So, let’s go back to the beginning and restart the airdrop game as you know it.
Disclaimer: Everything I say is my opinion and my experience, with a few other bits.
In this whole "airdrop fiasco" with zkSync, I think it's time some people get a reality check and understand their mistakes by listening to all these mainstream airdrop threaders and "alpha" groups. They are some of the biggest farmers of your attention. They click-bait you with "$0 input, and you can get $3000 in return" and then give you a half-assed thread with a few tasks on a testnet. In some cases, there have been many payoffs, but not as good as they make them seem.
Furthermore, it sets massive expectations for people who think all they need to do is 10 transactions on a testnet and then get upset for not getting anything. At the end of the day, you have yourself to blame if you are gullible enough to think you will print money out of thin air. Additionally, the advice to "put in $10 and get $10k volume and potential rewards" is the biggest load of BS and marks you as a Sybil. If 10k people are doing the same thing, no protocol would want you either, as you are just there for yourself.
Look at this: It needs to be a symbiotic relationship. You put in your time, effort, and funds and actually learn the protocols, the tech, and so on. That's how you will win and earn the rewards that you are due. DO NOT come into crypto, airdrops, and chains expecting rewards for all the fees, etc., you have spent and be ready to get Sweet FA because that's how the game works. When you put $250 in your bank account for 6 months and then expect $2k at the end of the year, grow up and stop being delusional and so entitled. YES, crypto has that opportunity, but as soon as you set expectations, you can call it game over, and it's a very risky game. You win and lose at times, and that's life—accept that and move on to the next opportunity.
I'm sure this person does a lot of good for people, as I can see hes doing quest answers for you, but there isn't much transparency. For me, we are responsible for leading the industry, and it is just an eh to me when I see people posting random stuff that will not help them, or if they are trying to help, explain why and how people do this! Im not trying to be an asshole or cause disrespect but, i think its good to tell why you are doing something! At the end of the day we all have our own ways, and its free to speak your opinions :)
Challenge actions and why?:
These large groups exploit your need for financial freedom by selling you a life they live that's hard if you put the bare minimum in and just follow what they do. They have built everything because of you, and they don't give you the tools and know-how to be the best version of yourself. At the end of the day, you should be able to do these testnets and mainnets from everything you have learned and not be spoon-fed because you have only yourself to blame. I take a zero-BS approach, and over my years, I have made mistakes, but because I am accepting of myself, I forgive myself and move on because wasting time is the most valuable thing we humans have.
You need to do more than you are told and go the extra mile to be rewarded. I see people complain, "OMG, I did 200 transactions and 200k volume," but at the end of the day, is that what makes an ecosystem? Some can argue for and against. There is another case where a guy complains that 2 out of his 20 wallets got the airdrop, and the one that did well was the one that provided liquidity. Personally, that's the true value—what is the value locked on that chain and in conjunction with volume?
Take this, for example: you swap 10 ETH to USDC back and forth. What does that actually achieve for the ecosystem apart from, let’s say, roughly $50 to liquidity providers depending on fees, etc.? Then they are like, "bye, not coming back." They 100% don't deserve to be there. The real users that provide their assets (which is an inherent risk, especially on new chains and protocols) are the ones who should be getting the highest rewards. This should increase with time and the amount provided too. Providing $10 of liquidity is not going to get you anything either.
I totally understand we are people from all walks of life, and some of these airdrops are life-changing money and can potentially help your family for a year or something! That’s why you need to be smart about these things and prioritise where your best chances of winning are, and not spread yourself too thin and fail to meet the criteria for any of the drops that involve real money, which then causes you to be demoralised. I've been there before, and it fucking sucks! So, the number one thing you should be doing if you don’t have the funds is to do all the free stuff and commit to 1-3 actual airdrop campaigns. As you accumulate more money, you can expand your operations and stick to a maximum of 2 wallets (personal opinion, so you do you).
