10 Airdrops Worth Noticing Recently: The Evolution from "Wool Pulling" to "Real Users"

Ignas

2025-09-02 20:02:18

Collection

As market noise decreases, airdrop rewards will not be overly diluted as they were before.

Original Title: 10 Airdrops to Farm Right Now

Original Author: Ignas | DeFi Research

Original Compiler: Deep Tide TechFlow

Airdrops seem to have "cooled down." It has been a long time since I received any exciting airdrop rewards.

But I don't think airdrops have really disappeared. With the reduction of market noise, rewards should not be overly diluted as they were before.

The rules are different now— you must continuously use the protocol; a single transaction is no longer enough. Teams are more inclined to reward real users rather than mere "airdrop hunters" (ironically, this change makes it harder to simply farm rewards).

Here are 10 protocols I am currently exploring.

These are not just simple airdrop opportunities; they are high-quality products in themselves. Even if the eventual airdrop rewards are less than expected, you can still derive value from using these protocols.

1.Based

A high-end trading application and wallet built on Hyperliquid, supporting mobile, desktop, and Telegram applications.

Based allows users to trade perpetual contracts and spot trades, and also spend using a Visa card to earn points (the Visa card is about to enter the U.S. and EU markets).

Notably, the project is backed by well-known venture capital firms such as Hashed, Delphi, Newman, and Spartan.

The strategy is very simple: through the Based platform, you can earn 4 times the airdrop rewards compared to directly using Hyperliquid:

· Hyperliquid Season 2 and Season 3 airdrops

· $BASED token airdrop

· Based ecosystem airdrop (the first round is PUP, with more to come)

· UNIT airdrop

The team has publicly stated that points will convert into future $BASED airdrops. This is currently one of the clearest and most direct airdrop mechanisms. The only downside is that the trading fees are 0.025% higher than directly using Hyperliquid.

How to participate:

Engage in perpetual contract trading.
Order a card after the Visa card goes live.
From now on, use Based as your default Hyperliquid application, whether on mobile or desktop.

Tips:

· Using the desktop application can enhance performance by 30%.

· Participate in trading competitions to win rewards (the current prize pool is $20,000).

2.Liminal

A premium platform designed for stablecoin holders, and another option for Hyperliquid fans: a delta-neutral yield vault based on Hyperliquid.

This might be one of the simplest and most anticipated airdrop opportunities.

Even if you don't want to directly engage with tokens like HYPE, BTC, or ETH, you can still mine future $HYPE airdrops and Liminal rewards through the Liminal platform.

How it works

You simply deposit USDC, earn returns through funding spreads, while maintaining a market-neutral position.

It is important to note that the platform's disclaimer states that this is not a complete "deposit and forget" strategy, as funding spreads may work against you, or extreme market conditions may lead to your position being liquidated. However, for BTC, ETH, or HYPE, I personally believe the risks are manageable.

How to participate

· Deposit USDC.

· Currently, there is no official points system.

· If tokens go live, using the platform may yield rewards.

Even without token rewards, the returns are sustainable (USDC annual yield exceeds 9.5%). Airdrop rewards are additional potential gains.

Steps to operate

· Cross-chain transfer USDC to the Hyperliquid platform.

· Deposit into the vault and keep it running.

3.Legion

If it weren't for the post below, Legion might not have made it onto my "airdrop mining list":

Legion's fundraising platform has raised $5 million from well-known investors, expanding its mission from public ICOs to bringing startup equity, private credit, and intellectual property into the crypto space.

This involves a huge market size!

They recently added OTC projects, including OpenAI equity and OTC token sales.

Tokens could be a way for these VCs to make money, right?

How to participate:

· Create an account and complete KYC (I know, many people dislike this, but it effectively prevents witch attacks).

· Improve your score by connecting social accounts and wallets, and participate in token sales.

Notes:

Airdrops are additional rewards, so don't blindly buy all ICO tokens. Be sure to conduct due diligence (DD) before participating!

4.Fogo

Fogo is an L1 layer built on the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM).

What makes it unique:

It runs a pure Firedancer client, which means it can achieve sub-second blocks and is designed for high-frequency trading.

The public test network is currently live, but the mainnet has not yet launched.

Why I like it:

Why I am optimistic about Fogo:

· Strong funding support:

Completed a $5.5 million seed round by the end of 2024.
Completed an $8 million public sale at a $100 million valuation through Cobie's Echo platform in January 2025.

Potential airdrop opportunity:

This could be a classic low circulation, high FDV (fully diluted valuation) L1 airdrop. Although the heat for L1 trading has cooled, it still has potential.

Early participation advantages:

Less competition during the testnet phase, low noise, and high potential returns.

Technical highlights:

Firedancer is a significant differentiator. If successfully implemented, this chain will attract a lot of attention. Participating from day one may yield returns.

How to participate:

· Fogo uses Flames as its points system. The first season has ended, and we are waiting for the start of the second season.

