Why is Hyperliquid’s airdrop so successful?
Since the release of a large-scale $1.5 billion airdrop in Q4 2024 (as of 07/02/2025), Hyperliquid remains a hot topic in the market. Many analysts and investors have hailed it as a “rare golden airdrop in recent years,” and some even believe it may be the “last golden airdrop.”
However, at the same time, Hyperliquid’s success is not achieved simply by giving away a large amount of tokens; it combines high-performance public chains with decentralized exchanges, a rigorous token distribution mechanism, and a long-term vision for continuous community development, which has contributed to this legendary event.
This article will analyze the key factors behind the success of Hyperliquid’s airdrop from three aspects: specific numbers, mechanism principles, and market cases.
The “Golden Effect” of the first airdrop
31% Generosity: Numbers and Returns
In Q4 2024, Hyperliquid officially announced the first round of airdrops, distributing 31% of the total token supply (approximately 310 million HYPE tokens). According to official data, a total of 94,028 wallets participated, with an average of approximately 2,915.66 HYPE tokens per address and a median of 64.53 tokens.
On the day the airdrop was launched, the initial price of HYPE tokens was around $2-3. Many users found that the price quickly rose above $10, $20, and even reached over $32 after the secondary market opened. Some early users with high trading volume received returns of $100,000-$200,000 or even higher, setting remarkable records of seven-figure profits.
On the same day, the platform’s 24-hour trading volume surged to $270 million, indicating a highly enthusiastic market response to the airdrop.
Strict Witch Prevention and Targeting Real Users
Before the airdrop was officially claimed (around November 27, 2024), Hyperliquid conducted extensive detection to identify a large number of so-called “witch behaviors” attempting to manipulate scores through multiple fake addresses. The final airdrop allocation for these addresses was significantly reduced (or even eliminated).
This ensured that the airdrop truly reached active users with genuine trading volume and successfully created a high-quality and loyal early community, reducing initial token dumping.
Word-of-mouth Self-fermentation: From User Profits to Ecosystem Expansion
Wealth Effect:
Due to the substantial number of airdrop tokens and the surge in token price, many users became “overnight millionaires,” creating a strong “airdrop culture” within the community. People shared their operational experiences, attracting more people to trade and stake on the platform.
NFT and the Secondary Market:
The official also revealed that some top users will receive HYPE NFTs. Although the issuance time and mechanism have not been fully disclosed, rumors suggest that the estimated trading price on the secondary market could exceed $40,000, further increasing community expectations.
The Hidden Driving Force of Hyperliquid’s Product Strength
1. High-performance L1 public chain + decentralized perpetual contract DEX
Hyperliquid has a self-developed L1 public chain, which uses the HyperBFT consensus mechanism. Since the end of 2024, it has demonstrated speeds of 200,000 TPS and final confirmations within 0.2 seconds, comparable to or even surpassing the performance of some centralized exchanges.
Multiple Integration:
The platform supports perpetual contract trading, staking, Vaults, NFT minting, and other multiple functions, allowing users to complete most of their trading needs within a decentralized but high-performance ecosystem.
2. Flexible Extension Applications: EVM, Staking, and Ecosystem
Although the mainnet of Hyperliquid’s EVM and specific functions (such as refined Staking rewards) have not been fully released before and after the airdrop, the official’s multiple Roadmap shares have been sufficient to generate high market expectations for future scalability and ecosystem development.
Continuous Launch of New Features:
Within a few months after the airdrop, Hyperliquid has successively launched more trading pairs, liquidity mining incentives, and other measures, stabilizing the platform’s trading volume and capital inflow.
Community Construction:
With the gradual improvement of the smart contract execution environment, an increasing number of decentralized applications (DApps) and protocols have begun to be deployed on Hyperliquid, creating a positive feedback loop.
The Last Golden Airdrop?
1. Possibility of Second and Third Quarter Airdrops
Since Hyperliquid has distributed 31% of its airdrop, there is still a significant token supply of 38.88% reserved for future community rewards, in addition to 23% allocated to core contributors. The general consensus is that if the platform continues to cultivate the market through airdrops or rewards after 2025, it may create another wave of “golden airdrops.”
Some commentators believe that as the market matures, the logic of Hyperliquid’s future airdrops may become more stringent or take other forms (such as liquidity mining and project incubation rewards) rather than a large-scale one-time token distribution. The community is both excited and cautious about this.
2. The Interplay of Wealth Creation and Market Conditions
According to statistics released in January 2025, within six weeks after the Hyperliquid airdrop, the HYPE token price soared from $2 to $32, temporarily positioning the platform’s market value close to that of some well-established public chains.
Recently, the token price has fluctuated between $20 and $25, and there have been “negative news” questioning whether Hyperliquid is overvalued. However, most supporters still have confidence in the platform’s long-term development and expect that if NFTs and ecosystem DApps continue to grow, there is still room for the token price to rise.
Key to Success: Meticulous Design and Long-term Value
Image / https://x.com/threesigmaxyz/status/1882425456059642233
Large-scale and well-planned token distribution:
Although the 31% airdrop is considered generous, it is accompanied by rigorous witch detection and the requirement for “real trading volume,” ensuring high-quality recipients and suppressing short-term dumping.
Powerful product strength and technical support:
With a high-performance public chain, fast matching, and decentralized perpetual contract trading, Hyperliquid has the foundation to support a large number of users and capital flow.
Community value and word-of-mouth effect:
Since the airdrop has indeed brought substantial profits to a large number of users, the community has grown spontaneously, forming a so-called “golden airdrop” reputation. The support of NFTs, liquidity mining, and other activities has injected sustained enthusiasm into the ecosystem.
Future expectations:
Diverse reward schemes: Although Hyperliquid has not officially announced the form of future airdrops, the reserved token supply of 38.88% and the allocation to core contributors are still sufficient, indicating that the platform will continue to motivate users and developers through various reward mechanisms to maintain the prosperity of the ecosystem in the next 1-2 years.
Conclusion
The reason why Hyperliquid’s airdrop has caused such a significant impact in the cryptocurrency market is not only because they “gave away a lot of tokens” but also because:
– It combines a high-performance decentralized exchange with an L1 public chain, providing users with a trading experience comparable to centralized platforms.
– It incentivizes early users with a substantial number of tokens and ensures the airdrop reaches genuine active communities through strict screening, resulting in strong word-of-mouth dissemination.
– The significant reserve of tokens and the actively developing ecosystem create considerable room for imagination in the future.
Although some opinions suggest that Hyperliquid may be the “last golden airdrop,” given the nature of the cryptocurrency market, new innovative models will continue to emerge.
Airdrops that truly bring long-term benefits must combine high-quality product strength with a complete ecosystem. In this regard, Hyperliquid has undoubtedly presented an impressive report card and set a high standard for others to follow.
The viewpoints expressed in this article do not represent the position of “WEB3+.”