Example of the Shitfulencers in action: I tell you that these influencers will spend $10-25 on this Layer 0 tactic, which we all saw probably got zero results. I did it on a fresh wallet, and some newbies I’ve spoken to all said the same. They are sold lies, become the Sybil, and then FUD projects because they are sold a false narrative and also feel stupid for thinking that’s how it works. You are not good for the ecosystem, and it’s natural selection if you are lazy as fuck!
NO SYSTEM IS PERFECT! Yes, there will be people who are disappointed that they don’t get an allocation of tokens because of some stupid mishap, etc. There will be genuine winners and some genuine people who get screwed because of the criteria being a bit shit or they just missed the mark or not enough criteria levels/points. Then there will be the fudders who expected millions for the Sybil-like behaviour deemed by the protocol. At the end of the day, they have the discretion to give money out, so be fucking grateful. They are airdropping billions of dollars combined in the airdrops—will your bank or work do that for you?! They could not give a fuck about you because you are making them money/giving them money. Be lucky that you are early into an industry that is so fucking accepting and pushes the boundaries as we know it. This tech can save us from the dickheads in their ivory towers.
Look everyone complained about starknet, now everyone complaining about zksync, its never going to change and unfortunately there will be those who don't deserve to be punished. Should there be changes to the drop? well already zksync are giving out 17% of their token allocation more than any other projects and its at their discretion. - We could debate this for weeks.
Community: Community is everything and we have seen it destroy chains and projects, but there is a cut-off at who actual provides value and it seems many people just want money or are unhappy. End of the day the project need to have a firm stance on why this criteria was taken as well as rectify legitimate errors. Furthermore if they don't do their due diligence and is picked up after by the community, they should be taken into considerations. Speak out if you have been wronged but take a reality check if you have not been commited.
Also you see projects screaming at zksync, not sure if these two tweets are legit but it seems like they say one thing and allegedly leaked footage from the office shows them celebrating with their huge allocations for the team.
ZERO EXPECTATIONS:
You need to have zero expectations—that’s the number one rule—and try to get a feel for how you can be a genuine user and get some part of this pie. $200 for free is better than no reward, and let’s say you spent $30 in fees. It’s a win-win situation for you, so carry on. How do you think the world works?!
Now, maybe you are wondering who is this pleb chatting shit about me and my life and the mistakes I made? Well, for one, I was in your place, and I’ve been in the game long enough to know the right people in the industry and know what the user, the dev, the protocol, the chain, and the finance people are looking for and how to turn that narrative to your advantage. I’m telling you a story and giving you the tools to be able to roam free and become your own boss.
I teach you to use your initiative. One example I give you is when Bearachain first launched. I saw all these people saying to do these transactions, interact with this protocol, etc., and you will make it. Bruh, you have zero brain cells. PROOF-OF-LIQUIDITY. Hmmm, maybe the plan is right in front of you?! Also, you need to be much more active and constantly be testing all the new dapps and protocols being built. Not just a few times in the beginning! Furthermore, maybe minting NFTs launched by the major projects on Arb chain, etc. It just seems like people want life-changing money for zero effort. It’s not going to happen, matey!
If you want to check out my articles, I’d recommend you read all of them so you can learn all the tools and applications that you will carry over to the next testnet/mainnet. By all means, it could help you a lot, or you might think you know best (which you may). With me, I actually explain the different theses and tactics—why one would choose one thing over another. I try and cater to all types of wealth and help you maximise your wins. For example, the Spectral airdrop was worth $3k for being part of the community and using Farcaster and various other things, which were all free! Many people missed out because they think free things are not worth it or that they are lazy and it’s not worth their time. All it takes is 30 minutes a day or every few days to do a few tasks or make a few transactions, and you can have a much happier life. It’s all about discipline and getting things done that you stick with. Otherwise, is there any point in you being here? I’m just stating it as it is.
