A new report from DappRadar, finds that roughly 88% of crypto airdropped tokens, including those tied to NFTs, see their values drop within three months after launch.
The report reviews a range of high-value airdrops across decentralized finance (DeFi), Layer-2 networks, NFTs, and gaming. While airdrops are increasingly popular as growth tools, they’ve distributed more than $20 billion in tokens since 2017, with $4.5 billion alone in 2023. So far, they often produce only short-term gains.
The ebb and flow of airdrops
Although they drive spikes in user activity, trading volume, and awareness, the report warns that many token recipients dump or liquidate their tokens quickly, causing value to collapse. Take, for instance, platforms like Blur, which grabbed a large market share, about 70%+ of NFT trading volumes overnight. Despite early excitement and dominant trading volumes, it experienced a steep decline soon after the launch.
Another example is Layer-2 rollups like Arbitrum, which distributed 1.16 billion ARB tokens in its March 2023 airdrop. At its peak, the tokens were worth close to $2 billion. Daily transactions surged to more than 2.5 million on the claim date, briefly surpassing Ethereum itself. But two months after the hype cooled down, the retention story got even more complex. In fact, the ARB token itself followed the familiar pattern. After launching at around $1.30–$1.40, it slid more than 75% within 2 years.
A gap between short-term hype and long-term sustainability
DappRadar emphasizes that while airdrops remain a powerful engagement tool, generating buzz and short-term traction, there is a large gap between initial hype and long-lasting ecosystem health. Sustained value for token projects seems to require more than just free distributions. Issuers need to ensure they back it up with strong liquidity, clear value propositions, genuine user retention, and governance structures.
Still, as of 2025, airdrops remain one of the most potent, even though imperfect, marketing weapons in the dapp industry.