New Report Shows Many Crypto Airdrops Are Rigged Against Themselves  – Crypto News

Node Capital, a leading cryptocurrency fund, has released “Airdropping: Some Truths.“, a comprehensive publication showing how to make the most of an airdrop campaign.  Node explains how to align strategies with the airdrop’s goals and how to use their Airdrop Assist Tool to quantifiably measure results.

After reviewing all the top airdrops and analyzing the results, the team at Node Capital decided to share their knowledge by creating a definitive guide to help explain the research and highlight the best practices teams can use for their own airdrop campaigns.   The guide is designed for any team wanting to reach a large audience and keep them interested.

The main takeaways include:

• Airdrops are not risk-free promotions.  They are great for creating fast wallet growth, but if not done properly can be very expensive with little long term results.
• Airdrops require clear goals, communication, and a commitment of at least 10% of the token supply to have a strong impact
• Users may be attracted by the free tokens, but you must give them a strong reason to stay and participate with your platform
• Measure what matters.  Selecting key metrics and measuring them before, during, and after the airdrop (Node Capital offers their Airdrop Assist Tool) can ensure the campaign achieved the desired effect

The Node Capital team shows that there is much more to creating an effective airdrop than most platforms realize.  Instead of taking a pile of tokens and announcing the airdrop over social media, any platform wanting to get the most bang for their buck must first do some soul-searching.  Node has strong advice on what homework must be completed well before an airdrop can be launched.  The platform has to firmly understand its goals in launching an airdrop:  Is it looking to expand users?  Encourage people to perform user testing and quality assurance?  Convert potential token holders into active participants?  Or diversify and decentralize the population holding tokens and driving the DAO?  There are a number of very worthy goals for an airdrop, and each requires a different approach to how the airdrop is launched.

Node outlines best practices in measuring the effectiveness of an airdrop.  Using many different Web3 platforms as real examples, they share the best metrics to track the particular goals set up for the airdrop.  Measuring wallet activity, collection timelines, how widespread the tokens are distributed, new token holders, and key metrics such as DAUs and MAUs are all important, but priority should be placed on the metrics that best reflect the airdrop goals.  

The airdrop must be set up in a way that matters not only to the current community, but to any new audiences the platform wants to reach.  The airdrop must fit into a platform’s tokenomics instead of being an afterthought, and the right communication strategy must be used to reach the target audiences.

Words of Wisdom

In addition to best practices, Node Capital dives into recommendations on handling more complex aspects of an airdrop.  For example, various strategies for filtering out bad actors, sybil attacks, and people who might want to take part but don’t match with the airdrop campaign’s goals.  There are many aspects of not only targeting the ideal audience, but ensuring that the airdrop isn’t diluted due to malicious actions.  

The team also discusses the role of other critical elements, such as auditing the smart contracts to ensure the airdrop is smooth and disaster-free; and how best to understand and work in concert with the relevant regulations that affect a particular platform.  These key elements should not be minimized, and sufficient time and resources should be dedicated to making sure they are done well.

Python-Based Airdrop Analysis

Node Capital’s Airdrop Assist Tool is an iterative development project that the team is releasing along with the guide.  It allows key measurements and analysis needed to measure the progress of an airdrop, providing a clear idea of the campaign’s effectiveness.  While Node discusses the tool as something that will likely evolve over time, it can provide a solid understanding of these important measurements.  

Through various scripts, the tool can create pre-built analyses, along with dynamic visualization to provide a clear picture of the airdrop’s activity.  It can even assist in selecting (and filtering) the correct user set that should be targeted for the airdrop.  

Or Harel of Node said of the airdrop tool, “After using it successfully in our own projects, it became clear that the best way to maximize the impact of the Airdrop Assist Tool is to make it open source. We want to provide real value, not just words. This tool offers both analytical insights and visualizations, serving as an iterative planning tool for airdrops. It’s about real solutions, not just concepts, empowering the crypto community to use, refine, and enhance it repeatedly. That’s the essence of what Web3 is all about—open and free innovation that continues to improve.”

About Node Capital

Node Capital is a dedicated, thesis-driven cryptocurrency fund with a strategic focus on long-term investments in seed or A-stage crypto infrastructure and decentralized protocols.  In addition to providing financial support for high potential projects, Node actively contributes as core members to emerging protocols and networks. The platform’s hands-on approach extends to addressing technical challenges and navigating token economics.

Along with tools such as the Airdrop Assist tool, Node Capital offers its node operation company Node.Monster, which plays a pivotal role in assisting teams during the early days of network bootstrapping.