· You can claim FOGO and fUSD testnet tokens for free through their faucet.

Ecosystem applications:

· The mainstream decentralized exchange (DEX) is Valiant, but I personally prefer Ambient. Although Ambient has not issued tokens for a long time, its user interface (UI) is indeed the best.

5.Backpack

Every round of the crypto bull market sees new centralized exchanges (CEX) emerge. From Coinbase → Binance → FTX.

In this cycle, while decentralized exchange (DEX) Hyperliquid is on the rise, Backpack is filling the gap left by CEX.

I agree with Fabiano's view: this is "one of the last six-figure airdrops on Solana."

· Currently, there are fewer participants, leading to lower competition and dilution compared to other Solana-related airdrops.

· Backpack acquired FTX EU, which provides an advantage for its regulatory compliance in Europe. They are building a compliant CEX, showcasing their execution capability and credibility.

· Backpack has completed $37 million in financing.

· They also have their own DeFi wallet (also named Backpack), further enhancing their valuation.

How to participate:

· The first season ended on August 6, and the second season started on August 7.

· Earn points through spot trading and the newly added futures trading (including special perpetual contracts like WLFI), and fiat deposits are also supported.

· Points from spot trading are double that of perpetual contracts to incentivize more users to engage in diversified trading.

· KYC certification is required to reduce score manipulation.

· Mad Lads NFT holders automatically receive VIP status.

6.Axiom

I absolutely cannot miss Axiom, as its daily fee income consistently exceeds $1 million. Like Meteora, Axiom is one of the last few high-revenue, product-market fit (PMF) projects without a token.

Supported by Y Combinator.

I personally use it for trading small-cap coins on Solana, but you can also use it to trade on Hyperliquid (double airdrop available) or earn yields on MarginFi (I personally do not recommend this). If memecoins become popular again in a bull market, Axiom will be a big winner.

How to participate:

· Trade directly on the Axiom platform instead of other memecoin DEXs. Earn Axiom points through swaps.

· The more you trade, the higher your level, and the more points you earn.

· The official documentation hints that a token may be issued in the future. Few protocols are as transparent as Axiom.

About Prediction Markets

7.Polymarket

Polymarket (ranked 7th) is the airdrop winner with the most potential in my mind. If Polymarket executes well, its potential may only be second to Hyperliquid.

However, the prediction market space is not just Polymarket; there are two other noteworthy ones:

8.Limitless

Limitless operates a prediction and certification market on Base, where you can bet on outcomes or create certifications for others to agree or dispute.

Limitless has just launched its first points season (July 1, 2025 - September 22, 2025).

How to earn points:

· The minimum trading volume must reach $200 to participate.

· Provide liquidity to earn points steadily.

· Weekly leaderboards are updated and tiered: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond.

· High-level users can receive additional rewards (Diamond users can receive up to a 20% bonus).

The narrative around prediction markets is heating up on X (formerly Twitter), and the future popularity will further enhance Limitless, which gamifies the prediction market design, offering hourly markets to attract high-frequency trading users.

The weekly leaderboard resets, making activity more important than capital size, which is friendlier to small wallets.

Combining prediction and certification functions provides a unique perspective for the market on Base.

How to participate:

· Make small trades weekly (I usually operate on both Polymarket and Limitless, haha), and you can also try creating some markets.

· Low cost, and active users will benefit the most.

9.Myriad

Myriad is a prediction market running on Abstract, so you can earn both Abstract airdrop experience points (XP) and Myriad points simultaneously.

Very nice!

Its experience is similar to Polymarket but adds a unique feature: "Flash Markets," which are embedded into news sites, blogs, or even posts on X (though I haven't seen them on X myself).

Overall, the operation is straightforward. If Abstract performs well, Myriad's potential should not be underestimated.

10. Kinetiq

If you only choose to participate in one airdrop on Hyperliquid EVM L1, choose Kinetiq.

Remember the early bull market of the Jito airdrop? I think Kinetiq will be just as easy.

· You only need to stake HYPE tokens to receive kHYPE, then deposit kHYPE into the Earn module to earn a 3% annual percentage yield (APY) while also participating in other airdrops.

· The process is very convenient, with almost no complexity.

The points system has already launched, and the issuance of tokens in the future is almost a certainty.

The only regret is that there is currently no referral link. If they had one, I would definitely promote it like crazy.

Additional Recommendation: Unit

In fact, this is not an additional recommendation but a must-have!

Unit provides cross-chain bridging and wrapping services for assets like BTC, ETH, and SOL, allowing these assets to be traded on Hyperliquid.

Hyperliquid has become my default cryptocurrency trading platform, and I now only use centralized exchanges (CEX) for fiat withdrawals.

Because of users like me, the prospects for the UNIT airdrop are very promising. The participation method is extremely simple: just deposit assets and trade spot on Hyperliquid.

How simple is it? It might only be easier than staking kHYPE!