Airdrop Boon or Bain?
So we had a great conversation last night with our Quant @Quantico_xyz @saffroncrypto1 @geusey @suuuli_ and our fellow nad @fommesx We talked about the entire bear phase and how airdrops were very similar to market psychology, which taught many painful lessons while also being incredibly sweet for those who were sincere about using the product or knew exactly what they were doing.
With this, I thought this topic deserved further attention, and we’ll talk about what went wrong and what lessons we can draw from it, including what I learned from my instances. We will also explore what should be done to better train your brain to assist you stay outside of FOMO.
Click the link below to access the whole Discord conversation. It’s possible that I overlooked certain Alpha or lessons that are hidden throughout the whole talk we had the previous evening.
We will begin by discussing the history of airdrops before moving on. I won’t name the specific airdrop or explain how it came to be, but rather, why it was invented. Decentralization is the simple answer; the complex one, which is the one that matters to us, is to reward communities or users for their early efforts and to improve the value of the individual initiatives, so in the near term, everyone wins.
On the other hand, is it true in long term? Depending on the project and its objectives, the quick answer is no. There will be negative effects on holders and long-term buyers if the project decides to abandon itself. My name is associated with @monad_xyz as a community member, so pointing out projects can be detrimental to our community. However, if you would like to discuss this, my chat is always open from 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM UTC. If the project grows and the token utility is offered, even the governance may be a value creator. These instances are rare but undoubtedly present.
So what happened? During this last cycle, @uniswap started something that will never end, but the greed it brought spread like a disease in the ecosystem. I still believe airdrop is the right way forward, but rewarding the community is the key that must be taken care of, and there will never be any wrong way.
I personally received all of the major airdrops, and it was never about chasing airdrops; I was a long-time Ethereum user who was always thinking about learning the defi so that I could make additional investments. Personally, my finest airdrop for using product @paraswap, which let me endure the entire bear market. Fortunately, when @arbitrum did an airdrop, I did not FOMED because to my trade psyche, but instead witnessed the Retails and Bots engage in the largest carnage in crypto history.
So, now we have a couple questions:
- what is the best course of action? Answer is None; you can always have your own proper course of action; what important is that your behavior is never motivated by what you’ve heard, but rather by your conviction. I personally sell the majority of my drops when they occur because I always have a better trade to move to, where I have tremendous conviction. Except for a few projects that airdropped me and I am passionately in their project with appropriate read, like @Aptos
- What to expect? We understand how vital community is, and in recent years, initiatives have shifted to a new paradigm in which they reward community. People who use their product get angry, but there is a very strong reason for rewarding community over product users; if someone is part of the cult, they can make things happen like no one else can, from yapping to creating awareness, the team @keoneHD ‘s have created, and how perfect cult @billmondays have created, the complete transition i have witnessed my entire 16 months being part of the @monad community was amazing.
So, yeah, this is the current reality; the only important lesson is to always attempt to add value to the ecosystem and you will be rewarded if you deserve it; quit running for airdrops, and if you receive one, always back up your conviction.
If you find this useful, please follow @cryptodurgesh & my Medium Channel. This journey is here to stay forever.
