In 2021, airdrop farming was like winning scratch cards every other week. Do a simple swap. Hold a token. Boom free money. You didn’t need a strategy. Just showing up was enough. Fast forward to 2025… it’s a grind. You spend hours farming, bridging, staking, posting, and praying,only to be told you didn’t qualify. So what happened? Why did something so easy become so complicated? And more importantly… how do you still win in this new environment? Let’s break it all down. Back in 2021, farming was effortless. Uniswap gave 400 UNI to anyone who’d made a swap. OpenDAO dropped SOS just for minting NFTs. Even holding a domain or using a bridge could get you 4–5 figure rewards. It felt like free money for being early. No complex tasks. No hoops to jump through. No forms, no points. You used a product once, and you got paid like an investor. Projects wanted adoption, and they rewarded anyone who touched their protocol. There weren’t that many people farming, either. It was mostly early crypto nerds and DeFi enthusiasts. No bots, no Sybil detection, no crazy gas fees. Just vibes. But in 2025? It’s a different story. Everyone’s farming now. Literally millions of wallets are trying to get the same airdrops. Bots, whales, alpha groups, even institutions are in the game. Rewards are more diluted than ever. And projects have leveled up too. No more blind generosity. Projects now want real, long-term users. It’s not enough to swap once. You have to show sustained activity over weeks or even months: Join the testnet Use the mainnet Provide liquidity Vote in governance Engage in Discord Earn points Post on X Stake, restake, and bridge And after all that… there’s still no guarantee. You might spend $100+ in gas and 30+ hours of work… just to get nothing. It’s emotionally draining. Projects ghost. Teams act condescending. People burn out. But here’s the truth: it’s not impossible—it’s just evolved. Airdrop farming in 2025 is still profitable. Some people are making $5K–$10K/month. A few are even hitting six figures. The key is not to farm harder, but smarter. It starts with picking the right projects. Not everything is worth your time. Look for: L1 Testnets High engagement onchain Active devs Strong VC backing Real traction Then go deep. Don’t just interact once. Be early. Be active. Show up consistently. Use testnets. LP. Stake. Vote. Hang out in Discord. These days, projects don’t just want numbers—they want faces they recognize. Also, keep your setup clean. If you’re running multiple wallets, make sure they’re completely isolated: No transferring funds between them Different IPs and devices No reused usernames, ENS, Telegrams Use tools like Multilogin or proxies if you’re going multi-wallet. Otherwise, focus on a single wallet and build a clean onchain rep. Track everything. Use a Notion board or spreadsheet to log your actions, dates, tasks, and costs. Farming is no longer random it’s strategic. Pay attention to airdrop metas. The game keeps evolving: 2021: Swaps and bridges 2022: NFTs and DAOs 2023: LPs and restaking 2024: Social and points 2025: AI, DePIN, multi-chain restaking, social farming, yapping etc. Farming isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing what matters early. And remember: communities matter. Join Discords. Post helpful feedback. Report bugs. Write guides. Answer newbie questions. Projects notice contributors. And those contributors get rewarded. At the end of the day, this is work. Expect to put in hours a day. Treat it like a side hustle. You’re not just farming tokens—you’re building onchain capital, rep, and connections. Free money is gone. But earned money is still on the table. Be smart. Stay early. Show up consistently. Your next $10K+ airdrop is out there.