Airdrop

An airdrop is a distribution of free tokens to many wallet addresses at once. Projects use airdrops to reward early users, decentralize ownership, or draw attention to a new token.

How it works

The project defines who qualifies — for example, people who used a protocol before a certain date or who hold a particular asset — and sends or makes claimable a set number of tokens to those addresses. Some airdrops are automatic; others require recipients to claim them through a website by connecting a wallet.

Why it matters

Airdrops have become a common way to launch a token and hand governance to a community rather than selling everything to investors. They also attract scams: fake “claim” sites try to trick users into approving malicious transactions, so verifying the source before connecting a wallet is essential.

Example

A protocol might airdrop governance tokens to everyone who used it in its first year, giving early users a say in its future.