In 2024, some distributions were more impressive than those that caught attention because of the return of animal spirits to the cryptocurrency market and Bitcoin’s record-setting ascent. Users and communities received more than $19 billion in free internet money from just the five largest airdrops of the year.
Here are a few airdrops that caused quite a stir in 2024, according to the highest value of their corresponding tokens. Biggest Crypto Airdrops: Their status varies from that of newly formed decentralized finance initiatives to that of well-established NFT businesses and everything in between.
Hyperliquid
The Hyper Foundation’s HYPE hit first place by a country mile in November, rewarding Hyperliquid Network users. Users of the layer-1 network, optimized for high-speed DeFi transactions, received 31 million HYPE worth $1.6 billion. That made the airdrop one of the most valuable events ever. Biggest Crypto Airdrops: These tokens’ value rose afterward, reaching $10.8 billion. Hyperliquid’s decentralized exchange (DEX) is the network’s flagship product, offering perpetual futures trading with 50x leverage. According to the Hyper Foundation’s website, Dex users have exceeded 312,000 since its launch.
Starknet’s
Starknet first launched its mainnet in 2021. But the Ethereum layer-2 scaling network waited three years for its much-anticipated STRK airdrop. With 700 million STRK tokens initially handed out, including those to Ethereum stakes, the initiative saw crypto users far beyond the scaling solution’s borders rewarded with tokens. Those STRK tokens also play a key role in Starknet’s governance. In June, the network’s developer, StarkWare, signaled that it would try bringing its scaling tech to Bitcoin, utilizing zero-knowledge rollups. Last month, Starknet launched “phase 1” of a staking initiative, saying it had become the first layer-2 to let users earn rewards by participating in validating transactions.
PENGU
The flagship NFT collection of Pudgy Penguins has established itself on Ethereum, with a market cap of over $500 million. Despite the frigid NFT market, the project’s advertising campaigns have stood out. Since its toys have been sold at Target and Walmart. Pudgy Penguins launched PENGU earlier this month in Solana, an expansion of the brand that aims to bring fans closer to the Pudgy Penguins experience. Members of the Pudgy Penguin community, other communities, and FTT holders received around half of the 88.88 billion PENGU tokens, according to a graphic that was provided with the launch of the token.
Notcoin
TON got a boost this year from the coin-tapping game Notcoin, which made a lot of gamers tap, tap, tap in the small Telegram-based app. The long-awaited airdrop was late at first, but it turned out to be the most valuable launch of a game token in 2024. When Notcoin’s token first came out in May, it was quickly backed by exchanges like Binance. There were about 80.2 billion NOTs up for grabs. Since then, a lot of people have downloaded tap-to-earn games.
Jupiter
Jupiter, an aggregator of DEXs based in Solana, distributed 1 billion JUP tokens to consumers in the first wave of allocations earlier. This year, completing the top five airdrops of 2024. The initial distribution was big enough to make it onto our list. Even though Jupiter had planned to release 3 billion more JUP tokens—a second round had already been approved earlier this month and is still in the works—. The passed plan referred to “Jupuary,” but no specific date has been revealed as yet.
Honorable mentions
Numerous more projects and protocols distributed batches of free tokens in 2024. In addition to the five biggest airdrops of that year. Movement, ZKsync, Eigenlayer, and Wormhole were among them. The four projects whose distributions had a combined peak token worth of over $1 billion.
The Movement Network Foundation for the Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Movement launched the utility token MOVE. Biggest Crypto Airdrops, Communities, and Early Network members. Were rewarded 1 billion MOVE during the airdrop, bringing the total worth to $1.5 billion.
FAQs
What was Starknet's 2024 airdrop?
Starknet’s STRK airdrop distributed 700 million tokens, involving Ethereum stakers and providing governance rights for the Ethereum layer-2 scaling network.
How did Pudgy Penguins contribute to 2024 airdrops?
Pudgy Penguins launched the PENGU token, distributing 88.88 billion tokens to their community, NFT holders, and others, expanding their brand beyond Ethereum.
What was notable about Notcoin's airdrop?
The Notcoin airdrop, which launched the game token in May 2024, offered 80.2 billion tokens and became one of the most valuable game token launches of the year.
What is Jupiter's contribution to the airdrop scene?
Jupiter, a Solana-based DEX aggregator, distributed 1 billion JUP tokens in 2024 and plans to release 3 billion more in the coming months.
