Big profits from a crypto airdrop is a usual thing in crypto. Investors have received allocations worth anywhere between $500 to over $10,000 in recent airdrops. Examples include Arbitrum ($ARB), Zk-Sync ($ZK), and Celestia ($TIA). As a crypto investor, airdrop farming can improve your profitability.
To ‘farm’ an airdrop, investors perform activities that increase their eligibility when a project decides to run a community reward program in the future. In this article, we guide readers on the best practices for airdrop farming.
1. Research Promising Projects
The most important part of airdrop farming is research. Airdrops are conducted by start-ups, most of which are not always popular. Therefore, discovering these projects early enough and engaging with them is the most difficult part of airdrop farming. However, media resources like Coingape’s airdrop calendar , Binance airdrops ,Defi trackers, X and other crypto communities helps you can discover legit airdrop projects easily.
Airdrop KOLs on social media platforms like X (Formerly Twitter) and Facebook are also good resources. You can also join airdrop communities on Telegram and Discord to get information on existing, prospective, and genuine airdrops.
While researching airdrops, ensure to verify their authenticity. A good percentage of free token programs turn out to be scams and disappointing.
Some quality markers to look at for airdrops include;
- Fundraisers: How much the project has raised from private funding rounds.
- Fundamentals: Relevance of the product they are building.
- Current progress: Evaluate how much progress the project has made. Look at data like the number of users of the protocol, testnet progress, and the initial prototype of the product.
- Community: See who is engaging with the project or discussing their airdrop. Projects backed by known investors, influencers, and developer communities often run good airdrop programs.
- Point Programs: Point programs usually convert points to token rewards. Research existing projects that offer point rewards and engage with reputable ones.
2. Interact With Testnets or Protocols
Some of the potential airdrop projects you discover might still be in the testnet stage. This is a good time to engage with the project. Testnet offers a ‘free’ opportunity to farm free tokens. Free because you can obtain free testnet tokens from faucets to interact with the protocol and boost your chances of being eligible for any reward program.To understand how to interact with a protocol on testnet, we will use a Solana project as an instance.
You will need testnet tokens to interact with a testnet project.
- Add the testnet network to your wallet. MetaMask is preferable if the testnet is an EVM network.
- Use available faucets (like Solana Faucet) to claim the testnet token for the network where the protocol is deployed
- Visit the protocol and connect your wallet. Switch to the testnet environment
- Using the testnet tokens, perform basic operations such as swapping, bridging, adding liquidity, staking, or other activities that apply to the protocol.
If the protocol has already launched, you may also interact with them to increase your chances of being eligible for community rewards. Note that this may incur significant costs. Real funds are required to interact with projects on the mainnet.
To interact with a protocol on the mainnet
- Connect your wallet to the protocol
- Run basic operations. Activities like adding liquidity and bridging are known to have the biggest weighting points.
- You can also explore activities like contributing to the project as an open-source developer. Contributing to the documentation as a reviewer can also position you for airdrop allocations.
3. Maintain On-Chain Activity
On-chain activity is a basic eligibility requirement for most crypto airdrops. It is important that you pay attention to your onchain activity as related to the airdrop you are farming.
Use one wallet for your onchain activities like swapping, liquidity, lending, and NFT purchases. Using the same wallet for these activities builds a strong on-chain history and increases your chances of being eligible.It is also recommended that you refrain from using multiple crypto wallets to farm the same airdrops. This may lead to disqualification when the project weeds out sybil wallets.
4. Track Your Airdrop Eligibility
Keep an eye on the project whose airdrop you are farming. Follow the project’s outlets to stay updated on any developments. You can also join related groups. Also, follow social media accounts that share updates on the projects.
- When the project publishes eligibility criteria or changes to the initial criteria, follow the details to ensure that you don’t miss out.
- For point airdrops, track your points when you perform an activity to qualify for additional points
- Use genuine eligibility checking portals to check if you qualify for the airdrop.
5. Claim and Secure Your Rewards
When a project announces its airdrop distribution, follow the claim process diligently. First, find out the legitimate claim website. Connect to the website and check your eligibility and Claim your airdrop to your wallet. And finally move your airdrop reward from your airdrop farming wallet to a safer personal wallet. 
