Who doesn’t love a good airdrop? Crypto wouldn’t be the same without them. When it comes to sectors like DeFi and blockchain infra, airdrops are standard procedure and highly publicized events. But it’s not that often we hear about DePIN airdrops. 🤐

Today we’ll explore what makes a good DePIN airdrop and how to stay on top of the alpha. Make sure to keep reading to see which upcoming airdrops you can participate in. 🤑

Featured Blog Post 📝

ICYMI, here’s a must-read article from our DePIN Hub website.

🔗 Why We Need Decentralized Databases

We can’t have a true Web3 experience until we solve things like decentralized identity, messaging and authentication.

Read this article to see how Verida’s decentralized database solution is unlocking Web3’s true potential.

In The News 📰

🔔 Chirp announces strategic partnership with Streamr. The collaboration combines Chirp's decentralized IoT solutions with Streamr's real-time data streaming functionalities.

🔔 Helium approves MNTD as the second producer of MOBILE hotspots. This extends the partnership with parent company RAKWireless, an OG in the Helium ecosystem.

🔔 io.net launches its $IO token on Binance. The exchange listing coincides with Ahmad Shadid stepping down from his role as CEO of the project.

Feature

DePIN Airdrop Alpha 🪂

We’ve all heard of Uniswap, ENS, and Arbitrum. They minted thousands of dollars worth of tokens for many participants and were some of the biggest airdrops in crypto history. So what about DePIN airdrops? Are they even a thing? 🤷

Well yes, they certainly are. But before we explore some upcoming DePIN airdrops, let’s clarify some terms that often lead to confusion in this space.

Rewards, points, and airdrops

DePIN miners earn token rewards for their contributions to the network. Physical devices, either project-specific hardware, or smartphones, are usually required to participate. As a result, tokens are periodically distributed as rewards. These rewards are the bread and butter of DePIN deployers all around the world.

Another concept that’s hot at the moment is points. We did a full feature on points a couple of months ago, which you can find here. Points by definition are just like in-game gold or Experience Points. They have no monetary value. They do however help projects get exposure and reach new audiences. Plus, we all know what they lead to, right? 😉

This leads us to the good old airdrop. Airdrops help projects get tokens out to the public, spread awareness, and improve decentralization through a wider token distribution. Some projects have done a great job with their airdrops, others not so well.

These days, running an airdrop has become a fine art: How do you select the recipients? Do you release the tokens all at once, or over a longer period? Will the airdrop be announced in advance or done in stealth mode? 🥷

Communication and community

We reached out to the DePIN Hub Telegram community to see what feedback they had.

One member wrote back with a really good point: “Communication and clarity on eligibility before farming avoids bad PR and people feeling bitter”.

Getting this right is half the battle won. Whether you're airdropping tokens or launching a product pre-sale, taking the extra effort to get communication right is vital. It’s the key to avoid misinformation spreading through your chat rooms like wildfire at launch time.

Now add the complexity of DePIN in the mix, and that fine art we mentioned turns into a modern masterpiece. 🧑‍🎨🖼️

DePIN airdrops

In many cases, token airdrops can be unlocked by engaging in a variety of different quests and social tasks. These activities are open to all kinds of participants, not just the miners who benefit from the project’s rewards.

When it comes to the actual token issuance, a lot of projects opt for a staggered approach, dividing their airdrop over multiple seasons. IoTeX for example, has just begun Season 1 of its Get Goated campaign.

As a DePIN Layer 1 blockchain, IoTeX has partnered up with 5 projects from its ecosystem: Inferix, PowerPod, Wayru, DePhy and Network 3. This is a unique campaign as it rewards users with tokens from all of the participating projects. 🚀

Hivemapper is currently in the middle of a pre-order incentive program to help promote their new Bee dashcam. Anyone who ordered a device between Phase 1 and Phase 2 should be eligible for a $HONEY bonus.

