Crypto Airdrops Tier List: What Happened to the Top 2023 Picks?

This article preserves our original Crypto Airdrops Tier List published on March 23, 2023, then records what actually happened to every featured project. It is a retrospective, not a list of airdrops to farm today. The old testnets, snapshots, points programs and claim windows described below have ended or changed unless a dated update explicitly says otherwise.

Security warning: An expired campaign is a common lure for wallet-draining websites. Never enter a recovery phrase, approve an unexplained transaction or spend money merely because an unofficial page promises one of these old airdrops. Verify any new campaign through the project’s current official website and announcements.

2026 outcome summary

Original Crypto Airdrops Tier List (2023)

We compiled the top trending airdrop prospects of 2023 into a tier list based on four criteria. The tiers and the wording in each criteria list are preserved as the author’s original assessment; they do not describe live opportunities in 2026.

• Project Credibility — Is the project backed by reputable investors or partnered with well-established, legitimate projects? Is there any public information available about the project team, and do they have prior experience in the blockchain industry?
• Security — Is it safe to connect my MetaMask or other crypto wallets to the project’s website? Has the project been audited by a third-party security firm?
• Cost — Does participating in the airdrop require any form of spending or investment, or is it entirely free?
• Effort — How much time and effort do I need to invest in completing the tasks that qualify me for the airdrop? Are these tasks simple or challenging? Does it require me to be a developer, validator, or just a regular user?

S Tier Airdrops

zkSync

2026 outcome: zkSync’s ZK distribution used a March 24, 2024 snapshot. The official claim ran from June 17, 2024 through January 3, 2025, so any site offering this original claim now is not legitimate. Eligibility was based on several categories and was not a simple promise that frequent transactions or higher volume would earn more tokens.

• Project Credibility — zkSync is developed by Matter Labs, a well-known engineering team based in Europe. They have raised $458 million in financing across all rounds, backed by the likes of the Ethereum Foundation.
• Security — The project has been audited by several top smart contract security firms including OpenZeppelin, Halborn, and Code4rena.
• Cost — You will need to bridge ETH to the zkSync Era Mainnet via ZigZag Exchange or Orbiter Finance. Swap stablecoin pairs to minimize cost risk. You can also interact with the zkSync Era Testnet using free testnet tokens.
• Effort — The steps are easy to follow, but it’s recommended to perform them frequently and consistently to be included in the snapshot. Actions involve bridging your funds, swapping and trading tokens, or providing liquidity. The higher the aggregate value, the more $ZKS tokens you can potentially earn.

Original 2023 grading insight: zkSync was the most anticipated airdrop after Arbitrum. At the time, crypto users had bridged over $8 million in funds to the network in hopes of qualifying. The prediction that using zkSync could lead to an ecosystem reward ultimately proved directionally correct, but the exact eligibility rules were only known later.

Sui

2026 outcome: This prediction did not come true as described. Sui’s official Community Access Program FAQ said there were no official plans for a SUI airdrop and warned that claims of task-based eligibility were false. Sui instead offered purchase access and allowlist opportunities to parts of its community before mainnet.

• Project Credibility — Sui is developed by Mysten Labs, comprising former Meta (formerly Facebook) executives and engineers. The company has raised $300 million, resulting in a valuation of over $2 billion, with backing from major investors like Coinbase and Binance.
• Security — Sui’s security architecture is secured by Move, a Rust-based programming language independently developed by Meta. The smart contract code for Sui is publicly available for review and auditing.
• Cost — Similar to Aptos, you can interact with protocols on Sui with free devnet tokens.
• Effort — Building protocols on Sui requires coding experience. As a regular user, you can perform simple tasks like staking devnet tokens or minting NFTs until the mainnet launch in Q2.

Original 2023 grading insight: Aptos, also an L1 built by former Meta developers, had conducted one of the largest airdrops the year before. We expected Sui to follow suit, but it did not offer the rumored retroactive testnet airdrop.