Tips for Successful Airdrop Farming
While farming airdrops, here are a few tips you can apply to increase your profitability and improve your safety as well;
Engage with projects in genuine ecosystems
To maximize your chances of benefiting from an airdrop, the best bet is projects from genuine ecosystems. Engage with projects in a reputable ecosystem. However, this should only be a part of your due diligence. Regardless of the ecosystem, further research on the project is important.
Stay active on social channels
If you are interested in any project as an airdrop farmer, it is recommended that you join the project’s community channels. This is also a criterion in several airdrops. Stay active on social channels like Discord and Telegram. Contributions to the community could earn you additional allocations.
Tips for cost-efficiency
Farming airdrops on networks with high transaction fees (like Ethereum mainnet) may reduce your profitability if you qualify for the airdrop. For cost efficiency, consider transaction fees while farming an airdrop. Perform your airdrop operations when the gas fee is low. Where possible, farm airdrops on low-fee Layer-1 and Layer-2 networks.
Explore passive and common airdrop farming strategies
Popular passive strategies include donating to Gitcoin, adding liquidity to lending and exchange pools, and holding an NFT. While farming airdrops, you can use any or a combination of these (where possible) to boost your eligibility and allocation.
How to manage your airdrop farming wallets
It is important that you separate the wallets you use to farm airdrops from your regular wallets. This is because, while farming airdrops, you may connect to websites that expose your wallet to hackers.
Stay consistent and exercise patience
Airdrop farming may not be immediately rewarding. Farmers could suffer significant losses due to poor airdrops; however, staying consistent and applying patience may be rewarding in the end.
- Ensure to follow positive tips and apply cost-effectiveness precautions.
- Apply safety precautions to avoid falling prey to scams.
Follow genuine airdrop KOLs
Airdrop influencers offer advice and tips on airdrop eligibility and upcoming airdrops. If you are an airdrop farmer, it is recommended that you follow known airdrop KOLs so that you don’t miss out on important updates.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Here are some common mistakes airdrop farmers make and how you can avoid them;
Falling for airdrop scams
Airdrop scams target airdrop farmers in several ways. Some of these ways include
- Phishing through malicious claiming sites
- Impersonation of popular airdrop accounts
- Fake tokens and NFTs
It is important to look out for any of these to avoid falling prey to such schemes. Before clicking any link, verify the web links. Also, look out for spelling differences in accounts and websites to confirm authenticity. Do not click claim links that are not shared directly by the project.
Ignoring security precautions
Many investors farming free tokens neglect security warnings. This is a common mistake. Many airdrop farmers have been affected by phishing attacks.
Here are some security precautions to take to prevent this;
- Use a separate wallet to farm airdrops
- Review websites authenticity before connecting your wallet.
- Do not sign transactions you don’t understand properly
- Only click links from genuine sources
- Use tools like revoke.cash to properly disconnect your wallet from an airdrop platform. This helps you avoid phishing attacks.
Over-investing in unconfirmed airdrops
Most crypto projects do not clearly announce their airdrop programs, but several hints help airdrop farmers to spot potential airdrops. Where these hints are not available or are unclear, it is advised that you regulate your investments. This is because over-investing in an unconfirmed airdrop may cause significant losses if the airdrop doesn’t happen.
Running a sybil attack
Sybil attack in airdrop farming is a process where a single entity creates multiple fake identities to boost their airdrop rewards. Sybil attacks may lead to disqualification and loss of your investments in the airdrop.
Ignoring KYC or regional restrictions
Some airdrop programs are only available to investors in certain regions. Ensure that regional restrictions do not apply to your location before investing in an airdrop. Also, ensure that you complete the required verifications. Before verifying your identity using your personal data, make sure that the platform is authentic and evaluate how it intends to use your data.
Conclusion
Airdrop farming is a low-cost strategy for growing your profits as a crypto enthusiast. Regardless of your level, airdrop profits are significant. Especially for beginners, it is a good way to grow your portfolio from the ground up. However, Airdrop Farming is a craft that requires care and patience. Patience in the sense that several airdrops could disappoint, while care is required to stay safe from fake airdrops.
