Glossary
What is an airdrop?
In one sentence
An airdrop is a free distribution of tokens to wallets, usually to bootstrap a user base — and a frequent disguise for scams.
Legitimate airdrops distribute tokens to people who have used a protocol, often rewarding early users. Some have been substantial, which is why the word attracts attention.
That attention makes airdrops effective bait. Fake claim pages ask you to connect a wallet and sign a transaction which, rather than claiming anything, grants the attacker permission to spend your tokens. Others simply ask for a seed phrase outright.
Unsolicited tokens appearing in your wallet deserve particular caution. Some are “dust” designed to make you interact with a malicious contract when you try to sell or move them. The safe response to an unexpected token is to leave it alone entirely.
A genuine airdrop never requires a seed phrase, and never requires you to send funds first to receive it.
For example
If claiming requires you to send crypto first, it is not an airdrop.