A Tier Airdrops

StarkNet

2026 outcome: Starknet’s first official STRK Provisions claim opened February 20, 2024 and closed June 20, 2024. The Foundation said more than 700 million STRK from a 900 million STRK program allocation were available in that round; the criteria were fixed by its earlier snapshot, so the activity below cannot create eligibility now.

• Project Credibility — StarkNet is developed by StarkWare Industries, an Israeli software company that specializes in cryptography. They have raised $100 million that puts the company’s estimated value at $8 billion. They are partners with some of the biggest names in crypto including ConsenSys and Chainlink.
• Security — StarkNet is audited by numerous leading security firms like Consensys Diligence and OpenZeppelin.
• Cost — You will need to bridge ETH to the Starknet Alpha Mainnet via StarkGate. Swap stablecoin pairs to minimize cost risk.
• Effort — Argent X wallet is required. Bridge and swap assets frequently and consistently to be included in the snapshot. The higher the aggregate value, the more tokens you can potentially earn.

Original 2023 grading insight: StarkNet was one of the highest-valued L2 projects in the crypto market, and its planned community incentives made it a prominent candidate.

Shardeum

2026 outcome: Shardeum mainnet launched on May 5, 2025. Its first two official SHM airdrop phases covered 63,494 wallets and 5,516,575 SHM, with registration windows in March through May 2025. Those phases are closed; the betanet activity below is historical.

• Project Credibility — Shardeum is co-founded by Nischal Shetty and Omar Syed. Shetty is the founder and CEO of WazirX and Syed is a blockchain architect who previously worked for NASA and Shardus. The project has raised $18.2 million, backed by Jane Street and The Spartan Group.
• Security — Shardeum ensures security through dynamic state sharding, which makes it challenging to attack due to the random assignment of nodes to shards in the network.
• Cost — You can interact with the Shardeum betanet with free testnet tokens.
• Effort — Mint NFTs or swap assets frequently on different Shardeum protocols.

Original 2023 grading insight: Shardeum was developing sharding technology and had a large testnet user base. The later distribution did reward eligible ecosystem participants, although its final phases and criteria differed from early expectations.

Scroll

2026 outcome: Scroll’s first SCR airdrop used an October 19, 2024 snapshot, included a 200 Marks threshold for the main onchain participation allocation, and closed claims on January 20, 2025. Scroll’s FAQ said future airdrops were possible, but the Alpha Testnet steps below cannot qualify a wallet for the completed first distribution.

• Project Credibility — Scroll is a globally distributed team filled with experts in zero-knowledge cryptography and distributed systems on blockchain technology. Backed by Polychain Capital, the project has raised a total of $83 million in funding rounds, bringing its valuation to $1.8 billion.
• Security — Scroll is a hierarchical zero-knowledge proof system, inheriting security from the Ethereum mainnet. The smart contract code for Scroll is publicly available for review and auditing.
• Cost — Scroll is currently in its Alpha Testnet phase, which means you can use free testnet tokens to interact with the protocol.
• Effort — Bridge testnet tokens between Goerli Testnet (L1) and Scroll Alpha Testnet (L2) frequently.

Original 2023 grading insight: Scroll was a popular Ethereum L2 scaling candidate and had discussed incentives for participation. Its later SCR distribution confirmed the broad thesis, but not an open-ended reward for repeating the old bridge task.

MetaMask

2026 outcome: MetaMask’s official Rewards help material says there are currently no plans for a MASK token. Rewards and partner benefits are not proof of an airdrop, and swapping or bridging solely in anticipation of MASK creates real fees and risks without confirmed eligibility.

• Project Credibility — MetaMask is the most used Ethereum wallet in the world.
• Security — All user wallets are secured with client-side encryption. With proper user practice, MetaMask is a reliable and secure option for managing and interacting with Ethereum-based cryptocurrencies and decentralized applications. Their recent audit was conducted in March 2023.
• Cost — You will need ERC-20 tokens. You can also buy ETH directly on MetaMask using credit cards, Apple Pay or bank transfers.
• Effort — Bridge and swap ERC-20 tokens regularly with the built-in features in MetaMask.

