Using Sablier For Airdrops

Unvested airdrops are a relic of the past. Use airstreams instead.

What is an airdrop?

In the crypto world, an airdrop is a form of token distribution mechanism where a specific set of wallet addresses receive a certain number of tokens, for free. To be eligible for the airdrop, meaning to have your wallet address included in the list that will be airdropped to, an action is usually required.

Sometimes your wallet will be included because you used the protocol or product in the past, sometimes it will be included because you helped boost the project’s social media presence, made a contribution to a GitHub repository, etc.

In most airdrops, recipients receive funds instantly, and don’t have to wait a certain period of time before getting access to the airdropped funds. It’s also quite usual for the recipients to have to manually claim the airdrop, meaning go on a website where the airdrop campaign is hosted, connect their wallet and sign a message proving that they are indeed the owner of the wallet, and subsequently execute a transaction that releases their token allocation to their wallet.

Airdrops are sometimes also made in several rounds, where a first share of the token supply is initially released, then a second one, etc.

Benefits of an airdrop

The core idea behind organizing an airdrop as a primary initial token distribution mechanism is that this will (hopefully) lead to the most diverse/broad base of token holders. If you were to organize an ICO instead, for example, the number of initial token holders would probably be much smaller, as not everyone is ready to invest in an ICO, while everyone is usually very welcoming of an airdrop.

Airdrops are also effectively marketing campaigns, as they generally get a lot of attention on social media (who doesn’t want free money after all?) and are a great way to get your project viewed in a positive light by hundreds, thousands and sometimes millions of people. As the airdrop organizer, you could also require recipients to share a specific link or piece of text promoting your initiative, for example, further contributing to the virality of your campaign.

Launching a token using an airdrop as opposed to organizing an ICO is also a smoother way of operating when it comes to regulation, given there is no initial token sale, meaning it’s easier for the project organizing the airdrop to argue that the token is indeed a utility, and not a security, following the SEC’s legislation.

Problems with traditional airdrops

The current way most airdrops are organized is severely flawed. There are multiple issues:

• Short-term dumping: given most airdrops release all the funds instantly to recipients, a lot of recipients also immediately sell their airdrop allocation after receiving it. This leads to a direct price dump after the token launch, which really isn’t an ideal way to launch a new token.
• Short-term interest: after recipients receive their airdrop allocation, and given it’s usually released all at once directly, there is no reason for them to stay involved in the project or participate later on. Sometimes, community members who were previously involved in the project until the airdrop suddenly stop being active afterward, as they no longer an incentive to.

Those are big problems. Community members are the backbone of any crypto project, which is why it’s incredibly important to strengthen your relationship with them. Additionally, the short-term interest one-time airdrops generate doesn’t contribute to building up long-term marketing momentum.

Finally, given the airdrop organizer is usually giving away a meaningful share of their token supply, it’s also in their best interest to maximize the momentum, marketing, community engagement and decentralization gains they can take out of it. If you are going to give away free money, do it well.

What Are Airstreams?

With tens of thousands of users onboarded already, Sablier Airstreams is the leading vested airdrop product in crypto. Using Airstreams, one can seamlessly create a vested airdrop campaign with the recipients being able to claim through the official Sablier Interface, or another integrated interface built on top of the Sablier Protocol.

There are two main advantages to having a vested airdrop:

• Prevents dumping on day 1, given the tokens are vested and gradually unlocked.
• Ensures community alignment, as recipients know they will still be receiving tokens X months/years from now, meaning they have an incentive to stay involved in the project and think on a long-term perspective, as they know they will still have a stake in the project in X months/years from now.

There are many advantages to using Sablier Airstreams specifically to do so:

• Entirely free to use: the Sablier team is currently entirely focused on growth, which is why the protocol and the interface are entirely free to use. There are no fees.
• Security: Sablier has been around for over five years now, with a sizeable TVL (make sure to turn the "vesting" option on), while never getting hacked (not even once).
• User experience: Sablier users have an incredible experience both for creating the token distribution plans, as well as claiming them as part of an airdrop. The Sablier team also provides a support chat where users can ask for help if they face an issue.

How do Airstream campaigns work?

It's incredibly simple.

1. Creating the campaign
Creating an Airstream campaign is exceptionally easy. Head over to the Sablier interface, upload a spreadsheet with the airdrop data based on the provided template, and our interface will do the rest! Yes, that's how easy it is.

2. Claiming the airdrop
Once the campaign is created, recipients can start claiming their share of the airdrop by heading over to the campaign page on our user interface. But, what if you want a more personalized experience?

One, where users may not even know Sablier is powering the airdrop in the backend? This is entirely possible. Using the Sablier Airstreams API, you can check from your interface the eligibility of a recipient, and subsequently issue a claim transaction onchain using an onchain API provider like Infura or Alchemy.

Conclusion

Sablier Airstreams is not just an airdrop solution; it’s a comprehensive strategy to ensure community alignment and prevent day 1 token dumping, all while offering an incredible user experience to airdrop recipients.

If you are launching a new token, use Sablier Airstreams.

• Want to get started? Check out the user interface here.
• Want a demo? Fill out this form, and we will reach out to you.
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