In 2025, I received a big bag of crypto airdrops with a total initial value of $25,054, and it's not much but is honest work! Thinking about it ... I should have sold everything instantly!
Like many in the space, I didn’t immediately sell everything... hoping for that 100x to trigger. I decided to HODL a portion of the tokens, believing in their long-term potential.
The HODL Outcome? From the total airdrops, the tokens I chose to hold were worth $9,181 at the time of receipt. Over time, market conditions, token emissions, and overall sentiment took their toll.
Today ... the value of those same tokens stands at $2,324. That represents a loss of approximately 75% on the tokens I held, and diamond hands is such an overrated concept!
Despite the losses on held tokens, not everything was negative. Some of those airdrops turned out to be clear standouts and significantly boosted overall returns.
The biggest wins came from Caldera and Mira, with $7200 and $6000 cashed out value! They had strong early momentum, better token economics, or simply benefited from good timing and market demand.
This experience highlights a few important lessons about airdrops, that I will implement into my 2026 strategy! Airdrops are not guaranteed long-term holds as most peak early and trend downward.
Taking partial profits matters, and selling a portion early can protect gains. However, this year will go into full cash-out momentum, and the majority will turn into USDC instantly!
Quality varies widely and a few strong projects often carry the entire portfolio. HODLing has opportunity cost but belief alone doesn’t protect against dilution or weak demand.
Airdrops in 2025 proved to be both rewarding and humbling. While the total airdrop value was impressive, the decision to HODL certain tokens resulted in ... REKT vibes.
The top half of the chart has Caldera, Mira, and $PROMPT from Wayfinder, all three with good amounts cashed out. Turtle Club's $TURTLE is the first HODL token and the loss is at 66% of the initial value.
The $GIZA airdrop was unexpected so no drama, while Catapult had one of the best mindshare campaign so far! Daily USDT based on engagement, and dynamics against spamming!
Loud was one that I've got trough Kaito, and the dump was obvious! After this starts the list of "Why I didn't sold?" tokens, where everything lost most of it's value. Too late to sold now!
The $ERA airdrop marked a major milestone for Caldera, when 7% of the total supply was shared to early users, contributors, and testnet participants. I wasn't ready for what was yet to come!
However... the Kaito yappers had a bigger share. My X activity was rewarded with 3,480 $ERA ... which was OK when I checked the airdrop eligibility. With TGE you have no clue where the price starts!
What a touch of class from Caldera to double the allocation with bonus staked tokens. These tokens were automatically staked at TGE, so 3712 $ERA stayed locked for three months!
I had no clue $ERA will cook, and once the token went live... this airdrop went straight into the top! Years ago I got $8k worth of $FORTH for playing with $AMPL... and nothing major since then!
Caldera’s approach was all about rewarding real engagement without extra hoops. I tried to be diamond hands.... and watched $ERA going above one dollar... and flying past $1.60 when I cashed out!
The fees were massive, as $ERA broke the Ethereum mainnet. I spent $300 to claim my airdrop and to swap it to $ETH, which I left idle until the next morning for lower gwei.
Half of the $ERA airdrop was swapped for $5,872 worth of $ETH and half is still farming. I was inspired when I swapped for $ETH not stablecoins, because it went up by another $400 until the next morning!
Cashed out $6,200 in $USDC and started moving around and DCA into some of my favourite tokens. I was more than happy with how Caldera managed the distribution, and even happier with the price movement!
However, there's nothing guaranteed in crypto... especially the price of tokens. It wasn't pump and dump... just normal bull market! The remaining bag was sold 90 days later for $1000, which was still decent!
Mira Network as the decentralized platform built to verify AI outputs through consensus. AI is an extraordinary force shaping the future, but without trust, it’s just random words on a screen.
The $MIRA TGE marked a key milestone in this journey! The token is empowering the community to participate directly in securing, validating, and governing the future of trustworthy AI.
The TGE took everyone by surprise... and the allocations were beyond expectations! I found 4202 $MIRA available to claim, which on the day was a bit over $6000 in value!
The age of moonshots is gone amigos... now it's about the grind! You need either capital or a strong social media voice to be successful, and it's even better if you have both!
Airdrops are a game of timing, discipline, and selective conviction. The Caldera airdrop was bigger than expected, but I was committed to the hustle early days.
The small airdrops often disappoint us, specially when we put lot of work into a project. Big wins came randomly, but those small gains accumulate into pocket money as well.
Most of the small airdrops eligibility was without much hustle, either for being part of the Kaito community and having staked $KAITO, or for hustling a project that had a partnership with a new protocol.
Every little helps, and sometimes if the value is low, I prefer to take advantage of long-term locking options. Locked my $IDRISS for 18 months, same with the $BLESS tokens.
With Bless Network I will receive a lot more in one year so decided to do something similar for Tennet. The offer was 334 $TEN to claim or double once they launch their blockchain.
Cool stuff I want to share:
Claim your Zerion XP!
Play2Earn: Splinterlands & Holozing
PVM The Author - My Amazon Books
