Don't overdo it. The best airdrops are often "unexpected encounters."

Author: FIP Crypto

Translation: Deep潮 TechFlow

Deep潮 Guide: In the current environment of airdrop competition and widespread point systems, many investors are experiencing “volume farming fatigue.” This article proposes a counterintuitive airdrop strategy: the best airdrops are not “farmed” out, but encountered through genuine on-chain interactions.

By analyzing cases from projects like Monad, ZKsync, and Base, it reveals the core logic of retroactive airdrops—project teams value on-chain footprints that generate real value, rather than mechanical “witch” behaviors. If you feel your airdrop gains are being diluted, this article will teach you how to build genuine on-chain reputation for efficient and low-pressure passive income.

The main content is as follows:

Not all airdrops require endless “farming,” and those that don’t need hard farming are often the highest quality.

I have tried various types of airdrops, many of which left me exhausted.

But I realize that the smartest way to get airdrops is actually to avoid deliberately “farming” (staking).

Here are the strategies I currently employ to “accidentally” earn the highest rewards with minimal effort:

We earn rewards by being active on-chain

Not every project does this, but some allocate airdrops to active on-chain users.

Here are some past examples of retroactive airdrops:

TIA and DYM: Rewards were given to stakers and active L2 users within the Cosmos ecosystem.

AVAIL: Rewards went to active L2 users, including Starknet users.

PENGU: Rewards were given to wallets with strong activity on Ethereum and Solana.

MegaETH: SBT eligibility is based on our on-chain contributions.

Monad: Rewards were given to top traders and depositors on Ethereum and Solana (defined as users providing significant on-chain value).

Following @Zeneca’s airdrop philosophy, as long as we keep an open mind and explore new things on-chain, airdrops will come naturally.

Our footprints qualify us for different airdrops just by interacting with protocols we like.

No one knows the standards

Point systems with clear standards are boring because project teams will tell you exactly how to farm them.

One of the most “notorious” projects is MarginFi, which ran a points program for months (or even years?) without ever announcing any token details.

But this is the trap of any points program:

No promises are made to you, and activities can continue indefinitely.

They can change the rules at any time—that’s the game we’re playing.

If the sole purpose is to farm projects solely for airdrops, many will feel frustrated.

When we have overly high expectations for airdrop returns:

We will face great disappointment.

Such programs are also heavily manipulated by Sybils (bots), which further dilutes the distribution.

Meanwhile, retroactive airdrops do not publicly share their standards.

We can compare the standards used by two different L2s:

ZKsync uses Time-Weighted Average Balance (TWAB), but only publishes it after snapshots.

Scroll uses Marks points in multiple activities.

Both use similar factors (liquidity) to determine eligibility.

But Scroll’s performance is not ideal outside of benefiting whales, whereas ZKsync can be quite rewarding if you strategize properly.

Many still feel angry about losing ZKsync eligibility, but in reality, even with a small amount of funds, we could have qualified.

We have less competition

When there is so much uncertainty, no one likes to farm airdrops.

The ideal scenario is like Base or Arbitrum:

They actively deny they will issue tokens until they change their minds and decide to do so.

Therefore, active participating wallets are fewer because those only chasing incentives won’t participate.

Or they give up midway because, from an ROI perspective, farming that project makes no sense.

The fifth airdrop from Optimism was a huge surprise for me, with only 54,723 wallets qualifying.

Many will adopt a wait-and-see attitude, asking if it’s worth interacting without guarantees.

But the real reward comes from uncertainty:

We take risks based on our beliefs, investing time and capital—this could be a failure or a lucrative investment.

Even if we fail, it helps us further optimize strategies and understand what to avoid in the future.

We won’t get exhausted

I’ve been asked countless times about the best projects to farm.

We are always looking for the next mining opportunity, then selling and moving on to the next.

But sometimes, the best airdrop strategy is simply using the products you like.

Who would have thought that staying active on Aave or Uniswap could earn us a Monad airdrop?

I have often felt exhausted from constantly searching for the next alpha.

But if we can earn rewards based on on-chain footprints:

The true alpha is interacting with protocols we enjoy and can profit from during the process.

Focusing too much on the end result leads to disappointment.

And surprise airdrops keep us motivated to continue exploring on-chain.

Witch attacks cannot manipulate the system

Witch farms disguise themselves as real users by performing basic operations to qualify.

There will always be bots trying to extract value from projects.

But projects using retroactive standards can adjust rules to exclude bots.

Of course, these are never perfect:

Real users may be mistakenly filtered out.

Some bots will still receive allocations.

Balancing between the two is difficult, and some will always be missed.

On our side, we can do our best not to be filtered out as bots.

It all starts with this principle:

Value is the main criterion

Retroactive airdrops are distributed based on the value your wallet provides.

Monad describes it as “addresses that have historically generated significant on-chain value across different forms of value.”

If our tasks are as low-value as bots perform:

We will be labeled and lose eligibility.

Project teams do not want to reward those who repeatedly perform low-value swaps.

Instead, they reward high-value contributions.

But there are no strict rules; project teams can decide which behaviors they want to reward.

Therefore, to qualify, we just need to find applications we like and keep using them.

Our footprints will be recognized by other projects, and we will be rewarded for using our favorite apps.

Build a strong on-chain social footprint

Onchain footprint has been declared dead by many, but I still believe it plays a key role in future airdrops.

Even now, when airdrops heavily favor social distribution:

Onchain footprint remains the foundation of your social reputation and trust.

Others can instantly see whether you are genuinely participating or just faking, so lying is pointless.

You only need to describe what you have done on-chain to increase your “good contact surface.”