Original 2023 grading insight: MetaMask was already foundational Web3 infrastructure, which drove speculation about a potentially valuable token. That speculation remains unconfirmed.

B Tier Airdrops

LayerZero

2026 outcome: LayerZero launched ZRO in June 2024 and eligible users claimed the token across several networks. LayerZero’s current token overview says there are no plans for a future airdrop, making the transaction-frequency strategy below obsolete.

• Project Credibility — LayerZero Labs is founded by a team of computer scientists from the University of New Hampshire. The project has raised $135 million from the likes of Coinbase and PayPal. LayerZero has a large ecosystem of DeFi protocols including Uniswap and Stargate Finance.
• Security — LayerZero has commissioned over 35 audits with the most recent audits on Github.
• Cost — You will need real funds to interact with the protocols on LayerZero. But you can also bridge Goerli testnet USDC between EVM chains using the USDC LayerZero Bridge.
• Effort — Make small transactions, deposit funds, provide liquidity, swap assets as frequently as you can.

Original 2023 grading insight: LayerZero had a large user base and prominent backers. Its eventual ZRO launch validated it as a major token candidate, but frequent transactions were never a guaranteed return.

ZetaChain

2026 outcome: ZetaChain launched mainnet and its ZETA token in early 2024. The pre-launch ZetaLabs points program and the testnet route below were retired; later XP reward rounds used their own snapshots and rules.

• Project Credibility — ZetaChain was built by a team with experience at companies including Coinbase and Basic Attention Token. It attracted backing from prominent crypto investors.
• Security — ZetaChain employs a novel omnichain approach to mitigate the risks of asset fragmentation and reduce the chances of 51% attacks. The project has been audited by PeckShield, Veridise, and QuantumBrief, and offers a bug bounty of up to $100,000.
• Cost — The incentivized testnet currently involves testnet tokens.
• Effort — Request ZETA tokens and swap assets between different chains frequently.

Original 2023 grading insight: ZetaChain appeared on lists of prominent 2023 airdrop candidates, and its points system made pre-launch contributions visible. The original points program has since ended.

Mantle Network

2026 outcome: Mantle mainnet launched on July 17, 2023, the same date the 1:1 BIT-to-MNT migration opened. This was principally a token transition and ecosystem launch rather than the straightforward new-token airdrop implied by early speculation. The Goerli tasks below are obsolete.

• Project Credibility — Mantle Network is incubated by BitDAO, one of the largest DAOs and partner of Bybit.
• Security — Its architecture adopts a modular approach to create a seperate, decetralized data availability layer in collaboration with EigenLayer. Smart contract code is regularly audited by the BitDAO community.
• Cost — The incentivized testnet currently involves testnet tokens.
• Effort — Bridge Goerli ETH to Mantle Testnet frequently. You can also complete Mantle Quests on Crew3 and Guild for a Discord role.

Original 2023 grading insight: Mantle’s BitDAO origins and community governance made it an incentive candidate, although participation never guaranteed a new-token payout.

Polyhedra Network

2026 outcome: Polyhedra launched its token in March 2024 following a snapshot of earlier zkBridge and campaign activity, then adopted ZKJ as its ticker. Its current tokenomics assigns 15% to community, airdrop and other activities, but that does not reopen the original CreatorTool/testnet campaign.

• Project Credibility — Polyhedra Network is built by leading engineers, developers, and researchers from UC Berkeley, Tsinghua University, and Stanford University. The project recently raised $10 million in funding, backed by Binance, Animoca Brands, and Polychain Capital.
• Security — Its infrastructure uses zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) to provide privacy extensions for Web3 with stealth address models.
• Cost — Only testnet tokens are needed to cover gas fees.
• Effort — Use Polyhedra CreatorTool to mint your own NFT and bridge them to other testnet blockchains. Repeat the process on different chains to enhance visibility of your on-chain activities.

