2025 has been the weirdest year.
We were promised so much because of Trump’s presidency, but the markets have been abysmal.
We believed that Hyperliquid would change airdrops by giving more to the community, but no other project followed their direction.
We’re exhausted by the constant slop in our replies, and CT no longer gives us any alpha.
This space has undeniably given me big opportunities for wealth. But at times like this, it makes me truly wonder:
Why am I still here?
Is there any hope for crypto, or even for airdrops?
I’ve become increasingly jaded with this space, and took the longest break from CT since 2023.
There are many reasons why 2025 will mark a turning point for airdrops/crypto and my time here:
When someone asks me what new airdrop is there to do, I struggle to answer:
There’s nothing that interests me right now.
Every other new app is either a perp DEX or prediction market, and I’m fighting a losing battle since I suck at both.
Of course, that’s a skill issue on my part. But I don’t like the direction of everything becoming a casino.
Other projects are just doing the same old boring points and InfoFi campaigns that have been repeated to death.
All because it ‘worked before’ and they choose to incentivise short-term behaviours for attention instead of building something meaningful.
And there’s nothing exciting to do with their apps either.
Most projects are giving out ‘peanut’ allocations (because some teams are Sybiling their own airdrop too).
Onchain actions are getting devalued because they’re so easy to automate, and projects are choosing to reward yappers with higher allocations.
We’re all stuck in the same cycle of farming something new, getting the token, and then dumping and moving on to the next one.
And it’s all because of the way this industry works:
How many TGEs have been riddled with controversies and drama this year?
How many presales have flopped and caused investors to make a loss?
It’s amazing how ‘mistakes’ can still be made today, even with all the past failures.
Don’t teams ever learn? I’ve become disillusioned with every new token launch because they all follow the same pattern.
So many have introduced different mechanisms or changes to their tokenomics as a ‘novel’ way of rewarding the community, but nothing seems to work:
All of them still bleed to zero eventually.
@Zeneca’s article summed up perfectly how I feel right now:
Most tokens don’t underperform because the tech is bad, they underperform because they create a market where the rational trade is to sell.
Others are blatantly scamming their community because they can get away without any repercussions.
And those who overhype and ultimately underdeliver still have second chances to scam again.
We’re sold the dream that ‘it’ll be better this time’, but almost every project is suffering the same fate now.
Even the most loyal community member would be challenged on their conviction to hold when everything else except crypto seems to keep going up.
And it doesn’t help that we’re overwhelmed by negativity everywhere:
Overstimulation plagues our lives.
We’re taught to be ‘in the trenches’ if we want to be successful on CT.
So we constantly scroll on the timeline, looking for the next alpha, when we’re consuming a ton of noise instead.
Slop is everywhere, rage bait is everywhere.
Everyone knows the secret to getting more views:
Create drama, even when there’s no hard evidence. Because ragebait always wins.
Others are larping and coming up with oversensationalised stories because there’s no way to verify their claims.
Cheap dopamine hits fill the timeline, and the overstimulation is slowly killing our ability to think.
That’s what the social media platforms want us to become:
Mindless scrollers who become mentally obese because we are overloaded with information, but take zero action.
But amidst all this doom and gloom, nature is starting to heal:
The timeline wants you to believe that crypto is dead because negativity sells more.
And I’ve been a sucker for it too because that’s all I’m consuming here.
During these tough times, I’ve lost the motivation to continue writing:
There are no projects that are interesting to interact with and document anymore
My views have gone down (and it’s affected me, no matter how I try not to let it)
I’ve taken multiple breaks from CT this month alone because it was just so depressing.
I didn’t feel like opening up the app at all because all I’ll see is another engagement farming post.
But as the famous saying goes:
Bear markets are the best time to build.
They are mentally torturing, but it forces us to constantly question ourselves:
Why are we still here, doing things that may not yield any return?
I’ve asked myself this multiple times, before finding the answer:
I want to achieve freedom with airdrops.
This will be my North Star to guide every single action I take (including choosing to skip certain projects).
Yes, it’s harder to do airdrops now. Competition is rising every day, with every action now being replicated at scale with automation.
And it will get worse once we become fully mainstream.
But this space still has the potential, we just have to find our edge.
I see reputation as my edge, because it’s something that can’t be easily replicated.
Amidst all the noise, there are still plenty of opportunities. And sometimes, we just have to be patient.
Slowly increasing our luck surface area until we are fully positioned when the right opportunity comes.
More importantly, our North Star has to be something that we enjoy doing.
Otherwise, we would lose the motivation and stop doing these actions completely.
And right now, the real way to keep our motivation is by doing less:
In this world of abundance, less is more.
Being constantly online is no longer something to be proud of.
The real flex is being able to spend as little time here as possible while still getting the highest ROI.
Not just on profits, but on time too.
Time is the most precious asset that you own, because it can never be earned back.
So instead of looking to grind every single opportunity (that will likely give a poor return):
We have to become more selective with what we interact with.
We have to enjoy what we’re doing.
We have to find ways of standing out to beat the competition.
Moving forward to 2026, these are the principles that will guide me to freedom with airdrops:
Value time above anything else
Hone judgment to protect time and capital
Optimise every action for value to stand out
Ignore vanity metrics
Trust nothing unless it’s verifiable
Avoid noise and dopamine like the plague
Play the long-term game, even at the expense of quick cash grabs
Create a lifestyle that is truly enjoyable
Build a reputation based on trust
The game will always change, but what matters most is how we adapt to the new rules.
And how I aim to be both Sybil-proof and algo-proof is by becoming a Signal Creator, as I shared below:
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>200 subscribers
2025 has been the weirdest year.
