Solana Airdrop Guide: Top Airdrop Farms 2024

What Are the Top Solana Airdrops in 2024?

1. Meteora

2. Jupiter

3. Phoenix Trade

4. Tensor

5. Backpack Exchange

6. MarginFi

7. Kamino

Key Takeaways

• Solana is an attractive blockchain for airdrop farming due to its substantial growth and influx of venture capital throughout 2024.

• Many notable airdrop farmers, such as CC2Ventures, have been drawn to Solana and have publicly shared their views on which projects might offer lucrative airdrops.

• The Solana ecosystem continues to expand, with daily transactions and trading volumes sometimes surpassing those of Ethereum, fueled by the growing demand for memecoins.

Why Farm Solana Airdrops?

Solana is currently the third largest Layer 1 (L1) blockchain by market capitalization behind Binance Smart Chain (BSC). Solana is considered by many as one of the most promising candidates to surpass Ethereum. Solana has seen immense growth in 2024 in terms of its Total Value Locked (TVL). While most other Layer 1s have stagnated TVL growth in 2024, Solana’s TVL grew threefold from $1.4B to almost $5B as of this writing.

BSC’s TVL stagnated in 2024.

Solana’s TVL grew threefold in 2024, overtaking BSC in TVL.

Besides the growth in TVL, Solana is also the home to many token launches – particularly of memecoins through Pump.fun – this means that in addition to having high TVL, Solana also has one of the highest trading volumes ever surpassing Ethereum on daily transactions and trading volume at times.

As a result of the thriving ecosystem, numerous Solana dApps have attracted substantial venture funding, making Solana a prime target for airdrop farmers. One prominent figure in this space is CC2Ventures, who has publicly expressed his strong optimism about the Solana ecosystem and its potential for lucrative airdrops.

Who Is CC2Ventures?

CC2Ventures is renowned on X (formerly Twitter) for his impressive ability to qualify for numerous airdrops with substantial allocations. His efforts have reportedly netted him $720K, solely from airdrop farming without the use of bots or scripts. CC2 publicly shares the projects he is currently farming and the strategies he employs. While this transparency has drawn criticism from some in the airdrop community for potentially diluting airdrop alpha, CC2 has consistently demonstrated a strong track record in identifying lucrative airdrop opportunities. His strategies remain a valuable resource for anyone involved in airdrop farming.

In this guide, we will delve into CC2’s top Solana projects to farm and explore some of the ways you can effectively farm these projects.

CC2Ventures’s extensive airdrop history:

What Are His Top Solana Airdrop Farms?

In a recent X (formerly Twitter) post, CC2 ranked his top projects to farm as follows:

1. Meteora

2. Jupiter

3. Phoenix Trade

4. Tensor

5. Backpack Exchange

6. MarginFi

7. Kamino

Here’s a breakdown of how to farm these projects.

Do note that airdrop farming is highly speculative with no guarantees that you will receive a return on your investment, so ensure you understand the risks involved before depositing any capital on any platforms. 

I have a decent amount of my NW in Solana, but I'm not farming that many airdrops over there in direct relation to ETH and BTC.

Airdrops I'm farming on Solana (ranked by priority)

- Meteora (let me experience Solana airdrop szn euphoria just one more time)
- Jupiter S2
-… pic.twitter.com/qFZk9cpy02

— CC2 (@CC2Ventures) August 30, 2024

Meteora

Formerly known as Mercurial, it was originally designed as a decentralized exchange (DEX) on Solana. However, it has since pivoted to become a liquidity layer dApp, focusing on facilitating market makers and enhancing liquidity across the Solana ecosystem.

Meteora’s Product Offerings

• Dynamic Liquidity Market Maker Pools (DLMM Pools)

• Dynamic Automated Market Maker Pools (Dynamic AMM Pools)

• Dynamic Vaults

• Multitoken Stable Pools

• Non-Pegged Stable Pools

According to Meteora’s official documentation, there are two notable community proposals with regards to Meteora’s upcoming airdrop.

