Introduction:
Top 5 Biggest Airdrops In Crypto History. A Cryptocurrency Airdrop is one of the most thrilling incidents in the Blockchain space. Airdrops distribute free tokens to early adopters, holders of a particular cryptocurrency, or participants in an on-chain activity (e.g. On xth block transaction hash1001and if you participated tap here). Airdrops like these are significant in creating the hype of any project and can even be financially rewarding to those few who get lucky during an airdrop. We go over the 5 largest crypto airdrops to ever exist and provide them in no specific category, explaining how they operated as well as if they had any influence on recipients or the market.
1. Uniswap (UNI) Airdrop – September 2020:
Likely the most publicized airdrop in cryptocurrency history, 2020 as reported was taken over by the news of a UNI drop. Uniswap (UNI)Joining the ranks of SushiSwap, Uniswap — a decentralized exchange (DEX) running on Ethereum — confirmed it would distribute its governance token UNI to those who had used its platform in its early days. This was a method of incentivizing early supporters and entrusting its future development protocol to governance.
Airdrop Details: Uniswap airdropped 400 UNI tokens to every wallet that had ever interacted with the platform before September 2020 This little airdrop was like found money for most users as the price of 400 UNI tokens appreciated virtually overnight.
Financial Impact: UNI was trading around $3 at the time of airdrop hence each recipient received tokens worth ~$1200. But the price kept rising over time, hitting well above $40 per token at its peak as Uniswap’s popularity and UNI value continued to rise. The value for the few that held on to their airdropped tokens soared as high as $16,000 in the past — one of the most profitable dividends ever paid within Crypto Destiny.
UNI Airdrop: UNISWAP made millions a day before the launch of its governance token was impactful not just because it had revenue impacts, but also because it inspired half a dozen decentralized platforms to distribute their governing tokens on top. The airdrop laid the foundation for DeFi applications to incentivize initial user participation and evolving community-driven campaigns.
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2. Ethereum Name Service (ENS) Airdrop – November 2021:
A decentralized domain name service for public and private applications registered with the Ethereum blockchain, offering individual owners of Ethereum to or lose along to long course associated addresses. In 2021, ENS decentralized its governance through the introduction of an ENS token that is given to early users of the service.
Airdrop Info: ENS airdropped to customers who registered domain names beforehand using the service The sum each user got was reliant on the length of time that they had set up their ENS domain and how many domains were under their ownership.
Financial Impact: The ENS airdrop was worth quite something to many participants. ENS also had airdrops, so the price of ENS fluctuated in the early days as well, but it was mostly $40–$80. Others received tens of thousands of dollars in tokens on account only for having the domain registered. ENS token allocations were highest for people who had been using the service or owned multiple domains.
Market and Ecosystem Impact: The optic was born of the concept that early network users should be rewarded with a fair share in decentralized social services, thereby linking ERC-20 Reward Token governance. The airdrop also signaled increased interest in decentralized services like ENS useful for actual users of the crypto space.
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3. dYdX (DYDX) Airdrop – August 2021:
dYdX is a decentralized derivatives exchange where users can trade perpetually with access to some of the most sophisticated trading tools in DeFi all within a non-custodial and permissionless framework. DYDX governance token announced 2021, company carried out airdrop for early users.
Details of Airdrop: The DYDX airdroped tokens to users who traded on the platform before a given date. The more you traded on that specific Monday and Tuesday, the bigger the allocation of DYDX tokens each user received.
Financial Impact: The Financial impact of the dYdX airdrop was huge for the users. DYDX was trading for approximately $12 per token when it was distributed. There were many thousand tokens paid out to a few of the most active users. Traders in the top trading tiers, for example, could receive airdrops of $50k or more.
Market and Ecosystem Impact: The DYDX airdrop not only incentivized traders but it turned them into the reluctant governors of this platform. This encouraged the users to keep returning and even invite others as well. The airdrop’s success furthermore underscored the increasing practice of decentralized exchanges, dispensing governance tokens as rewards for users — doubly affirming dYdX’s spot within DeFi.
4. 1inch (1INCH) Airdrop – December 2020:
1inch, a DEX aggregator that sources liquidity directly from over 7500 buying and selling pairs locally, across the operator’s various ecosystem of partner exchanges. The 1inch team opted to airdrop its governance token, which was named 1INCH in December of last year for users who had interacted with the platform and partners.
The airdrop: Receivers had to fulfill certain conditions — traded at least 4 times on the 1inch platform, or like exchange for more than $20 of tokens. This makes sure only active users receive the tokens.
The 1INCH tokens were trading at about $1.50 when the airdrop happened, and by days after the price had surged past $5 The airdrop was worth several hundred to thousands of dollars, per user [depending on how many tokens they received].Market and Ecosystem Impact: The 1inch airdrop had made a name for itself as one of DEX aggregators. It renewed the involvement of many users receiving the airdrop who had moved to more active participation. This should be a great demonstration of both the power and value in rewarding loyalty amongst your customers, as well as token distributions to build awareness (we all know how excited everyone got about The 1Inch Airdrop).
5. Aptos (APT) Airdrop – October 2022:
Aptos APT the most recent big airdrop in the crypto scene Aptos is the Next Generation Layer 1 Blockchain, Which Ensures High Scalability and Security with an innovative Consensus Mechanism. The Aptos team conducted an innovative airdrop for early users of its testnet in October 2022.
Airdrop Details: Aptos distributed the airdrop to users by participating in their test net and tasks such as running nodes, and interacting with the Aptos ecosystem.
Economic Implications: The airdrop of the APT tokens was structured to give generous amounts to early participants, and they were among the beneficiaries in this ongoing saga. When the airdrop happened, APT tokens were trading between $8 to $12 per token so some users found themselves with thousands of dollars worth almost instantly. It was a standout moment due to the excitement around Aptos as another new competitor in the realm of highly scalable blockchain solutions.
Market and Ecosystem Application: Aptos airdrop brought the project into the widespread spotlight along with huge front-load user base to witness blockchain performance. This gave the project an attention-gathering premise of both scalability and innovation, as well as provide a spark for early community engagement through incentivized free token distribution.