Recent data from cryptocurrency data aggregator CoinGecko indicates that holding an airdropped crypto token for more than 14 days has, nearly half the time, resulted in missing the opportunity to sell at its all-time high.
Since 2020, there has been a significant increase in airdrop interest. The most common way to receive free airdropped tokens is through participating in pre-launch blockchain network activity or promotional work.
On Feb. 1, Cointelegraph reported that a seventeen-year-old crypto investor claimed to have made over $1 million from the Solana-based JUP airdrop.
According to a recent report by CoinGecko, within the last four years, approximately half (46%) of the top 50 crypto token airdrops, including prominent tokens such as Ethereum Name Service, Blur, and LooksRare, reached peak prices within two weeks.
“23 out of the 50 biggest airdrops (46%) recorded peak token prices during the first 2 weeks of their airdrop date,” the report stated.
Other airdropped tokens that peaked within the first two weeks include Manta Network (MANTA), Anchor Protocol (ANC), and Heroes of Mavia (MAVIA).
While some projects reached peak gains in a matter of days, only one airdropped token out of the top 50 in the past four years took more than a year to reach its peak price.
Optimism (OP) took one year and seven months to reach its all-time high. Meanwhile, Sweat (SWEAT) reached its all-time high in two days following the airdrop, and Wen (WEN) achieved peak gains in three days.
Related: Airdrop season? Protocols offer $700M in token airdrops over a week
However, significant sell-offs of airdrops shortly after listing can result in a sharp decline in price, reducing the token's appeal.
On Feb 22, Cointelegraph reported that Ethereum layer-2 network Starknet dropped approximately 60% as Ethereum infrastructure firm Nethermind and airdrop farmers dumped millions of dollars worth of the airdropped token.
Additionally, participants in an airdrop may interpret technical issues during the claiming process as an unreliable network, leading them to consider selling the token.
In March 2023, the amount of Arbitrum (ARB) tokens that was moved to exchanges was 150% larger than inflows to wallets, leading to a large sell-off. This came after users reported problems with the airdrop claim page crashing within an hour of the claiming process starting due to a significant amount of requests.
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