Testnets, weekly missions, Zealy tasks, Galxe campaigns, OATs, NFTs, Discord roles and let's not forget referrals, have become the norm for new projects launching a product such as a new blockchain or a new dApp since the huge success of the Aptos testnet campaign, airdropping 20 million tokens worth $200 - $260 million. A total of 110,235 crypto addresses on Aptos were eligible to receive the airdrop across two categories. This first category included users who finished applying to the Aptos incentivized testnet and these users claimed 300 APT tokens. The second eligible category consists of users rewarded 150 APT tokens for minting an Aptos Zero NFT on the testnet. It was a monumental evolution in the way airdrops were distributed. More crypto users were now engaged in the activities of new blockchains with testnets and points systems. SUI, SEI, Layer Zero, Zetachain, Zecrey, Manta, Mantle, SuiSwap etc are a few examples of the many cryptocurrency projects to launch an airdrop using some form of a points system. I missed out on the majority of them due to a lack of liquidity but I was rewarded for my participation in SuiSwap's campaign, earning over 2000 SSWP (1800 sent to my Martian wallet and 300 sent to my OKX account). It didn't bang like the others, but it did show the commitment of protocols to their community and early adopters.

There are terms used by crypto degens for continued search and participation in these potential airdrop tasks - hunting and farming. Hunting involves the search for blockchains that may have just opened their testnet phase or a dApp building on a blockchain in its testnet phase. the hunters will scout the project, join their communities and understand what needs to be done to position themselves or a possible airdrop. They will write threads on these topics and shill out these threads to their communities and followers on X and other social platforms. After the hunt, farming begins. Farming involves the participation of traders in the tasks set out by the project's team, and are guided by the threads their idolo threadboi coaches have written. Farming involves things like swapping between various pairs, adding liquidity to different polls, referrals, galxe tasks etc. Sometimes, a project may adopt the retroactive approach. This involves an already existing mainnet without a native token to use predetermined criteria to airdrop their native token when it is launched. The criteria will have different sets of weighted points attached to each criterion, giving more points to the criterion that is viewed as more valuable to the network. Arbitrum is a prime example. Nobody knew their criteria, but many guessed accurately that it would involve aggregated trading volume, staked volume and liquidity pooled into various Arbitrum dApps.

The points system is still in play today and I will give you some retroactive and testnet projects with possible future airdrops. Remember that we are positioning ourselves to be early and to to action.

1. Ondo Points - a real-world assets platform that offers treasury-backed tokens and yields recently launched its rewards campaign. To be eligible, you must have had unutilized USDT or USDC (both ERC-20) in your wallet last year. All you will do is connect your wallet and Twitter account on their site and claim your points which may turn into the platform's token in the future. Check here. I don't use ERC-20 for my defi trades so it was a given that I wasn't eligible, sighs.

2. Nifty Island - it is doing something unique and the first of its kind. Say hello to their Play-to-airdrop campaign. By simply playing their game, referring new users and spending the in-game currency on NFTs, a player can increase their allocation for $ISLAND, the platform's native token. Click here to read their thread explaining more.

3. Yaka - a DEX building on the $SEI network and is currently in its testnet phase so no real money is needed to do the tasks. Yaka already confirmed the future airdrop of their token based on points accrued by users. Just complete swaps and provide liquidity to qualify for the airdrop, I already have 60 points, but there's still a long way to go. To get started, visit Yaka.

4. Berachain - I will write a detailed article on this and why top defi idolos and tutors are interested in it. It is still early days, the testnet is live and will be for some time, but don't go in blind. Galxe tasks will be performed, with each task carrying a points allotment.

Whether it's a retroactive airdrop or an incentivised testnet, points are the baseline measurement for calculating how many tokens you'd be airdropped. So, if you lack trading capital, stay positioned because the more points you accrue, the merrier your airdrop will be.

Till next time.