Airdrop Farming Trends 2024
What are the top airdrop farming strategies in the second half of 2024?
Many of the most anticipated airdrops of 2024 have dropped in the first half of 2024, this includes zkSync and Layer Zero. Many of our readers have asked, what projects should we focus on now that these top-tier protocols have dropped?
Airdrop Farming Trend Dynamics in H2 2024: Liquidity Matters
Observations from the airdrops in recent months have shown us that projects are increasingly aware of sybil and industrial farming. Gone are the days of spreading your capital over hundreds of wallets and expecting big payouts as projects are increasingly linear, i.e. the return of your work will really boils down to a single metric:
Capital x Time (a.k.a. deposit as much liquidity as early as possible)
Whether you like it or not, these are the rules of the game. If you have low liquidity or would rather spend lots of time pressing buttons, then this article is not for you.
Valuation Matters
Another success factor is valuation. You will want to participate in protocols that will launch at a high valuation, meaning:
- High funding
- High or growing TVL
- Popular narratives
If you look at the top DeFi protocols by TVL, it’s clear that these narratives are attracting the most liquidity and mindshare:
- Re-staking
- Liquid Staking
- Stable Coins
- Zero-Knowledge Rollups (Layer 2)
Re-staking Narrative Primes On-Chain Liquidity Flows
Eigen Layer (EL) was the pioneer in re-staking, and since launch it has attracted close to $18B in TVL, ranking 2nd in all of DeFi, with Lido holding the top spot at 33B in TVL.
However, EL is not the only player in town, nor is Ethereum the only battleground.
Airdrop Combinations We Are Farming
1. Mantle x Karak x Eigen Layer
Mantle, the Layer 2 blockchain of ByBit the exchange has one of the biggest DAO Treasury in all of web3. They have designed numerous innovative incentive programs using treasury funds to incentive activity on chain. Their LST, mETH (Mantle Staked ETH) is ranked the 4th largest in TVL. They are planning to launch Liquid Restaking soon with a new token $cMETH, governed by the new token $COOK.
Karak is a Restaking competitor to Eigen Layer who raised a whopping $48M with a $1B valuation from Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures and other top-tier backers.
In addition, according to this Dune Dashboard, there are only 88.8K stakers which means less competition compared to the likes of Eigen Layer. The cap is $1B, and we are at close to 900M TVL so get in before it is filled!
What’s more, they take mETH deposits from Mantle which gives you 20x POWDER for farming the $COOK token, a guide from us here.
2. Mitosis x Linea / Scroll x EtherFi x Eigen Layer
Mitosis is a new Layer 1 which aims to solve the problem of fragmented liquidity across different blockchains by the creation of EOL (Ecosystem-Owned-Liquidity). Their innovation has attracted partnerships such as Symbiotic, Prime and Ionic Money.
It raised $7M in funding from top backers and are taking EtherFi’s weETH deposits on Ethereum, Arbitrum, Blast, Linea, Scroll and Mode.
This means you will be able to farm Mito Points, EL Points, EtherFi Points and Linea LXP-L / Scroll Marks all in one.
It is also one of the most sophisticated and well-designed Points Program we have seen in our farming days.
Check out a guide here.
3. Solayer
Solayer is a new Restaking protocol on Solana, with backers from some prominent figures from the web3 space.
This only launched recently (still at Episode 1) so this is an early opportunity.
Refer to a guide here.
4. Ethena Labs x Symbiotic
Symbiotic is another Restaking competitor backed by Founders of Lido and Paradigm, which allows the staking of any ERC-20 token. This has already attracted partnerships with Ethena Labs and Layer Zero, where $ENA and $sUSEe can be restaked on Symbiotic to secure an upcoming Ethena Blockchain.
You can deposit sUSDe or ENA into Symbiotic via Mellow Finance to earn Ethena Sats, Symbiotic and Mellow Points for a 3 in 1.
How to get USDe, you may ask? Let’s explore some leverage farming techniques, while hitting some of the above-mentioned airdrops:
- Deposit mETH into Init Capital (tokenless) and borrow USDe / stables (then swap into USDe). This makes you eligible for POWDER while farming Init Points
- Bridge weETH to Linea or Scroll (choose your favorite tokenless bridge such as Jumper Exchange) and deposit into lending protocols (Mendi on Linea / Rho Markets on Scroll) and borrow stables against it. This will enable you to farm Linea LXP-L / Scroll Marks, EtherFi and Eigen Layer Points in the process as well.
All of the above enables you to create a rich on-chain footprint on your wallet, which could prove very valuable in the future, “accidentally” qualifying you for future airdrops.
Picks and Shovels Airdrop Farming
These are the additional airdrops you may hit when doing basic on-chain actions like swaps and bridging that you need to do anyways.
Bridging
Use Jumper Exchange and choose Stargate as a route if possible.
Alternatives are Owlto Finance, Orbiter Finance and Bungee which are all tokenless
For Solana, DeBridge via Jupiter is more reliable than Jumper.
Swaps
Use Jumper Exchange and Choose ODOS as route (supports most EVM chains)
Use Jupiter Exchange on Solana.
Directly swapping on ODOS is also a good option (deployed on Linea, Scroll and Mantle).
Our Farming Allocation Strategy
At OneClick.Fi, we’re diversifying allocations between multiple protocols in Ethereum and Solana ecosystems in order to maximize the number of airdrops being hit. All while maintaining the protocol risk limited. The current distribution is 70%-30% ETH-SOL and 5 major strategies:
- Kamino-Solayer: 20%, 2 in 1
- Meteora-JUP: 10%, 2 in 1
- Linea-Mendi-weETH-USDe-Symbiotic: 25%, 5 in 1
- Mantle-mETH-Karak: 25%, 3 in 1
- Scroll-weETH-Mitosis: 20%, 4 in 1
The overall position distribution looks like the following:
Summary
As we step into the second half of 2024, airdrop farming requires a focused approach on liquidity and strategic protocol selection. High valuation protocols with robust funding and TVL, such as Eigen Layer and Mantle, are prime targets. Key airdrop combinations like Mantle x Karak x Eigen Layer and Mitosis x Linea/Scroll x EtherFi x Eigen Layer offer unique benefits, allowing farmers to leverage multiple protocols and create valuable on-chain footprints for potential future rewards. Basic on-chain actions, such as bridging and swapping on platforms like Jumper Exchange and Jupiter Exchange, also present significant airdrop opportunities.
At OneClick.Fi, our strategy emphasizes diversification and protocol risk management with distribution between Solana and Ethereum ecosystems. This approach maximizes airdrops across multiple protocols, ensuring a balanced and diversified portfolio. The second half of 2024 promises exciting prospects for airdrop farmers who focus on liquidity, strategic protocol engagement, and diversified allocations.
Disclaimer: This article, including insights on airdrop farming and other DeFi strategies, is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice, investment recommendations, or an endorsement of any particular investment or strategy. The cryptocurrency and DeFi markets are highly volatile and unpredictable. Past performance is not indicative of future results. One Click Crypto makes no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of the information provided. Readers should conduct their own research and consult with independent financial advisors before making any investment decisions. By using this information, you agree that One Click Crypto is not liable for any losses or damages arising from your investment choices.
