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. The Arbitrum Foundation's glossary describes it as a mechanism that distributes tokens to qualifying wallet addresses, usually based on on-chain activity. Projects use airdrops to put a new token in the hands of early users. When Uniswap launched UNI on 16 September 2020, every address that had ever called its v1 or v2 contracts could claim 400 UNI. Arbitrum's ARB airdrop set aside 11.62% of the initial supply for users, scored with points for activity before a 6 February 2023 snapshot.

Most airdrops have to be claimed, usually by signing a transaction on a claim page during a claim period, and that step is what scammers copy. ethereum.org warns that fake airdrops drop a token into your wallet, send you to a scam site and ask you to approve a transaction that compromises the account. Arbitrum named a single official site for its claim and said there was no presale. The guide how to claim a crypto airdrop safely covers the checks.