Comparing the Ethena Airdrop to Other Major DeFi Distributions

The Ethena airdrop entered a landscape shaped by previous major DeFi token distributions, each with its own philosophy and outcomes. Unlike the retroactive airdrops of projects like Uniswap or ENS, which rewarded past actions, Ethena’s Shards campaign was proactive, incentivizing future-oriented behavior to build its ecosystem. Compared to the massive, broad-based distribution of Ethereum’s DNS domains, Ethena’s was more targeted, focusing on users who actively engaged with its core product, USDe. This approach stood in contrast to some airdrops that were plagued by sybil attacks, where users created thousands of wallets to farm tokens illegitimately. Ethena’s criteria, which favored larger, longer-term commitments, made such attacks economically unviable. The scale and value of the ena airdrop placed it among the most significant events of its kind, drawing comparisons to the launches of major protocols like Aptos and Arbitrum. By learning from both the successes and failures of its predecessors, Ethena crafted a distribution model that effectively balanced wide accessibility with meaningful rewards for its most valuable users, carving out its own unique place in the history of DeFi airdrops.