Original 2023 grading insight: Polyhedra had recently launched its testnet, putting early users in a plausible position for a future distribution. A token and community allocation did later materialize.

C Tier Airdrops

Fuel Network

2026 outcome: Fuel later launched FUEL and conducted a Genesis Drop. Fuel’s official points page now says that program is closed, and the Beta-2 testnet tasks below are not a current qualification route.

• Project Credibility — Fuel Network raised $80 million in funding, backed by Blockchain Capital and Stratos Technologies.
• Security — The system is based on a fraud- or validity-provable computation system that leverages a modular blockchain for data accessibility.
• Cost — Their Beta-2 Testnet is live. No real funds are used.
• Effort — Fuel Wallet is required. Swap and trade tokens on SwaySwap frequently. You can also interact with other ecosystem DApps.

Original 2023 grading insight: Fuel had not confirmed a token launch at publication, but we expected the ecosystem to need one. The later FUEL launch proved that part of the prediction correct.

Celestia

2026 outcome: Celestia announced its official Genesis Drop in September 2023 for eligible developers and onchain addresses. Address registration closed on October 17, 2023 at 12:00 UTC. It cannot be claimed through a new website today.

• Project Credibility — Co-founder of Fuel Network, John Adler, also co-founded Celestia. The project has raised $55 million in funding, backed by Coinbase and Polychain Capital. Its total valuation is over $1 billion.
• Security — Modular architecture is similar to Fuel Network. Celestia offers shared security to blockchains deployed on it by providing consensus and data availability inherited by all utilizing chains.
• Cost — Its incentivized testnets require a node with decent internet connection. You will need to set up a development environment to run the Celestia node.
• Effort — This is more suitable for developers or validators rather than users.

Original 2023 grading insight: The node-based testnet route had limited access for general users. The eventual Genesis Drop, however, also covered qualifying developers and addresses across several ecosystems.

D Tier Airdrops

Blur

2026 outcome: Blur completed its Season 2 distribution in November 2023. Bids and listings made now cannot qualify for that past season, and an unexpected Season 2 claim link should be treated as phishing.

• Project Credibility — Blur is the fastest growing NFT marketplace on Ethereum, backed by Paradigm. Many Bored Ape holders and NFT whales have moved from OpenSea to Blur.
• Security — Blur is audited by Code4rena and Dedaub. It uses multi-signature contracts for token transfers. However, Blur has a smart contract risk in its execution module, which only checks if the caller can transfer tokens. Contract owners may add addresses as callers for token transfers, so users must trust Blur before trading NFTs on it.
• Cost — You will need ETH to bid or list on Blur. The more the better.
• Effort — The difficulty for the Season 2 airdrop may increase due to heightened competition.

Original 2023 grading insight: Since Blur tended to favor NFT and ETH whales, it was not the most suitable choice for those seeking cost-free airdrops.

Key Takeaway

The original tiers measured accessibility and expected upside in early 2023, not the eventual value of each token. The results also show why an airdrop prediction is not a promise: some projects rewarded early users, some used narrower criteria than farmers expected, and Sui did not run the rumored retroactive drop at all. Once a snapshot or registration window has closed, more activity cannot change eligibility for that distribution.

Before interacting with a new campaign, compare the likely reward with gas, bridge fees, slippage, smart-contract approvals, tax consequences and the risk that no token is distributed. Use a separate low-value wallet when appropriate, revoke unnecessary approvals and never disclose a recovery phrase.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official update sources

• ZK Nation: ZK token claim FAQs
• Sui: Community Access Program FAQ
• Starknet: Provisions Program
• Shardeum: SHM airdrop eligibility and registration
• Scroll: first airdrop FAQ
• MetaMask Rewards
• LayerZero: The ZRO Token
• ZetaChain: ZetaLabs airdrop pre-claim
• Mantle: BIT-to-MNT migration guide
• Polyhedra Foundation: ZKJ tokenomics
• Fuel: Genesis Drop documentation
• Celestia: Genesis Drop
• Blur governance forum: Season 2 claim discussion