Why is Hyperliquid’s airdrop so successful?
Since the release of a large-scale $1.5 billion airdrop in Q4 of 2024 (02/07/2025), Hyperliquid has remained 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, the success of Hyperliquid is not achieved simply by giving away a large amount of tokens; it combines a high-performance public chain with a decentralized exchange, a rigorous token distribution mechanism, and a long-term vision for the continuous development of the community, which has contributed to this legendary event.
This article will deeply analyze the key factors of Hyperliquid’s successful airdrop from three perspectives: specific numbers, mechanism principles, and market cases.
The “golden effect” of the first airdrop
31% generous distribution: numbers and returns
In Q4 of 2024, Hyperliquid officially announced the first round of airdrop, distributing 31% of the total token supply (approximately 310 million HYPE tokens). According to official data, there were a total of 94,028 wallets participating, with an average of approximately 2,915.66 HYPE tokens per address and a median of 64.53 tokens.
On the day of the airdrop launch, the initial price of HYPE tokens was around $2-3. Many users found that the price quickly rose to over $10, $20, and even reached a peak of over $32 on the secondary market. Some early high-volume users earned returns of $100,000 to $200,000 or even higher, setting several seven-figure profit records.
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 official distribution of the airdrop (around November 27, 2024), Hyperliquid conducted a large-scale detection to target the so-called “witch behavior” of attempting to earn points through multiple fake addresses and significantly reduced (or even zeroed) the final airdrop ratio for these addresses.
This ensured that the airdrop landed in the hands of active users with real trading volume and successfully created a high-quality and loyal early community, reducing token dumping in the initial stage.
Self-reinforcing reputation: from user profits to ecosystem diffusion
Wealth effect:
Due to the substantial number of tokens in the airdrop and the soaring token price, many users became “overnight millionaires,” creating a strong “airdrop culture” within the community. People shared their trading 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, there are rumors that the estimated trading price on the secondary market could exceed $40,000, further boosting community expectations.
The hidden driving force of Hyperliquid’s product strength
1. High-performance L1 public chain + decentralized perpetual contract DEX
Hyperliquid has its own self-developed L1 public chain, using the HyperBFT consensus mechanism, which has demonstrated a transaction speed of 200,000 TPS and final confirmation within 0.2 seconds since the end of 2024, comparable to or even surpassing the performance of some centralized exchanges.
Multifunctional integration:
The platform supports perpetual contract trading, staking, Vaults, NFT minting, and other multiple functions, allowing users to complete most of their trading needs in a decentralized yet high-performance ecosystem.
2. Flexible extensions: EVM, Staking, and ecosystem
Although the Hyperliquid EVM mainnet and specific features (such as refined Staking rewards) were not fully released before and after the airdrop, the official’s multiple Roadmap shares have been sufficient to generate high expectations for future scalability and ecosystem development.
Continuous introduction of new features:
In the months following the airdrop, Hyperliquid has continuously launched more trading pairs, liquidity mining incentives, and other initiatives, ensuring stable growth in trading volume and capital inflow on the platform.
Community building:
With the gradual improvement of the smart contract execution environment, more decentralized applications (DApps) and protocols have started to be deployed on Hyperliquid, forming a positive feedback loop.
The last golden airdrop?
1. Possibility of second and third quarter airdrops
Since Hyperliquid has released 31% of the tokens in the airdrop and still retains 38.88% of the huge token supply for future community rewards, along with an additional 23% allocated to core contributors, it is widely believed 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, project incubation rewards), rather than a one-time large-scale token distribution. The community is both hopeful and cautious about this.
2. Interweaving of wealth creation and market trends
According to statistics released in January 2025, within six weeks after the Hyperliquid airdrop, the HYPE token price soared from $2 to $32, giving the platform the opportunity to approach the market value of some established public chains.
Recently, the token price has fluctuated between $20 and $25, and “negative news” questioning whether Hyperliquid is overvalued has emerged. However, most supporters still have confidence in the platform’s long-term development and expect that if NFT and ecosystem DApps continue to grow, the token price still has room for upward movement.
Key to success: meticulous design and long-term value
Image /https://x.com/threesigmaxyz/status/1882425456059642233
Large-scale and well-designed token distribution:
Although the 31% airdrop is generous, it is combined with 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 order matching, and decentralized perpetual contract trading functionality, Hyperliquid has the foundation to support a large number of users and capital flow.
Community value and reputation effect:
Since the airdrop has indeed brought substantial profits to many users, the community has grown spontaneously, creating a so-called “golden airdrop” reputation. The support of NFTs, liquidity mining, and other activities has further injected sustained enthusiasm into the ecosystem.
Future expectations:
Diverse forms of reward schemes: Although Hyperliquid has not officially announced the form of future airdrops, the reserved 38.88% token supply and the sufficient allocation to core contributors indicate that the platform will continue to incentivize users and developers through various reward mechanisms in the next 1-2 years, maintaining the prosperity of the ecosystem.
Conclusion
The reason why Hyperliquid’s airdrop has caused such a significant response in the cryptocurrency market is not just because they “gave away a lot of tokens,” but also because:
– By combining a high-performance decentralized exchange with an L1 public chain, it provides users with a trading experience comparable to centralized platforms.
– It incentivized early users with a large number of tokens and ensured that the airdrop reached the hands of a genuine active community through strict filtering, leading to a strong word-of-mouth spread.
– The substantial reserved tokens and the actively developing ecosystem allow for significant possibilities in the future.
Even though some perspectives suggest that Hyperliquid may be the “last golden airdrop,” given the nature of the cryptocurrency market, new innovative models continue to emerge.
Airdrops that can bring long-term benefits ultimately need to combine high-quality product strength with a complete ecosystem development, and Hyperliquid has undoubtedly delivered an impressive performance in these two aspects, setting a high standard for future projects.