After Aptos’ mainnet launch and massive airdrop last month, several new applications are launching on the blockchain, and have hinted at their future airdrops.
New network deployments in cryptocurrency are frequently followed by airdrop seasons. These “seasons” are times when all new projects that have successfully developed applications on the network’s testnet prepare to launch them on the mainnet.
They airdrop a portion of their native coin to early adopters to stimulate activity and attract new users to their product.
What are Airdrops
Airdrops are an excellent approach for emerging projects to garner attention and conduct a fair initial distribution of their local governance tokens. They are a very good method for people to earn money risk-free by testing out new applications.
The most recent instance of this is the debut of one of the most anticipated Layer 1 networks, Aptos, and the next airdrop season.
What is Aptos
Aptos is a Proof-of-Stake-based Layer 1 blockchain that combines Move, a novel smart contract language, with parallel transaction processing to enable extremely high throughput.
Aptos Labs, a blockchain business founded by two former Meta workers, Mo Shaikh and Avery Ching, developed it. It is seen as the technological successor to Meta’s abandoned blockchain project Diem, which is the primary reason for its early popularity.
Aptos went live on its mainnet on October 19 with an airdrop of 150 APT tokens (worth approximately $1,237 at the time) to anyone who participated in its incentive-based testnet.
Hundreds of new projects have either debuted or announced their release on Aptos in less than a month, with several indicating prospective airdrops.
Even though the majority of these airdrops have not yet been formally confirmed, several airdrop hunters have already begun submitting applications in the hopes of being selected.
Utilizing as many Aptos applications as possible is the best way to capitalize on this gold rush, as many of them might retroactively reward their users with airdrops.
You can begin utilizing the network and planning for airdrop season with a little number of funds to limit your risk exposure; spending a smaller sum on airdrop hunting tactics is not likely to disqualify you from potential chances.
Aptos News provides a page on Notion with a comprehensive list of live and future Aptos applications. You can filter for projects that are already live on the mainnet and then examine them to determine if they intend to launch tokens.
To help you to get started with Aptos and maybe walk away with a handsome profit, I’ve listed 6 steps that could help you acquire tokens from projects known to have impending airdrops.
- Obtain an Aptos wallet
- Connect USDC to Aptos bridge
- Trade on liquidswap
- Invest in Aptos monkey or Aptomomo NFTs
- Trade on Cetus protocol
- Start liquid staking on Tortuga
1. Obtain an Aptos Wallet
The initial step in this method is to download an Aptos-compatible crypto wallet. The two most popular wallets at present are Martian and Pontem.
Download and install both versions, as certain Aptos programs only support one. Moreover, both wallets are supposed to create their own tokens but to qualify, you must take separate actions.
After downloading the Chrome extension and creating a wallet for Martian, change the network from within your wallet to the Devnet, acquire some devnet APT tokens, and mint the complimentary Martian NFT.
This NFT will boost your odds of obtaining an airdrop from the project soon.
To qualify for the officially confirmed Pontem airdrop, you must first download the Pontem Chrome extension, create your wallet, then bridge some tokens to Aptos.
2. Connect USDC with Aptos Bridge
I advise using LayerZero’s Aptos Bridge to bridge a stablecoin such as USDC. LayerZero is also supposed to launch its own token, so you will likely kill two birds with one stone if you do this.
To transfer USDC to Aptos, navigate to the Aptos Bridge, connect your MetaMask wallet on Ethereum to your Pontem wallet on Aptos, pick the amount of USDC you wish to transfer from Ethereum to Aptos, and click “transfer.” In a few minutes, USDC will be in your Aptos Pontem wallet.
This should help you become eligible for the LayerZero airdrop.
3. Trade on Liquidswap
To be eligible for the Pontem airdrop, you must use Liquidswap, the project’s decentralized exchange on Aptos.
Before you can do so, though, you’ll need to purchase APT tokens to pay the gas expenses for Aptos transactions.
Currently, this is only possible by utilizing centralized exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase, or FTX, and then withdrawing APT to your Pontem wallet.
After acquiring APT, you can conduct a simple trade on Liquidswap to potentially qualify for the Pontem airdrop.
If you wish to increase your exposure to APT, for instance, you can exchange the USDC you crossed from Ethereum for APT, which should be sufficient to qualify you for the airdrop.
To boost your chances, even more, it may be prudent to offer liquidity.
Following the preceding procedures, you should already hold USDC and APT on Aptos, allowing you to contribute liquidity to the APT/USDC pool on the exchange.
To accomplish this, navigate to the “Pools” section of Liquidswap’s webpage, pick APT and USDC as the necessary tokens, and then click “Provide Liquidity.”
You can cease giving liquidity at any point, but it is prudent to continue doing so until the airdrop has been distributed.
4. Invest in Aptos Monkey or Aptomomo NFTs
Another decentralized exchange using Aptos that has confirmed an airdrop is Enchanter Finance.
You must purchase NFTs from either the Aptos Monkeys or Aptomingos collections and follow the steps indicated in the team’s official airdrop guide to qualify for this airdrop.
In the coming days, this airdrop campaign will begin, so be sure to follow the project’s social media channels for updates.
It is also a good idea to perform a simple swap or provide liquidity on the exchange if the exchange decides to reward its users retroactively in the future.
5. Trade on Cetus Protocol
Consider trading and supplying liquidity on the decentralized Cetus Protocol exchange, as it is another project said to be launching a token soon.
Essentially, the procedure is identical to swapping or increasing liquidity on Liquidswap and Enchanter Finance.
6. Start liquid staking on Tortuga
Tortuga, liquid staking protocol, is a second project you should consider using.
Tortuga has revealed plans to develop its own coin, which it would give to its users, although it has not yet officially confirmed an airdrop.
To qualify for a prospective Tortuga airdrop, you must stake APT for the yield-bearing tAPT token on Tortuga’s liquid staking application and then generate liquidity for the APT/tAPT trading pair on Aptos’s AUX decentralized exchange.
Closing thoughts
As many of the prospective airdrop possibilities are unconfirmed, likely, some of them will not materialize.
In addition, it is important to remember that the Aptos ecosystem is still in its infancy, and applications developed on it may be susceptible to vulnerabilities or attacks.
This is especially true for decentralized exchanges, which are susceptible to liquidity problems and platform-wide outages.
Consequently, seeking Aptos airdrops with tiny amounts should offset the inherent dangers of utilizing the immature Layer 1 network and its smart contract-based protocols.