This is certainly a more hands-on type of airdrop as only the users who actively purchase and use the hardware will be rewarded. Once again we see real-world crypto utility being promoted and incentivized using the DePIN model. 💪

Silencio has been building out their noise pollution mapping network for quite a while but their token has yet to be launched. Meanwhile users of the Silencio app have been growing their stash of points (Noise Coins) simply by measuring audio levels in their local neighborhoods. This is another example of a hands-on airdrop, as users are required to contribute to the network to be eligible for the drop.

With the token generation event currently scheduled for sometime in Q3 2024, it’s not too late to hop on board. 3% of the token supply is set aside for the beta airdrop, and the more you map, the higher your allocation. 🎤

Other DePIN projects with upcoming airdrops to look out for include:

Arweave - $AR holders will be eligible to receive ao Computer’s new $AO token.
Rewards are also set aside for wallets that bridge stETH into the ao ecosystem.
peaq - Tokens from peaq’s mainnet will be airdropped to holders of the $KREST testnet tokens.
Verida - 20% of the project’s $VDA tokens have been set aside for distribution over multiple campaigns. Stay tuned for Season 3’s details.

Time to partner up

The list of airdrops could go on, but we’d never get this email out the door! Besides, the juiciest rewards in crypto are the ones you find yourself. 🔍

There will always be airdrops in crypto, and in DePIN too. Some will pop, others will flop. Some will lead to higher highs, while others risk dumping and flatlining. It’s all part of Web3’s gamification and is one of the things that keeps this space so exciting.

One thing’s for sure, it’s impossible to keep up with the alpha all by yourself. So if you’re looking to level up your airdrop game, or have your own points alpha to share, hop into the the DePIN Hub Telegram community and let us know all about it. 📢

Finding the right audience for DePIN airdrops

Here’s an interesting one: A few months ago, the Solana Saga phone was the hottest piece of crypto hardware. Countless memecoin projects singled out Saga phone holders to airdrop their tokens to. This phenomenon played a big role in the success of the Saga phone, as well as the resurrection of Solana in general. 📱

When you think about it, DePIN airdrops have the potential to do the exact same thing. Just like the Saga airdrops were sure to hit the right crowd, rewarding proven DePIN users can help projects achieve efficient token distribution.

DePIN requires a certain level of effort and engagement. Typical DePIN users are more sophisticated, with longer time horizons. But between all the different blockchains and projects out there, how can you know who the real DePIN OGs are? Is there a neutral way to filter them out? Like a platform that could identify the best people based on their previous DePIN activity? 🤔

On that note, have you seen what happens when you sign up for your DePIN Hub account yet?

Finally, remember there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Regulators around the world have wisened up to the airdrop strategy and the taxmen are looking for their cuts. If you’re sitting on a small fortune that fell out of the sky, consider talking to a tax professional before signing for that Lambo. 🏎️

Event

DePIN Drinks Round 2: Lisbon 🍹🍺🍕

If you're nearby Lisbon, Portugal on July 3rd make sure to pass by our next DePIN Drinks meetup! 🍷

Join the DePIN Hub team at the Goethe Institut in Lisbon where we'll focus on how municipalities can leverage the DePIN model as an equitable strategy for future cities. 🤝

It will be a jam packed event, co-hosted by Kathleen Olstedt and our very own Michael Sothan. Together with our partners at peaq network, AquaSave, Borderless, POKT, XMAQUINA and arkreen, this promises to be an awesome event. And for those who can’t make it IRL, our friends at Streamr will be onsite to serve up a live video - DePIN style. 😎

So save the date, come say hi, and learn how the DePIN projects of today can help the cities of tomorrow with community-powered solar programs, service robotics, and efficient water systems.

✨ Sign up here to register for the event ✅

Parting Words 👋

Crypto Time… It’s like dog years, but even faster. ⌛

#016 - DePIN Airdrop Alpha 🪂

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