It was a big year in the world of cryptocurrency as various projects and protocols sought to navigate the challenging bear market by distributing free native tokens to their loyal users through airdrops. In total, the 50 largest airdrops of this year distributed approximately $4.56 billion worth of tokens to crypto and decentralized finance (DeFi) users, according to analysis conducted by CoinGecko. Let's take a closer look at some of the most notable airdrops of 2023, based on the peak value of each token throughout the year.
Arbitrum's Airdrop Dominates the Field
Ethereum scaler Arbitrum took the top spot this year with its massive launch of its native governance token, ARB. In March, Arbitrum introduced ARB through airdrops that injected hundreds of millions of dollars worth of tokens into projects and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) built on the layer 2 network. Some of the projects that benefitted from these initial airdrops included Treasure DAO, SushiSwap, Dopex, Radiant, Balancer, and Uniswap. Overall, these airdrops distributed almost $2 billion worth of ARB tokens to the Arbitrum community, which is an impressive sum. And it seems that this strategy paid off, as the total value locked (TVL) on the network has nearly doubled since the airdrops began, reaching $2.5 billion at the time of writing, as reported by DeFi Llama. Additionally, ARB's recent price gains have contributed to the value growth. After debuting at $1.35 in March, ARB experienced a dip before riding a wave of increasing prices for Ethereum layer 2 tokens. As of now, ARB stands at $1.48 per CoinGecko.
Blur Makes Waves in the NFT Industry
While many airdrops generated excitement throughout the crypto sector this year, one in particular reshaped the NFT industry almost overnight. Blur, an emerging Ethereum NFT marketplace, caused a stir in the NFT ecosystem by promising users gamified benefits based on transaction volume and eliminating creator fees. In the past, creator fees were a mandatory tax that guaranteed NFT creators a portion of all secondary sales. However, Blur's highly anticipated first airdrop to traders in February changed the game. Some users who participated in the airdrop experienced significant financial gains, as Blur's value soared. This airdrop not only captured attention but also showcased the potential for a new approach to NFT marketplaces.
Overall, the airdrop trend of distributing free tokens to loyal users has been a significant feature of the crypto landscape this year. These airdrops have not only provided value to users but have also contributed to the growth and success of various projects and protocols. It will be interesting to see how this trend evolves and continues to shape the cryptocurrency ecosystem in the years to come.
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