For the past two weeks, the controversy surrounding zkSync airdrop eligibility has been the most talked-about topic in the community. Both community users and the project team have differing opinions, and the dispute finally ended with the phrase “the era of easy airdrops is over” as a reluctant annotation. Various signs indicate that in the new cycle, it has become more difficult to achieve a win-win situation for users and project teams through airdrops, making it harder for native cryptocurrency wealth to be realized.
It is worth noting that on the day zkSync was listed on the Binance trading platform, Binance announced the distribution of ZK tokens to eligible community users, providing a total of 52,500 spots and distributing over 10 million ZK tokens to the community.
This move is unprecedented and not just a manipulation of the zkSync community. It also reflects the significant changes Binance has made in the crypto market environment.
In recent months, the crypto market has favored projects with sufficient circulating supply, and projects with high FDV and low circulation have been labeled as suppressing market liquidity. Based on the changing demands of the crypto community, Binance announced a modification to its listing rules a month ago, providing opportunities for crypto projects with medium to high circulating supply but low market value FDV.
The exploration of responding to community demands is still ongoing. On June 19th, Binance announced the launch of the HODLer Airdrop event, which uses a “retrospective snapshot” to distribute new project tokens to BNB holders. This HODLer Airdrop event tends to select projects with medium to low market value FDV and medium to high circulating supply.
Previously, project tokens were usually accompanied by a Launchpool listing on Binance, and BNB holders would receive rewards through Launchpool or Megadrop. However, such activities specified the participation time and project details, which would attract large funds to buy BNB and enter the launch pool at the beginning of the event, and then withdraw in large quantities at the end, even affecting the price of BNB. To protect the interests of long-term BNB holders, it seems necessary to control the incentive shares of project tokens given to Launchpool to some extent.
With the HODLer Airdrop event, project tokens are distributed to the community before being listed on Binance spot trading, allowing long-term BNB holders to receive more new project token shares.
In users’ predictions of project development, being listed on Binance often represents a “good hand” and is one of the highlights for project teams to attract user participation. Now, in this stage of fulfilling expectations, there is a more comprehensive solution. HODLer Airdrop allows Binance’s influence to be realized not only by big players but also by diamond hands.
Retrospective dividends, a boon for diamond hands
Steps to participate in the HODLer Airdrop
To participate in the HODLer Airdrop event, users can deposit their BNB holdings into “Simple Earn” and have a chance to receive airdropped tokens from Binance, regardless of the chosen deposit period.
The steps to participate are very simple and seem to have nothing special. The uniqueness of the HODLer Airdrop lies in the fact that Binance takes multiple snapshots of users’ balances and the total pool balance at any given hour, calculating the average balance for each hour. The final amount of airdrop reward a user can receive is determined by a snapshot taken at a random moment before the airdrop reward announcement.
In addition, during participation, users do not know which project’s airdrop they will receive. Binance will announce the project information in the HODLer Airdrop announcement, and eligible users will receive the HODLer airdrop reward directly in their spot wallets within 24 hours after the announcement is made.
Compared to previous community activities launched by Binance, HODLer Airdrop places more emphasis on fairness and accessibility, providing Binance users with a fairer opportunity to participate in activities and gain investment returns with low risk.
Random snapshots and blind box rewards
The introduction of the retrospective random snapshot mechanism adds uncertainty to the HODLer Airdrop event. The final amount of airdrop reward a user can receive is determined by a snapshot taken at a random moment before the airdrop reward announcement.
Before the start of the HODLer Airdrop for new tokens, Binance has already completed a snapshot of user balances. For example, for the reward calculation of the HODLer Airdrop on June 11, 2024, the reference snapshot time range for user balances is from June 1, 2024, to June 7, 2024.
This uncertainty actually makes community participation fairer.
In the crypto market, “investment” and “speculation” often go hand in hand. For loyal users who have long supported Binance and actively participated in community activities, the random snapshot is a recognition and reward for their loyalty. The mechanism of random snapshots in HODLer Airdrop tends to reward investors who firmly hold BNB, encouraging users to invest based on their trust in Binance and their long-term optimism about the value of BNB, rather than pursuing short-term speculative gains.
