2025 Airdrop Survival Rules: From Gold Rush to Holding These Two Aces

Author: Asher, Odaily Planet Daily

As 2025 draws to a close, being the Odaily Planet Daily author who "loves talking about airdrops and writing interaction guides the most" (I wrote the vast majority of the interaction tutorial section articles this year), it's time for an annual summary on airdrop hunting.

After liquidating my holdings in on-chain AI Agent sector Meme coins at the beginning of the year, I devoted most of my time to interacting with various popular projects. I tried almost all the hot airdrop projects, and of course, I didn't miss out on the pitfalls either. As the year-end approaches, I've had many conversations with friends who are also passionate about airdrop hunting, summarizing the changes in the landscape this year.Because of this, I deeply feel that airdrop hunting in 2025 has quietly shifted from a "gold rush for all" to a "collective retreat."

Plummeting Airdrop Returns, Studios Exit En Masse

Looking back at 2025, the airdrop hunting sector rapidly fell from "get-rich-quick myths" into a "winter of intense competition." Big airdrops disappeared, small airdrops shrank, and "getting rekt by the airdrop" became the norm. The most common phrase among "airdrop hunters" this year most直观地揭示了这一变化: "Small airdrops are only $5 to $10, and the Gas fee to claim them is more expensive than the tokens; past airdrop rewards of over 10% with no lock-up have now dropped to 2-3%, and are released in batches."

The sharp drop in returns directly triggered a mass exodus of studios."From the days when any interaction made money, to now not even covering the basic team wages. It's not that we didn't try hard, it's that the era quietly closed its door." Odaily Planet Daily learned from interviews that large numbers of teams have either shut down directly or shifted to more controllable businesses like cross-border e-commerce; the few teams that remain are barely surviving, almost entirely relying on Binance Alpha's daily 'certain airdrop claims' to scrape by. However, with the significant drop in the value of airdropped tokens on Binance Alpha throughout November, studios will likely face a second wave of concentrated exits in the short term.

More absurdly, the biggest profit source for many studios this year wasn't token airdrops, but hoarding hardware. A studio friend joked self-deprecatingly: "Didn't make much from airdrop hunting this year, but the RAM sticks I hoarded in February rose from 55 yuan to 240 yuan, a pants-load of RAM sticks became the most profitable investment of the year."

The airdrop hunting sector moves from "get-rich-quick myths" to "winter of intense competition"

No Altcoin Season is the Root Cause of Declining Airdrop Returns

Airdrop returns本质上依赖于空投代币的后续表现, which in turn often rely on the tailwind of "altseason"—that golden window when altcoins collectively rotate and surge hundredfold. However, throughout 2025, the crypto market was stuck in a prolonged BTC-dominant pattern, with altcoins generally depressed. According to on-chain data, BTC's market dominance continued to rise, hitting a high of 63% at one point this year. BTC dominance meansliquidity doesn't spill over, altcoins don't rotate, and new projects struggle to gain traction—without this price amplifier, airdrop values can't rise, and airdrop hunting returns are注定走弱.

BTC Market Dominance

This "no altseason" situation directly hits the core pain point of airdrop hunting—the upfront investment in Gas fees, time, and resources often results in tokens that open low and go lower, or even go to zero. Per-account returns have shrunk from tens or even hundreds of dollars in the past to just a few dollars, often not even covering the Gas fees.

Further analysis shows that, on one hand, the opening market caps of newly launched projects this year were generally lower, with valuation systems collapsing across the board. From the heyday of ARB and STARK airdrops opening with FDVs动不动就 10-20 billion USD, to many projects now starting with only a few hundred million or even tens of millions in FDV, there's little room for imagination, and the airdrops are already worthless at launch.(Let's be honest, the former sky-high valuations of star projects were also partly due to airdrop hunters who frantically刷数据, had no loyalty, and abandoned projects after the drop.)

On the other hand, even if the opening valuation is low, expecting a "catch-up rally" is difficult. Many projects have "rat warehouse" insiders entering early, who dump mercilessly on the market upon launch, or even rug pull directly, with花样崩盘层出不穷: 50% drops in a day, crashes over 80%, pump at open followed by a slow bleed, airdrops being集中抛售, etc. Many veteran hunters sigh that "sell immediately upon receipt" should be an iron rule, because 90% of altcoins are注定归零, and the risk of heavy betting far outweighs the potential reward.

Therefore, the immediate returns from airdrops are extremely limited, and if one chooses to hold through the market, being a "diamond hands," they often not only miss the rebound but end up with even lower final returns.

Despite the significant drop in airdrop returns in 2025, the sector has not completely stalled. Odaily Planet Daily observes thatthe methods of airdrop hunting are quietly diversifying, no longer just单纯每日参与测试网交互、刷主网交易量 to gamble on token airdrops, but gradually forming multiple细分方向.

Diversification of Airdrop Hunting

From Traditional Hunting to "Skill-Based Hunting"

The biggest innovation in the airdrop hunting sector in 2025 is undoubtedly the "talk-to-earn economy." InfoFi (Information Finance,信息金融化) uses token incentives to directly reward high-quality information creators, while also alleviating the issues of information fragmentation and lack of trust in the crypto world.

Since Kaito launched its "Yap-to-Earn" mechanism, it's been easy to see a flood of "Upcoming TGE Project Analysis" posts while scrolling through X. Subsequently, Cookie launched Cookie Snaps, highlighting "analyzing crypto projects and KOLs to get rewards for quality CT content", and Galxe used Starboard in a data-driven way to help projects screen and incentivize key contributors. The launch of these mechanisms triggered KOLs to compete in posting project analysis threads, vying for token airdrops, and also made "talk-to-earn" a popular concept within the circle—earning project airdrops simply by posting and writing reviews.

Traditional airdrop hunting may have reached a turning point. The hard work of "running multiple accounts with scripts, grinding interactions" often ends with being slashed by the sybil system—not only wasted effort, but not even a single airdrop received. Having followed projects for years, full of expectation, only to be met with the outcome of "getting rekt" is utterly disheartening.

With the arrival of the "talk-to-earn" era, platforms like Kaito and Cookie use content points and influence rewards, lowering the participation barrier, offering faster returns, lower costs, and greater potential. In the new landscape, a high-quality post on X, with images and opinions, can generate even more value than a week of on-chain interactions.

Now, "talk-to-earn" on X is essentially creating a refined airdrop hunting account in a different form. Going with the flow and actively adapting to the new model of airdrop hunting is the way to earn more token airdrops.

Binance Alpha: The Main Source of Survival for Studios

Since its launch in May 2025, Binance Alpha was once hailed as the "wealth engine" of the airdrop hunting world, reaching its peak during the "golden month" of September. Since May, Binance Alpha and Binance Booster(For more related content, read: Don't Just Grind Points for Airdrops, Binance Alpha's Booster Activity is Also Worth Participating In) provided studios with "stable startup capital," earning $500 to $2000 per month, allowing studios to move from "survival" to "expansion." Many hunters joked, "Binance is疯狂撒钱, making it seem like money grows on trees."