yet.
How to Position for the BLUR airdrop
The criteria to qualify for a share of the allocated 300 million BLUR tokens is similar to how users earned their first airdrop; you must use the Blur NFT marketplace.
To maximize your rewards, you should participate in activities such as exclusively listing NFTs on the marketplace and trading NFTs within the platform. The more activities you engage in on the marketplace, the higher your share of the airdrop.
2. Orbiter Finance
Orbiter Finance is a protocol that enables seamless transfers of cryptocurrencies between different Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chains. In essence, it allows you to move tokens between chains such as Ethereum and Arbitrum and vice versa.
Following the trend of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), where communities manage protocols through native token voting (such as Uniswap), Orbiter Finance may introduce its own native token to decentralize its protocol.
Although the specific details regarding token distribution, such as an airdrop, have not been officially announced by Orbiter Finance, there have been indications from the project that a native token will be launched.
For instance, a post on Orbiter Finance’s Discord page in 2022 confirmed the development of a native token. This has generated significant anticipation around the possibility of an airdrop from Orbiter Finance in 2023.
How to Position for an Airdrop from Orbiter Finance
If Orbiter Finance decides to reward its early adopters through a free token distribution (airdrop), the focus will be on users that have used the protocol. As such, using the Orbiter protocol to move assets across different EVM chains will improve your chances of receiving a token. The more user activity on the protocol, the higher the chances of qualifying for a token reward.
3. Starknet
Starknet is a Layer 2 scaling solution designed to improve the scalability and security of the Ethereum network. It uses zk-rollups technology, which allows it to process transactions off-chain by verifying them mathematically. These verified transactions are then bundled together and sent to the Ethereum chain, resulting in faster transactions and lower costs.
Although the STRK token has been deployed on the Ethereum network since November 2022, it is not yet available for sale. The project intends to introduce the STRK token for governance purposes and as the network’s token for gas.
Starknet has allocated 9% of its token supply for community provisions, which has sparked speculation among airdrop hunters regarding the possibility of an airdrop.
Following the footsteps of established Layer 2 solutions like Arbitrum, it is expected that Starknet will distribute network tokens to the community. However, the project team has not provided an official date for the token release.
How to Position for the STRK Airdrop
To be eligible for STRK tokens, you need a compatible Web3 wallet, such as Argent X, to access the Starknet network. Afterward, you can proceed to use dApps on the Starknet network to make transactions. These activities can include simple swaps, lending, and borrowing on the network, as well as minting NFTs on the network.
4. Layer Zero
Layer Zero is an omnichannel interoperability protocol. It’s a protocol designed to enable seamless communication between different blockchain networks, allowing decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and bridges to facilitate cross-chain swaps.
Layer Zero Labs, the company behind the project, successfully raised $293 million in funding to develop this protocol.
Although there’s no official announcement of a token or airdrop, Layer Zero’s GitHub code contains a token ticker for “ZRO.” This is the basis of the anticipation that there will be an official token for the protocol and, possibly, an airdrop.
How to position for the ZRO airdrop
Since LayerZero is an omnichannel interoperability protocol, you will need to use protocols, bridges, and dApps that have integrated with the network.
Stargate, Aptos Bridge, and Liquidswap are some of the dApps currently integrated with Layer Zero. Consistently using these dApps can make you eligible for a ZRO airdrop when one occurs.
5. Polygon
Polygon, formerly known as Matic Network, is a suite of scaling solutions designed to address the scalability and congestion issues of the Ethereum blockchain and, thus, allow for faster and more cost-effective transactions.
Though the blockchain solution has been available for a while, a series of actions by Polygon Labs has led to speculations that there might be an airdrop soon.
The network launched Polygon zkEVM on the mainnet in March 2023; currently, it boasts a total value locked (TVL) of over $25 million.
The Polygon team also recently proposed to change the MATIC token, the native token of the Polygon PoS network, to POL. The POL token is expected to serve as the network token for all the blockchain solutions built by Polygon Labs, as well as for governance on these protocols.
These two events have been the basis of the airdrop speculations. Sandeep Nailwal, the co-founder of Polygon, added fuel to the fire by suggesting that “existing tokens” could conduct airdrops, leading some to believe that Polygon may be planning one.
How to Position for the POL airdrop
To increase your chances of qualifying for this airdrop, you should actively use both the Polygon Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network and the recently launched Polygon zkEVM chain. Interact with dApps on both chains. The team is likely to reward old users on the Polygon PoS network and users who are using the recently launched Polygon zkEVM.
6. zkSync
zkSync is another Layer 2 scaling solution developed by Matter Labs. It achieves its aim of scaling the Ethereum network through the use of Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs) to process transactions before they are sent to the main chain.
zkSync is currently operational on two chains: zkSync Lite and zkSync Era. It has also raised about $458 million in funding to support its development.
Similar to successful Layer 2 scaling solutions like Optimism and Arbitrum, there is speculation that zkSync may also introduce its own token with the ticker symbol “ZKS.” However, this has not been officially confirmed by the project team.
How to Position for an airdrop from zkSync
To qualify for an airdrop from zkSync, you’ll need to interact with both zkSync Lite and zkSync Era networks. This requirement is inspired by Arbitrum’s airdrop approach, which rewarded users who had used both the Arbitrum One and Arbitrum Nova chains before its airdrop.
dApps like SyncSwap and Mute are some of the projects in the zkSync ecosystem you can interact with to qualify for a potential airdrop.
