Glossary
Airdrop glossary
34 terms you will meet when hunting airdrops, each defined in one sentence and explained with an example.
A
- Airdrop
- An airdrop is a distribution of crypto tokens to qualifying wallet addresses, usually based on their past activity with a project, without the recipient buying the tokens.
- Allowlist
- An allowlist is a list of wallet addresses that a project lets do something before or instead of the general public, such as minting an NFT before a public sale.
B
- Burner wallet
- A burner wallet is a separate, low-value crypto account used to connect to untrusted apps or airdrop claims, so that a malicious approval or signature cannot reach the owner's main holdings.
C
- Claim period
- A claim period is the window during which eligible wallets can collect an airdrop, usually by signing a transaction on the project's claim page; once it closes, the tokens can no longer be claimed.
- Cliff
- A cliff is a waiting period at the start of a vesting schedule during which no tokens are released; when it ends, a first block of tokens typically unlocks and regular releases begin.
E
- EVM
- The EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) is the software environment that runs smart contracts on Ethereum; chains that copy it are called EVM-compatible and can use the same wallets and addresses.
F
- Fully diluted valuation (FDV)
- Fully diluted valuation (FDV) is a token's current price multiplied by its total supply, an estimate of what all the tokens would be worth together if every one were already in circulation.
G
- Gas fee
- A gas fee is the payment, usually in the network's own coin such as ETH on Ethereum, needed to have a transaction processed; on Ethereum it is charged whether or not the transaction succeeds.
K
- KYC
- KYC (know your customer) is the process in which a regulated financial service, such as a crypto exchange, identifies and verifies a customer's identity before letting them use some or all of its features.
L
- Layer 2
- A layer 2 is a blockchain network built on top of a main chain such as Ethereum that processes transactions more cheaply and quickly, then settles them back to the main chain.
M
- Mainnet
- Mainnet is the main public network of a blockchain, where tokens and transactions carry real value, as opposed to a testnet used for trials.
N
- NFT
- An NFT (non-fungible token) is a blockchain token that is individually unique, unlike interchangeable tokens such as ETH, and is used to prove ownership of items like art, game assets or passes.
P
- Phishing
- Phishing is a scam in which an attacker poses as a trusted company or project, by email, message, ad or fake website, to trick people into handing over passwords, seed phrases or wallet approvals.
- Play-to-earn
- Play-to-earn is a model of blockchain game in which players earn tokens or NFTs through gameplay, own them in their wallets and can sell them, so rewards can carry real market value.
- Points program
- A points program is a scheme in which a project awards points for activity such as deposits, trading or referrals, which the project may later convert into a token airdrop at a rate it chooses.
- Private key
- A private key is the secret number that controls a single blockchain account and signs its transactions, so whoever holds it can move everything in that account.
Q
- Quest platform
- A quest platform is a service where projects post tasks, such as following a social account or making an on-chain transaction, and reward users who complete them with points, NFTs or tokens.
R
- Retroactive airdrop
- A retroactive airdrop rewards wallets for activity they completed before the airdrop was announced, so recipients qualify through past use of a protocol rather than tasks set afterwards.
- Rug pull
- A rug pull is a scam in which the creators of a crypto, NFT or gaming project collect money from buyers and then abruptly abandon the project and keep the funds.
S
- Seed phrase
- A seed phrase is the secret list of words that backs up a crypto wallet and can restore every account in it, so anyone who learns the phrase controls all of the wallet's funds.
- Smart contract
- A smart contract is a program stored on a blockchain that runs automatically when its conditions are met, following rules in its code that cannot be changed once it is created.
- Snapshot
- A snapshot is a record of wallet balances or activity taken at a specific block or date, which a project uses to decide who qualifies for an airdrop and how much each wallet receives.
- Staking
- Staking is locking up crypto to help secure a proof-of-stake network in return for rewards; on Ethereum it means depositing ETH to activate a validator, which loses ETH if it misbehaves.
- Sybil attack
- A Sybil attack is when one person or group runs many wallets or accounts to look like many separate users, typically to claim a bigger share of an airdrop.
T
- Tap-to-earn
- Tap-to-earn is a type of crypto game, usually a Telegram mini app, where players tap the screen and do simple tasks to collect in-game coins that may later convert into tokens.
- Telegram Mini App
- A Telegram Mini App is an app that runs inside the Telegram messenger but is built and operated by an independent developer, not by Telegram; many tap-to-earn games run this way.
- Testnet
- A testnet is a separate blockchain network that copies a main network's rules for testing, where the coins have no intended value and are usually handed out free by faucets.
- Ticker
- A ticker is the short code, usually a few capital letters, that identifies a token on exchanges and in wallets, such as HMSTR for Hamster Kombat or ARB for Arbitrum.
- Token approval
- A token approval is a permission recorded on-chain that lets a smart contract spend or move a token from your wallet on your behalf, up to the amount or items the approval covers.
- Token generation event (TGE)
- A token generation event (TGE) is the moment a project's token is first created on-chain, which typically sets the start date for airdrop claims, vesting schedules and the first trading listings.
- Token unlock
- A token unlock is the point when previously locked or vesting tokens become transferable, increasing the supply that holders such as teams and investors are able to sell.
- Tokenomics
- Tokenomics is the economic design of a crypto token: its total supply, how that supply is split between community, team, investors and treasury, and the schedule on which each share is released.
V
- Vesting
- Vesting is a schedule that releases allocated tokens to a holder gradually over a set period, instead of all at once, so team members, investors or users cannot sell their full allocation immediately.
W
- Wallet drainer
- A wallet drainer is a malicious website or script that tricks a user into signing approvals or transactions that let an attacker move the tokens and NFTs out of their wallet.