Crypto Airdrop: What It Is, How It Works, and Which Ones Are Real

When you hear crypto airdrop, a free distribution of cryptocurrency tokens to wallet holders, often to grow a project’s user base. Also known as token giveaway, it sounds like free money—until you realize most are designed to steal your private keys or trick you into paying fees. Real airdrops don’t ask for your seed phrase. They don’t require you to send crypto first. And they don’t come from random Discord DMs or fake CoinMarketCap listings.

Behind every fake airdrop, a deceptive scheme that mimics legitimate token distributions to harvest personal data or funds is a simple trick: urgency. Scammers create fake websites that look like Biconomy, Solana, or CoinMarketCap, then push you to connect your wallet. Once you do, they drain it. The WSPP airdrop, a notorious scam disguised as a charity crypto project with near-zero token value and hidden fees and the ORI Orica Token airdrop, a completely fabricated project with no team, no roadmap, and zero real tokens are textbook examples. They don’t give you value—they take your trust.

Real token distribution, the official release of cryptocurrency tokens to eligible participants, often as a reward for early support or community engagement happens through verified channels. Think of the BIT airdrop, a legitimate 2022 distribution by Biconomy Exchange that rewarded stakers and referrers with usable tokens offering fee discounts and voting rights. Or the LEPA airdrop, a 2022 NFT distribution tied to functional game assets in the Lepasa Metaverse, not just collectibles. These weren’t random—they had clear rules, public smart contracts, and utility.

Watch for red flags: zero trading volume, no team info, pressure to act fast, or requests to pay gas fees to "claim" your tokens. Real airdrops cost you nothing but time. They’re not secret handshakes—they’re public events listed on official project blogs. And if a token’s price is near zero with trillions in supply, like Bob LION Inu, it’s not an airdrop—it’s a graveyard for cash.

Some projects use airdrops to bootstrap communities. Others use them to launder stolen funds or fund North Korean hacking ops. The line between innovation and fraud is thin—and scammers know it. You don’t need to chase every free token. You just need to know which ones are worth your attention. Below, you’ll find real breakdowns of the most common crypto airdrop traps, the rare legitimate ones, and how to spot the difference before you lose your money.