A Look Back at the 5 Biggest Airdrops in 2024

2024 saw the return of the cryptocurrency market with many projects implementing airdrops, distributing free tokens to users and communities.

In particular, in the context of Bitcoin's strong growth, several airdrops have recorded impressive value, attracting great interest from the community. Here are the 5 most prominent airdrop projects in 2024, based on the token value at the peak time.

Hyperliquid (HYPE): $10.84 billion

In November 2024, the Hyper Foundation airdropped the HYPE token to its users Hyperliquid Netwerk. This is a layer 1 network designed to optimize DeFi transaction speed.

A total of 31 million HYPE were distributed, initially valued at $1.6 billion, making it one of the most valuable airdrops in history. Notably, the value of these tokens rose to more than $10.8 billion in just a few weeks.

Hyperliquid Network focuses on decentralized exchanges (DEX) with features such as perpetual futures trading and up to 50x leverage. According to information from the Hyper Foundation, this DEX already has more than 312,000 users.

Further reference: How Hyperliquid's Airdrop (HYPE) Reaches Billions of Dollars

Starknet (STRK): $3.09 billion

Starknet, Ethereum's layer 2 scaling solution, has launched mainnet since 2021. However, it was not until 3 years later that the project officially implemented the STRK airdrop token.

With 700 million STRK distributed, including to Ethereum holders, this airdrop has caught the attention of a large number of crypto users. The STRK token plays an important role in Starknet administration.

In June 2024, StarkWare — the developer of Starknet — announced plans to bring scalable technology, using zero-knowledge rollups, to Bitcoin. In November 2024, Starknet launched Phase 1 of its staking program, allowing users to earn rewards by participating in transaction validation.

Pudgy Penguins (PENGU): $3.064 billion

The Pudgy Penguinsis a well-known collection of NFTs on Ethereum with a market capitalization of more than $500 million. The project has achieved significant success in commercializing the product, with Pudgy Penguins toys being sold at major supermarket systems such as Walmart and Target.

In early December 2024, Pudgy Penguins expanded to Solana with the launch of the PENGU token, in an effort to strengthen their connection with fans.

According to published information, about half of the 88.88 billion PENGU was distributed to the Pudgy Penguins community, other communities and holders of FTT (tokens of the FTX exchange that collapsed). The project also allows holders of NFTs from other well-known collections such as Board Ape Yacht Club and Doodles to receive PENGU tokens.

Further reference: What is the PENGU token like after the Airdrop event?

Notcoin (NOT): $2.274 billion

Notcoinis a tap-to-earn game on The Open Network (TON) platform. This game has generated attention in the TON community with its simple gameplay, accessible via Telegram miniapp.

Despite some delays, Notcoin's airdrop was successful in May 2024, becoming the year's largest gaming token launch in terms of value. About 80.2 billion NEOs have been distributed, with listing support from major exchanges such as Binance.

Notcoin's success paved the way for the development of many other tap-to-earn games on TON, typically Hamster Kombat. However, some argue that these games need to be further developed experientially in order to attract long-term players.

Jupiter (JUP): $2 billion

Jupiteris a DEX aggregator project on Solana. In early 2024, the project had an airdrop of 1 billion JUP tokens to users.

Jupiter is expected to continue delivering 3 billion JUPs in the future, with a second round approved in early December 2024. Although there is no official announcement on the timing, it is expected that the second round will take place in January 2025 (Jupuary).

As one of the largest DeFi projects on Solana, Jupiter has achieved quite a large volume of transactions, amounting to more than $2 trillion. The project will also hold its first community conference in Istanbul in January 2025 under the name Catstanbul.

Other Noteworthy Airdrops

In addition to the five projects mentioned above, 2024 will also see many other projects implement airdrops with significant value, including:

• Movimiento (MOVE):Ethereum's Layer 2 Scaling Solution, has airdropped 1 billion MOVE worth $1.5 billion.
• ZKSync (ZK):Another layer 2 solution of Ethereum, has distributed 3.7 billion ZK worth $1.2 billion.
• Eigenlayer (EIGEN): The Ethereum staking platform, has made two airdrops totaling nearly 200 million EIGEN worth $1.1 billion.
• Wormhole (W): Cross-chain protocol, launched the W governance token with 617 million W worth $1 billion distributed to the community.