We were promised so much because of Trump’s presidency, but the markets have been abysmal.
We believed that Hyperliquid would change airdrops by giving more to the community, but no other project followed their direction.
We’re exhausted by the constant slop in our replies, and CT no longer gives us any alpha.
This space has undeniably given me big opportunities for wealth. But at times like this, it makes me truly wonder:
Why am I still here?
Is there any hope for crypto, or even for airdrops?
I’ve become increasingly jaded with this space, and took the longest break from CT since 2023.
There are many reasons why 2025 will mark a turning point for airdrops/crypto and my time here:
When someone asks me what new airdrop is there to do, I struggle to answer:
There’s nothing that interests me right now.
Every other new app is either a perp DEX or prediction market, and I’m fighting a losing battle since I suck at both.
Of course, that’s a skill issue on my part. But I don’t like the direction of everything becoming a casino.
Other projects are just doing the same old boring points and InfoFi campaigns that have been repeated to death.
All because it ‘worked before’ and they choose to incentivise short-term behaviours for attention instead of building something meaningful.
And there’s nothing exciting to do with their apps either.
Most projects are giving out ‘peanut’ allocations (because some teams are Sybiling their own airdrop too).
Onchain actions are getting devalued because they’re so easy to automate, and projects are choosing to reward yappers with higher allocations.
We’re all stuck in the same cycle of farming something new, getting the token, and then dumping and moving on to the next one.
And it’s all because of the way this industry works:
How many TGEs have been riddled with controversies and drama this year?
How many presales have flopped and caused investors to make a loss?
It’s amazing how ‘mistakes’ can still be made today, even with all the past failures.
Don’t teams ever learn? I’ve become disillusioned with every new token launch because they all follow the same pattern.
So many have introduced different mechanisms or changes to their tokenomics as a ‘novel’ way of rewarding the community, but nothing seems to work:
All of them still bleed to zero eventually.
@Zeneca’s article summed up perfectly how I feel right now:
Most tokens don’t underperform because the tech is bad, they underperform because they create a market where the rational trade is to sell.
Others are blatantly scamming their community because they can get away without any repercussions.
And those who overhype and ultimately underdeliver still have second chances to scam again.
We’re sold the dream that ‘it’ll be better this time’, but almost every project is suffering the same fate now.
Even the most loyal community member would be challenged on their conviction to hold when everything else except crypto seems to keep going up.
And it doesn’t help that we’re overwhelmed by negativity everywhere:
Overstimulation plagues our lives.
We’re taught to be ‘in the trenches’ if we want to be successful on CT.
So we constantly scroll on the timeline, looking for the next alpha, when we’re consuming a ton of noise instead.
Slop is everywhere, rage bait is everywhere.
Everyone knows the secret to getting more views:
Create drama, even when there’s no hard evidence. Because ragebait always wins.
Others are larping and coming up with oversensationalised stories because there’s no way to verify their claims.
Cheap dopamine hits fill the timeline, and the overstimulation is slowly killing our ability to think.
That’s what the social media platforms want us to become:
Mindless scrollers who become mentally obese because we are overloaded with information, but take zero action.
But amidst all this doom and gloom, nature is starting to heal:
The timeline wants you to believe that crypto is dead because negativity sells more.
And I’ve been a sucker for it too because that’s all I’m consuming here.
During these tough times, I’ve lost the motivation to continue writing:
There are no projects that are interesting to interact with and document anymore
My views have gone down (and it’s affected me, no matter how I try not to let it)
I’ve taken multiple breaks from CT this month alone because it was just so depressing.
I didn’t feel like opening up the app at all because all I’ll see is another engagement farming post.
But as the famous saying goes:
Bear markets are the best time to build.
They are mentally torturing, but it forces us to constantly question ourselves:
Why are we still here, doing things that may not yield any return?
I’ve asked myself this multiple times, before finding the answer:
I want to achieve freedom with airdrops.
This will be my North Star to guide every single action I take (including choosing to skip certain projects).
Yes, it’s harder to do airdrops now. Competition is rising every day, with every action now being replicated at scale with automation.
And it will get worse once we become fully mainstream.
But this space still has the potential, we just have to find our edge.
I see reputation as my edge, because it’s something that can’t be easily replicated.
Amidst all the noise, there are still plenty of opportunities. And sometimes, we just have to be patient.
Slowly increasing our luck surface area until we are fully positioned when the right opportunity comes.
More importantly, our North Star has to be something that we enjoy doing.
Otherwise, we would lose the motivation and stop doing these actions completely.
And right now, the real way to keep our motivation is by doing less:
In this world of abundance, less is more.
Being constantly online is no longer something to be proud of.
The real flex is being able to spend as little time here as possible while still getting the highest ROI.
Not just on profits, but on time too.
Time is the most precious asset that you own, because it can never be earned back.
So instead of looking to grind every single opportunity (that will likely give a poor return):
We have to become more selective with what we interact with.
We have to enjoy what we’re doing.
We have to find ways of standing out to beat the competition.
Moving forward to 2026, these are the principles that will guide me to freedom with airdrops:
Value time above anything else
Hone judgment to protect time and capital
Optimise every action for value to stand out
Ignore vanity metrics
Trust nothing unless it’s verifiable
Avoid noise and dopamine like the plague
Play the long-term game, even at the expense of quick cash grabs
Create a lifestyle that is truly enjoyable
Build a reputation based on trust
The game will always change, but what matters most is how we adapt to the new rules.
And how I aim to be both Sybil-proof and algo-proof is by becoming a Signal Creator, as I shared below:
Share Dialog
Share Dialog
FIP Crypto
FIP Crypto
1 comment
applauded 👏🏼 👏🏼