Proposal 1:

All liquidity earns points at the following rates

• 1 point per $1 of Total Value Locked (TVL) per day

• 1000 points per $1 of fees earned

Proposal 2:

Traders who buy memecoins launching on eligible Meteora Dynamic Pools will now earn points towards the 10% LP Stimulus Proposal (Proposal 1) at a rate of 100 points per $1 of buys.

How to Farm Meteora?

Based on these proposals, the most effective strategy to farm the Meteora airdrop involves engaging with Meteora’s Dynamic Liquidity Market Maker (DLMM) concentrated liquidity pools. Concentrated liquidity pools are advantageous because they have the highest potential for earning fees, which are a significant factor based on Proposal 1.

For asset pair selection, you have two main strategies:

Low-Risk, High-Volume Asset Pairs

Choose high-volume, reputable asset pairs like JUP/SOL or SOL/USDC. These pairs tend to generate substantial fees while minimizing the risk of impermanent loss. Highly correlated pairs, such as JitoSol/SOL, should be avoided, as they generate minimal fees despite being lower risk.

High-Risk, High-Reward Memecoin Pools

If you're a degen that is willing to take on higher risk, consider providing liquidity to memecoin pools. Due to the extreme trading volumes associated with memecoins, you can potentially earn substantial fees—sometimes up to 50% of your liquidity in a single day. Additionally, purchasing memecoins on Meteora could also generate a high number of points as highlighted in proposal 2. However, this approach carries significant risks, including the potential for the liquidity pool's value to drop drastically within a day. There may also be high price slippages when you buy these memecoins due to the low liquidity available. Only pursue this route if you are experienced and understand the risks involved.

Jupiter Season 2

Jupiter is a comprehensive DeFi hub for Solana, offering a range of services including a DEX aggregator (Jupiter’s flagship product), perpetuals trading platform, and a crypto launchpad. With its expansive suite of features, Jupiter is positioned as a one-stop solution for DeFi on Solana. Season 1 of the Jupiter airdrop was among the largest in Solana’s history, with a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $7 billion. There are plans for three more seasons of Jupiter airdrops, continuing to reward its users and engage the community.

How to Farm Jupiter?

For the Season 1 airdrop, rewards were given to users who traded on the DEX aggregator, with a snapshot taken in late 2023 when there were fewer participants. At that time, the Jupiter launchpad and perpetuals had not yet been introduced. Consequently, the criteria for future airdrop seasons are expected to differ significantly from those of Season 1. Below are some methods that could be essential for qualifying for future seasons of the Jupiter airdrop.

Staking Jupiter Tokens

With the launch of Jupiter DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization), staking and participating in governance proposals are likely to become key criteria for future airdrops. According to Jupiter founder Meow during the weekly Jupiter Planetary Calls (a weekly update call), the Active Staking Rewards (ASR) and token distribution are designed to incentivize and empower those who actively engage and contribute to the platform’s future with more Jupiter tokens. Therefore, staking Jupiter tokens and voting on community governance proposals could also be essential actions for qualifying for future airdrops.

Jupiter Proof of Attendance Protocol NFTs

The Planetary Call takes place most weeks on Wednesdays from 22:30 SGT to around 01:00 SGT. At the end of each call, a limited-time QR code will be shared; you should fill out the form provided as proof of your attendance. Users who are verified as non-sybil and have staked at least 50 Jupiter tokens will receive a unique NFT.

Although this process may seem cumbersome, it’s worth noting that only a limited number of these NFTs are distributed each week. The presence of anti-sybil measures suggests that these NFTs could potentially be used as criteria for future airdrops.

Trading and Providing Liquidity on Jupiter’s Perpetual Exchange

As Jupiter charges zero fees for its DEX aggregator, its perpetual exchange platform is a major revenue driver for Jupiter. Given this, Jupiter’s team might aim to reward traders and liquidity providers on the perpetual platform, as they play a crucial role in the platform’s success. If you are not a trader, you may consider depositing liquidity into Jupiter’s JLP pool which can be a passive way for you to participate in Jupiter’s perpetual exchange.

