Free Cryptos: The Top 5 Upcoming Airdrops For 2022

The crypto airdrop has been a buzzword in the community for a long time due to its wide usability among crypto projects. Last year witnessed record-breaking token airdrops with leading Ethereum decentralized finance (DeFi) projects.

For instance, Instadapp, one of DeFi’s most popular portfolio management tools, airdropped 11,000,000 INST tokens to Maker DAO, Compound, and Aave users on Ethereum and Polygon.

In August, the on-chain trading platform dYdX announced its governance token launch, dropping 7.5% of the total tokens to early users. Paraswap is yet another project last year that dropped 150 million PSP tokens in November to frequent users, despite stating that it is not planning for an airdrop.

These records of airdrops have proven that those who consistently get involved early are likely to be handsomely rewarded with free tokens.

What Is a Cryptocurrency Airdrop?

Airdrops are distributions of tokens or cryptos sent to users for free – a fundamental way of garnering mass attention and engaging recipients with the related project.

Active early members of the blockchain community will receive small amounts of the new virtual currency for free or in return for minor services such as retweeting the company’s post.

The main criteria for receiving crypto airdrops are holding a cryptocurrency wallet such as Coinbase with a crypto balance.

On the Downside

It is important to note that legitimate crypto airdrops will not ask users to invest. The greed of “free money” in their wallets leads to recipients falling for airdrop-based ‘pump and dump’ schemes.

Additionally, the airdropped tokens are relatively new coins for which a market is yet to develop, and traded prices are unavailable.

Here are some of the top crypto projects that could airdrop their tokens in 2022.

1. MetaMask

MetaMask is one of the widely used cryptocurrency wallets. A possible airdrop has been rumored to be in the pipeline for a long time. 

The possibility of MetaMask releasing its token, dubbed MASK, has been widely discussed and was mentioned several times by the MetaMask team.

The revelation comes after ConsenSys CEO Joe Lubin tweeted last November, in response to speculation, that ConsenSys may not want tokens on its balance sheet as JPMorgan has a stake in the firm.

Andrew, ConsenSys has thousands of tokens on our balance sheet. ConsenSys is vigorously controlled by its employees, which includes me. And we are driving towards decentralization of several of our projects. Wen $MASK? Stay tuned. Wen objective journalism, ser?

— Joseph Lubin (@ethereumJoseph) November 8, 2021

His tweet triggered various MetaMask token expectants’ responses, indicating the excitement the crypto project infuses.

So @MetaMask will have an airdrop soon lol? https://t.co/QWTYGnwS2A

— Crypto Maxi (@cryptoMaxi420) November 8, 2021

As influencers spread the rumors of a possible airdrop on social media, activity through MetaMask Swap “has seen a huge usage increase in recent days,” per data from Delphi Digital.

That said, it is most likely that the team would not disappoint the anticipating user base. However, it’s unclear who exactly will be eligible for airdrop tokens.

2. Arbitrum

Arbitrum, a layer two expansion roll-up for Ethereum, is next on the list for a highly-expected token airdrop this year. There is a buzz that the company may do an airdrop to users who’ve used their bridge.

This is because a popular token bridge to Avalanche airdropped 100% of its token supply to users who had used their bridge – Good Bridging – to transfer funds.

In September 2021, Arbitrum surpassed $1.5 billion in total value locked (TVL), following rumors of a possible token airdrop. Less than two weeks after Arbitrum launched on the mainnet, crypto influencer Cobie took to his Twitter, declaring a possible token airdrop soon.

ETH L2s (Optimism/Arbitrum) almost definitely gonna do a dydx/uniswap style retrospective token drop right?

— Cobie (@cobie) September 11, 2021

However, Arbitrum immediately confirmed that “there is no Arbitrum token” on its social media page. It said,

“Anything claiming to be an official Arbitrum token is a scam.”

However, this hasn’t stopped people from speculating though. Given Arbitrum network’s increasing growth in users and the number of applications deployed, a token airdrop and possible liquidity mining program could be underway.

3. zkSync

zkSync, which uses ZK-rollups, has already announced that they will launch their native token in the future. Users who try out the mainnet and testnet may be eligible for an airdrop in the future.

Initially, on their Medium blog, there was a mention of their governance token that it might issue to the community but later was removed.

Though users have been eagerly waiting for a possible token airdrop, the zkSync team has been moving in fits and starts in deciding over a token release. The company has repeatedly stated that it doesn’t have a token yet, asking users not to rush and warning them of possible scams.

Dear community, beware of scams!!!

* zkSync doesn't have a token yet.
* We will never dm you.
* Don't rush. Nothing is ever going to happen suddenly, without many weeks of notice.
* ALL of our official groups are listed on https://t.co/qCABoE4h7F — always double check.

RT pls!

— zkSync (@zksync) November 24, 2021

4. OpenSea

OpenSea, a leader in the non-fungible tokens (NFT) marketplace, still does not have its token, but users expect to arrive in 2022.

With its insane transaction volume in the NFT market in 2021, OpenSea has won many user hearts showcasing positive signs for a possible token launch this year. Speculations state that it might drop tokens to users who’ve bought or sold NFTs on the platform.

Also, OpenSea’s newest competitor, X2Y2, recently had an airdrop, offering users accumulative rewards for using their marketplace or staking their tokens. This has left OpenSea users expecting an OpenSea token soon.

 5. Bored Ape Yacht Club

The next most hyped token airdrop is from the ape and mutant-themed NFT developers of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). The project explicitly mentioned in its Twitter post that a possible token is underway in the first quarter of 2022.

So, given that . . . WEN TOKEN?

Well, apes: We're currently looking at Q1 2022.

— Bored Ape Yacht Club (@BoredApeYC) October 8, 2021

The NFT collection also stated that it wants to launch a token for the sake of NFT community members ‘in a sound way’. It is working with partners Fenwick, a legal service team, and Horizen Labs, creators of the ZEN token.

However, a possible airdrop has not been mentioned for the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT holders. Still, it is expected likely to offer free tokens initially.

More Airdrops Likely

With a new round of crypto airdrops arriving this year and NFTs witnessing explosive growth as well as increased demand, NFT based airdrops are expected to draw in major rallies.

In 2022, Ethereum Layer 2 solutions, NFTs, and cross-chain bridges seem to have likely chances of hitting an airdrop. Besides Ethereum, other ecosystems such as Solana, Cosmos, and Avalanche are also expected to launch an airdrop to its users. However, it is still too early to predict that.