Airdrop in the Blockchain Field: From Development History to Future Outlook

Airdrop is the act of sending tokens or cryptocurrencies for free to specific digital wallet addresses by blockchain projects. The project parties use airdrops to achieve purposes such as promotion, community rewards, and acquiring user data. For users, airdrops can be used to participate in project governance, hold for appreciation, or directly cash out.

Airdrop's Historical Development

Airdrop originated from the Auroracoin project in 2014 and became increasingly popular during the ICO boom. In 2017, Electroneum successfully used airdrops to attract users, and in 2018, airdrops from projects such as Ontology and Enumivo further propelled this trend.

In September 2020, the airdrop of Uniswap's UNI token became the most influential event in DeFi history, sparking a wave of airdrops in DeFi. Subsequently, multiple projects such as 1inch and DYDX conducted airdrops.

Currently, airdrops have become an important part of the cryptocurrency market. The 2023 Arbitrum ARB airdrop has set a new record. As development progresses, airdrop rules continue to evolve, from simple community member confirmations to complex multi-dimensional screening and anti-witch mechanisms.

Recent Important Airdrop Cases

LayerZero Airdrop

LayerZero, as a full-chain interoperability protocol, its Airdrop has sparked widespread controversy:

1. The anti-witch mechanism includes three stages: self-examination, official review, and mutual reporting, which causes internal conflicts within the community.
2. Opaque airdrop rules have led to user dissatisfaction, especially regarding the distribution issues for NFT holders.
3. The mandatory donation requirements and the project's hardline stance have caused resentment.

ZkSync Airdrop

ZkSync, as an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution, has complex and strict Airdrop rules:

1. The qualification multiplier is set with seven conditions, which are relatively high.
2. The daily average balance multiplier takes into account the user's capital amount and holding time.
3. The reward multiplier sets five additional conditions, but the impact is minimal.

These rules effectively filter real users, but they also provoke dissatisfaction and doubt within the community.

Future Airdrop Trends

1. The Airdrop rules will become stricter and more complex, and checking for witches will become a regular process.
2. Early dividends gradually disappear, and large airdrop opportunities decrease.
3. Users need to adjust their mindset and accept the new Airdrop environment.
4. The project team needs to balance token distribution, market value, and user expectations.

User Strategy Recommendations

1. Focus on high-funding projects that are not widely recognized.
2. For popular projects, control costs and expectations, and create quality accounts.
3. Do not blindly accept the project's PUA, and reasonably assess the input-output ratio.
4. Analyze the intentions of the project party and support the internal ecosystem.
5. Decisively abandon unreasonable projects and turn to other opportunities.

Airdrop, as an important component of the Blockchain ecosystem, will continue to evolve. Both users and project parties need to adapt to this change and seek balance and opportunities in the new environment.