Crypto was awash with free money this year, as projects doled out hefty sums of tokens to intrepid users and devoted communities via airdrops.With animal spirits returning to the crypto market alongside Bitcoin’s record-setting climb, some handouts dwarfed those that turned heads in 2023. Tallying up just this year’s top five airdrops, users and communities walked away with over $19 billion worth of free internet moolah.These are some of airdrops that made a sizable splash in 2024, based on their associated token’s peak value. They range from decentralized finance (DeFi) fledglings to established NFT brands, along with everything else that fell in between.Hyperliquid: $10.84 billionCruising into the top spot by a country mile, the Hyper Foundation’s distribution of HYPE handily rewarded users of the Hyperliquid Network in November.Users of the layer-1 network, which has been optimized for high speed DeFi transactions, received a total of 31 million HYPE that was initially worth $1.6 billion. That placed the airdrop among the most valuable in history. What’s more, the value of those tokens has since swelled above a whopping $10.8 billion in a matter of weeks.When it comes to the network, Hyperliquid’s decentralized exchange (DEX) is billed as its flagship application, offering perpetual futures trading and up to 50x leverage. Since launch, the DEX has seen over 312,000 users, according to the Hyper Foundation’s website.Starknet: $3.09 billionStarknet first launched its mainnet in 2021. But the Ethereum layer-2 scaling network waited three years for its much-anticipated STRK airdrop.With 700 million STRK tokens initially handed out, including those to Ethereum stakers, the initiative saw crypto users far beyond the scaling solution’s borders rewarded with tokens. And those STRK tokens play a key role in Starknet’s governance.In June, the network’s developer, StarkWare, signaled that it would try to bring its scaling tech, utilizing zero-knowledge rollups, to Bitcoin.Last month, Starknet launched “phase 1” of a staking initiative, saying it had become the first layer-2 to let users earn rewards by participating in the process of validating transactions.Pudgy Penguins: $3.064 billionWith a market cap of over $500 million, Pudgy Penguins’ flagship NFT collection has solidified its presence on Ethereum. With the project’s toys hitting shelves in Walmart and Target, its commercial efforts have stood out amid a relatively chilly NFT market.Earlier this month, Pudgy Penguins expanded to Solana with the launch of PENGU, billed as a way for Pudgy Penguins fans to better connect with its brand. A graphic released alongside the token’s announcement indicated that around half of PENGU’s 88.88 billion supply went to members of Pudgy Penguin’s community, other communities, and FTT holders. FTT served as the native token of collapsed crypto exchange FTX. But when it came to other projects that Pudgy Penguins brought into the fol
Ven. Gen 10th, 2025
