How do you get a crypto airdrop?
You get an airdrop by using a project before it launches its token, from a wallet you control. The project records who did what up to a cut-off date, called a snapshot, and later lets those wallets claim tokens. Some projects tell you in advance what counts. Others reward past users without warning.
That means getting airdrops is mostly a matter of picking projects that haven't launched a token yet and using them early. Our list of potential airdrops with no token yet is the place to start.
The five ways to qualify for an airdrop
Points programs
You use a live app and it credits you with points, usually every week. The project may later turn points into tokens. Variational has confirmed that 32% of its $VAR supply goes to points holders. Ondo Perps shares 5 million points a week but hasn't said what they convert into, which is the more common case.
Testnets
You try a network before it launches, using free test tokens from a faucet. Push Chain and Orbinum both run quests on their testnets and have set aside part of their supply for the people who complete them.
Quests and social tasks
You connect a wallet or an email, follow accounts, post, or invite friends. Raycash gives waitlist points for five tasks. These cost nothing, but they are also the easiest for a project to walk away from.
Playing or contributing
Some projects pay for work or play. Axis Robotics gives points for training robot arms in a browser, and Yakkamon will airdrop Monster NFTs to the top 5,000 players on its points leaderboard.
Being an early user
The oldest kind of airdrop has no campaign at all. In September 2020 Uniswap let each of 251,534 addresses that had used the exchange claim 400 UNI. Nobody had been told to expect it. You can't plan for these, but using new apps you find useful is how people end up on the list.
How to get crypto airdrops step by step
- Set up a wallet you control and write its recovery phrase on paper. Use a separate wallet for airdrops, so a mistake there can't touch your savings.
- Pick two or three projects. Favor ones with a confirmed token or a named, funded team. Every project in our airdrop guides lists its backers and whether a token is confirmed.
- Read the rules before you start: what it costs, which countries are excluded, and when the deadline or snapshot is.
- Do the activity on the project's official site. Reach it from the project's own website, not from a search ad, a reply or a direct message.
- Keep a note of what you did and which wallet you used. Our watchlist keeps the projects you follow in one place.
- When the token launches, claim only through the link the project publishes on its official channels.
What it costs to get crypto airdrops
The tokens are free. Qualifying often isn't. Of the 21 projects we track, nine need no money at all, and they are listed under free crypto airdrops. The rest need a deposit, trading fees, gas or, in one case, wagering in a casino.
Trading for points is the expensive kind. On a perps exchange a leveraged position can be liquidated, and a losing trade can cost more than the points turn out to be worth.
Why you might not get an airdrop
- The project never launches a token. Abstract has paid weekly XP since January 2025 and still hasn't confirmed one.
- Your country is excluded. Variational bars people in the US, Canada and Taiwan, and Ondo Perps excludes the US.
- You were filtered out. Projects remove accounts that look automated or duplicated, which the airdrop farming guide covers.
- You missed the snapshot, or you used an exchange deposit address. Airdrops go to wallets you hold the keys to.
Mistakes beginners make with airdrops
The most common mistake is chasing every airdrop at once. Twenty half-finished campaigns earn less than three you keep up with. The second is depositing more than you can afford to lose because the points look valuable. Points have no fixed value until a project publishes a conversion.
The costliest mistake is clicking a fake claim link. Read how to spot a fake airdrop before you connect your wallet anywhere.
Sources
- Introducing UNI Uniswap Labs,
- Our airdrop guides, with sources for each project 99airdrops
This article is general information, not financial or tax advice. No airdrop is guaranteed.