I know it’s funny how many of these airdrop guys are now saying to stay away from these $10 schemes, which is rather funny. I just think people are butt-hurt because their original tactic for Arb did not play off with zkSync. I’ve been saying this for years—do not trust what these people say! Now they are going to be like, "oh well, you should have also done your own thing, etc., and been active." You can go back to my articles and see me telling you to be active a few times a week or make sure you keep up the actions to actually pay off. Ensure you use the same wallet as history matters, as well as if you use GitHub and cook things on-chain (develop). I urge you all to unlearn what you have learned and follow me down the path of genuine usage and education that leads to real rewards. You have to be humbled in order to get back up, restart, and learn from your mistakes.
Boy, I was pissed with Starknet and met the devs, people behind working on the drop, and yeah, I made myself heard that the design was actually dumb. Once all the backlash and people just went away, there were more genuine users that were providing the liquidity and making the ecosystem thrive. But that stupid criterion on ETH in your wallet was just very lazy design! It very much favored the devs, but without the users, what’s the point of even having a star app? It was just too one-sided, but it goes to show again that no airdrop is perfect. You need to learn from each one and see what changes (but poor designs are just incompetence on the chain side).
So you, as a user who wants to get into the next airdrop, what do you do?
Here is an example of what you can do or how you should behave on-chain:
You are too late for zkSync, but the next ZK-rollup chain you can focus on is… (but don’t expect huge amounts as it’s been a while since the testnet and mainnet, but you can still win if you do it smart! Become genuine, learn the tech, understand how and why things work, support others.
SCROLL: Yes, it has lost its mindshare because it took their upgrades to be completed a lot later when all the blobs were introduced, etc. No one wanted to waste fees while chains had <$0.01 fees.
They have released their MARKS campaign, which will be based on your contribution to the system, liquidity, tokens, bridging, and LSTs. Also, rewards and bonuses to those who have been in the ecosystem before the Marks campaign. If you have been doing the testnet with me over the last year, you should be at the forefront of a good airdrop. Below are things you may or may not want to do, but I have a very good feeling about this:
If you did not get your Scroll origins legendary NFT (if you followed my guide in the first month of Scroll, you will be good). You should probably get one, I think.
Get some LSTs like KelpDAO and Stake Stone. If you can be bothered, get some Stake Stone through their website or Manta chain as it’s very cheap and bridge over using the Stake Stone website to see if you can grab some Layer0 tokens as they got awarded RPGF in ZRO token. Then, you can add liquidity onto Syncswap (ETH-that pair token).
Get your Stake Stone on Scroll through the Stake Stone app via the Omni chain carnival campaign and use my code so we both get a bonus :) https://carnival.stakestone.io/ ABA94
Provide long-term liquidity >1 month with a value of $150-250 minimum. - You are actually helping the ecosystem.
Committing funds to the ecosystem should get you rewarded; don’t be worried about the many transactions. (personal view)
Try and use your wallet that has history on other chains too, and don’t just use a fresh wallet; new Sybil mechanisms may be coming into place. - Also we saw devs and gitbub people be rewarded so use the same.
Find the right volume-to-value ratio so you don’t just have one liquidity position; maybe you can have one that you rotate and trade to increase the volume you have created.
Obviously, none of this is financial advice; you may or may not want to listen to me :)
Also, you could apply what I have said to other Zk-rollup chains like Linea or any other airdrop campaign, so it's a win-win situation. It may be useful to be active at least once a week, so yeah, good luck, friend. JUST BE SMART AND CAREFUL! If there are existing projects or logs on the chain, it's probably safer to use them.
IF you are a project designing an airdrop and need advice, I will happily advise because it seems like no one is learning and they just think they are the best and don’t give a flying. You need people that will challenge you, not a yes-man!
📢 New post by @cryptogoblin! This deep dive into the "airdrop fiasco" with zkSync calls out misleading influencers and emphasizes the importance of genuine engagement and realistic expectations in the crypto space. Learn how to truly benefit from airdrops with smart strategies and effort. Check it out!