Airdrop

An airdrop is a token giveaway sent to wallet addresses, usually as a reward for early users, community members, or holders of a related token. Projects use airdrops to spread tokens, pay people who took early risk, and attract attention. The Uniswap airdrop in 2020 is the template. Every address that had used the protocol received 400 UNI, worth thousands of dollars at peak prices.

Retroactive rewards for past usage became the model others copied.

Airdrop farming means using a protocol on purpose to qualify later: bridging, swapping, providing liquidity, voting. Projects responded with harder rules, asking for sustained use instead of one click. Not every airdrop is real. Many scams require you to approve a malicious contract to claim. Check who issued it before you click. Airdrops serve multiple purposes.

They distribute tokens broadly, advancing a project's goal of decentralization. They generate attention and bring new users into the protocol network. Airdrop farming is a strategy where users interact with protocols specifically to qualify for future airdrops, bridging assets, using applications, providing liquidity, and participating in governance in anticipation of a token distribution.

Projects have responded by making eligibility criteria more complex, requiring sustained engagement rather than one-time interactions. Uniswap's September 2020 UNI airdrop sent 400 UNI to early users. That drop is the template later protocols copied.