The video below is a quick guide to help you navigate through the zkSync ecosystem.
zkSync Airdrop Guide: Use These DApps for DOUBLE REWARDS!
7. Linea
Linea is yet another Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution on this list. It was developed by ConsenSys to provide a platform that mimics the Ethereum environment and enables developers to build on the network as if they were directly working on Ethereum. Like Polygon zkEVM, Linea employs a type 2 zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) as its underlying technology.
The Linea network went live on July 11, 2023. After the network went live, the team airdropped different NFTs based on a points system to testnet users who participated in its 9-week voyage to test the network.
The team has not officially announced the launch of a token. However, future plans for the project involve decentralizing the network and introducing community governance. Following the patterns of established Layer 2 solutions, this typically entails the creation and distribution of a network token.
How to position for an airdrop from Linea
Being a recipient of the commemorative NFT drop from Linea may increase the chances of receiving an airdrop. Still, the ultimate trend for Layer 2 networks is to reward users actively using their mainnet for transactions.
And if Linea follows the trend, using dApps created on the network will be a criterion for receiving an airdrop from the team. Orbiter and SyncSwap are some of the dApps on the Linea Network you can interact with.
If you are new to the Linea network, this video is a great guide to help you get started.
Linea Crypto Airdrop Full Guide
8. Metamask
Metamask is probably no stranger to you. However, for the newbies, the platform is a decentralized wallet widely used in the crypto and NFT community for navigating the web3 space. It boasts an impressive user base of 21 million active monthly users.
The CEO of ConsenSys, the team behind the platform, had earlier confirmed plans to transition Metamask into a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) and launch a token. While an official date for the token launch or airdrop is yet to be announced, there is optimism among the crypto community that it will take place in 2023.
How to position for an airdrop from Metamask
The Metamask team has emphasized that the token launch will not cater to airdrop farmers but will instead target genuine users. Thus, to be eligible for an airdrop, you need to actively use the MetaMask wallet for different Web 3 activities.
MetaMask also has swap and bridge features that allow you to trade and move your tokens across supported networks on the wallet. Remember that using and testing the MetaMask wallet’s various features will position you for a potential MASK airdrop.
9. Taiko
Taiko is a type 1 zk-EVM scaling solution for Ethereum.
The Taiko team raised $22 million through two funding rounds to support the network’s development.
According to the project’s whitepaper, Taiko plans to launch its native token, TKO, upon the network’s official mainnet release. The TKO token is not intended for use as gas on the network. Instead, users will use ETH to cover gas fees, similar to Layer 2 solutions like Optimism and Arbitrum.
Though an official date has not been announced for the launch of TKO, the cryptocurrency community anticipates a potential airdrop of the TKO token for early users of the Taiko network.
How to position for the TKO airdrop
To prepare for the TKO airdrop, you can participate in Taiko’s testnet events, including the latest one; the alpha-4 testnet. You can also follow a series of testnet events from Taiko through the Taiko Galxe events.
Also, since Taiko is an EVM-equivalent network, you can test the network using popular wallets like Metamask.
.How to Get $5,000 Taiko Airdrop (All Steps in 5 Minutes)
10. OpenSea Pro
OpenSea Pro is a product developed by OpenSea, the popular NFT marketplace. It is an NFT aggregator and cross-chain marketplace for trading NFTs. This protocol allows NFT traders to compare NFT listings across different marketplaces and sweep NFTs at the best possible buys in the market.
There are speculations that OpenSea’s launch of OpenSea Pro was a move to prevent the marketplace from losing its users to emerging competitors like Blur, which is issuing free tokens to its users. As such, it is expected to launch its own token.
While OpenSea Pro has not officially confirmed any plans for token launches or airdrops for its users, the current trading activities on the marketplace use a point grading system. This further strengthens the speculation that this grading system could be used for token distribution.
How to Position for an Airdrop from OpenSea Pro
The airdrop from OpenSea Pro is likely to follow the same steps as Blur if there is one. Users who list NFTs on the marketplace and trade on the platform can expect to receive a share of the platform’s token when the platform launches its own token.
Watch this video to learn how to use the OpenSea Pro marketplace and position yourself for a potential airdrop.
Opensea Pro Tutorial – Opensea Airdrop ?
In Conclusion,
- We all know that airdrops can make a big difference in a trader’s earnings, so it’s important to keep an eye out for them. However, you need to actively engage with these protocols to get a slice of the pie.
- As you can see, it is often as straightforward as engaging with a dApp or carrying out simple transactions on a network.
- Although some airdrops may require more demanding tasks, like generating a specific transaction volume, the potential rewards often consistently outweigh the associated costs.
- Lastly, engaging with the protocols also includes joining the official channels of the project to stay informed about token launches and airdrops. By doing so, you can avoid falling for scammers posing as official project representatives issuing airdrops.
DISCLAIMER: This piece is intended solely for informational purposes and should not be considered trading or investment advice. Nothing herein should be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice. Trading or investing in cryptocurrencies carries a considerable risk of financial loss. Always conduct due diligence.
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