Furthermore, HODLer Airdrop sets a hard limit on the amount of BNB each user can hold, and this limit will be announced in each HODLer Airdrop announcement. For example, if a user holds 203 BNB and the holding limit is 200 BNB, the user’s final reward amount will be calculated based on 200 BNB.
This participation limit mechanism to some extent avoids the monopolization of rewards by users with large amounts of funds. Small and medium-sized investors will be able to receive more reward shares, highlighting the benefits for long-term holders.
Complementing the retrospective random snapshot is the post-publication of project details, which can be understood as a “blind box reward.” This kind of setting involves the trust between the platform and users.
When participating in the HODLer Airdrop event, users do not know exactly which airdrop token they will receive. If multiple HODLer Airdrop projects are running simultaneously, the BNB assets in BNB Simple Earn will be allocated to the projects running at the same time (unless otherwise stated).
New coins listed on Binance often become hot topics of discussion and pursuit in the crypto community. Taking action before market news dominates attention means being able to gain more capital returns. In this HODLer Airdrop event, snapshots were taken before the announcement was made, allowing eligible users to receive token airdrops within a short 24 hours after the announcement.
This fast feedback mechanism provides users with instant gratification as they can passively hold popular assets by holding BNB. Additionally, it is well-known that rumors of Binance’s mining listing often have an impact on the price of BNB. HODLer Airdrop, to some extent, weakens this influence and extends the holding period for investors. This is a community game that involves trust and requires Binance to have enough confidence.
One Fish, Four Meals: Seamless Integration of BNB Benefits
Before this, Launchpool had already become the “strongest engine” driving BNB’s rise and rewarding community users. Over the past year, BNB has increased by over 130%, rising from around $200 and reaching a new all-time high of $721 earlier this month. During this period, BNB holders participating in Launchpool have enjoyed impressive returns.
For more than six months, Binance Launchpool has launched 14 projects, allowing users to mine new coins by staking BNB and earn substantial returns in addition to the gains from BNB’s price increase. Taking the mining returns from the first 14 periods before April 16 as an example, the average mining return rate for BNB was 136%. Even during the bear market, Launchpool’s mining APY was around 15%-20%.
After that, Binance also launched the Megadrop event, where users could purchase BNB fixed-term products and participate in activities to earn points in the Binance Web3 Wallet and receive new coin airdrop rewards. The first Megadrop project, the Bitcoin repledging public chain BounceBit (BB), achieved a gain of over 200% within two weeks of its listing.
So, what are the differences between HODLer Airdrop and the ongoing Launchpool and recently launched Megadrop?
The biggest difference is that Launchpool and Megadrop have specific effective funding periods, while the holding period for HODLer Airdrop is a random period before the announcement is made.
From a user’s perspective, the participation process for the former two involves reading the announcement and then depositing their BNB into the pool or participating in the activities. On the other hand, HODLer Airdrop has already completed the snapshot of BNB holdings before the announcement is made.
In HODLer Airdrop, BNB users can enjoy the profits from Simple Earn and participate in Launchpool and Megadrop point activities at the same time, enjoying the benefits of “one fish, four meals.” Opportunities for users to earn additional income based on their BNB assets seamlessly connect.
By continuously launching such community activities, Binance’s development aligns with the interests of BNB holders, creating a positive cycle. Despite the downturn in the market and the rotation of narratives, the industry is still evolving, and there are still many projects worth paying attention to and investing in. Conducting comprehensive research and analysis and staying updated on alpha dynamics are the primary rules for investing in the crypto market. In addition to that, following the “smartest money” to earn low-risk returns is also a worthy consideration.
Just a month ago, Binance announced a modification to its listing rules, starting to support small and medium-sized crypto projects, indicating that Binance will invite high-quality teams to apply for listing through direct listing, Launchpools, and Megadrops. In the introduction of the HODLer Airdrop, Binance also emphasized the introduction of medium and small-sized projects with large circulation, strong communities, and organic growth. The first round of projects for HODLer Airdrop has not been announced yet, and the wealth effect remains to be seen. The “first batch of diamond hand users” will also be revealed.