Phoenix Trade

Phoenix Trade is an order book perpetual DEX on Solana. Its parent company, Ellipsis Labs, has raised a total of $23 million, with Paradigm leading the investment round. Paradigm is known for backing projects that often go on to airdrop tokens.

How to Farm Phoenix Trade?

To farm the Phoenix Trade airdrop, open and close trading positions on the platform. Currently, there is no official points program or leaderboard, making it difficult to measure the success of your airdrop farming efforts. Since trading is the platform’s only feature, it’s likely that a minimum number of trades and trading volume will be necessary to qualify for any potential airdrop.

However, be cautious: trading solely for the purpose of airdrop farming could lead to financial losses from unprofitable trades. Therefore, it is advisable to engage with Phoenix Trade only if you have an interest in trading on the platform as well.

Tensor Season 4

Tensor is one of the leading NFT marketplaces on Solana, competing with the market leader, Magic Eden. The fourth season of Tensor's airdrop started in April 2024 and is set to end in December 2024.

How to Farm Tensor Season 4?

To farm this airdrop, consider buying a Tensorian NFT and using the platform’s price lock feature (going long/short). Additional strategies include bidding on the top 25 NFT collections on the marketplace and utilizing the platform’s fund lock function (liquidity providing your NFT). However, with Season 4 nearing its end and likely adopting a linear airdrop model rather than a tiered one, it may not be worth starting new efforts unless you have participated in Tensor’s previous seasons (1 through 3).

Backpack Exchange

Backpack is a crypto wallet that features a regulated centralized exchange (CEX) built into its web application and wallet. The Backpack team has successfully raised $20 million and is also known for creating the popular NFT collection Mad Lads.

How to Farm The Backpack Airdrop?

Farm this airdrop by signing up for an account on their CEX, this will require you to complete their KYC (Know your customer) process. Additional ways you can farm this airdrop include purchasing a Mad Lads NFT and engaging in trading activities on the Backpack Exchange. Given the KYC requirements, there are likely to be fewer sybil airdrop farmers (those using multiple wallets), potentially making this airdrop a more attractive opportunity.

MarginFi & Kamino Season 2

MarginFi and Kamino are prominent money market dApps on Solana that allow users to borrow and lend their crypto assets. Historically, the airdrop from Kamino has not been valuable for most, and the potential airdrop from MarginFi remains unconfirmed and is unlikely to surpass Kamino's in value.

However, as the only two decent sized money market dApps on Solana, it is inevitable that you would use these platforms if you intend to lend out your assets. You could also incorporate these platforms into farming for other airdrops. For example, you could deposit your Meteora LP (Liquidity Provider) positions into Kamino to passively earn rewards from both Kamino and Meteora airdrops.

How to Farm MarginFi/Kamino?

Because these two airdrops are unlikely to be lucrative, it makes sense to farm for these projects only if you intend to lend out your assets. For instance, you could allocate your idle Solana positions to the JitoSol/SOL vault on Kamino. Given that JitoSol and Solana are highly correlated, holding JitoSol is effectively similar to holding Solana in your wallet. In this scenario, depositing your funds into Kamino is a more capital-efficient strategy than keeping them idle, while maintaining a similar risk profile.

A snapshot of Kamino's liquidity vaults.

Conclusion

To wrap up, if you’re interested in exploring airdrop farming based on the insights from this article, you might start with Meteora and Jupiter. For those considering allocating additional capital to trading, Phoenix Trade and Backpack Exchange could be worth exploring further.

Please keep in mind that airdrop farming is a highly speculative strategy, and this article is intended to provide information and insights rather than specific recommendations. Always do your own research (DYOR) before engaging with any dApps, and remember that this guide is for educational purposes only, not financial advice.