The NFT marketplace OpenSea is looking ahead to its SEA token airdrop. Beyond the sheer excitement are important questions about who should be the rightful recipients of these funds. Should it be those that have traditionally forked over large sums of cash, or those demonstrating new interest via XP. It’s a conversation without a simple solution, and how this is all decided will probably have repercussions for OpenSea’s long-term viability and community building. Token ATH! is back to discuss the arguments on both sides and provide you with a more objective view ahead of this important vote.

The Airdrop Details: A Snapshot in Time

The airdrop eligibility is determined by a specific snapshot: wallets holding a Gemesis NFT on January 26, 2025, at 7:38 PM ET. Block 21712313 indicates the exact time the snapshot was taken, including wallets that meet the criteria. According to estimates, about 49,785 wallets meet the requirement for this criterion to qualify for the airdrop. This raises the immediate question: is holding a specific NFT enough to warrant receiving SEA tokens, or should other factors be considered?

The debate circles around two primary approaches to airdrop distribution: rewarding past behavior (fees paid) versus incentivizing future engagement (XP). Each method has its own distinct benefits and drawbacks. The ultimate strategy is likely a mix of both approaches.

Rewarding Historical Fees: A Nod to Loyalty

One camp argues that the SEA airdrop should prioritize users who've contributed significantly to OpenSea's past success by paying fees. This strategy is meant to reward loyalty and acknowledge the years of revenue these users have contributed to the platform.

The Argument for Rewarding Fees

  • Recognizing Early Adopters: Rewarding historical fees acknowledges the early adopters who took a chance on OpenSea and helped build its initial traction.
  • Fairness: It can be argued that those who generated the most revenue for OpenSea deserve a larger share of the airdrop.
  • Incentivizing Continued Use: By rewarding past behavior, OpenSea might encourage these users to remain active on the platform.

The counterintuitive method rewards brand-new engagement with an XP (experience points) system that keeps you coming back for more. This incentivizes users to make more transactions while actively engaging with the OpenSea ecosystem, without punishing them for having paid fees in the past.

The Drawbacks of Focusing Solely on Fees

  • Potential for Gaming the System: Users might have artificially inflated their fee contributions through wash trading or other manipulative tactics.
  • Excluding New Users: Focusing solely on fees could alienate newer users who haven't had the opportunity to accumulate significant fee payments.
  • Ignoring Engagement: It doesn't necessarily reward active participation or community involvement beyond simply paying fees.

Incentivizing New Engagement: The XP Route

The airdrop strategy is a controversial one to be sure, and OpenSea is facing scrutiny at a key moment. Earlier this month, the platform hit an all-time-high of 56,400 daily active users. This barometric surge, more than doubling the recent average and hitting levels not seen in over a year, is largely powered by ramped up activity on Ethereum layer-2 networks like Arbitrum, Base and Blast. Users participating in the OS 2.0 beta are currently earning rewards actively today. More than 80,000 unique retail traders have come back to the platform, hitting the highest level of activity since April 2023. This increase in user engagement is a promising sign of a wider resurgence of activity across the NFT industry.

The Argument for Rewarding Engagement

  • Driving Activity: Rewarding engagement can encourage users to actively trade, create, and participate in the OpenSea community.
  • Attracting New Users: An XP system can be a powerful tool for attracting new users and onboarding them into the platform.
  • Promoting Long-Term Growth: By rewarding active participation, OpenSea can foster a more vibrant and sustainable ecosystem.

The Challenges of an XP-Based System

  • Defining Meaningful Engagement: Determining what constitutes "meaningful engagement" and how to accurately measure it can be challenging.
  • Potential for Sybil Attacks: Users might create multiple accounts to accumulate XP, diluting the rewards for genuine participants.
  • Complexity: Implementing and managing an XP system can be more complex than simply rewarding historical fees.

The State of OpenSea: A Platform in Transition

OpenSea’s weekly trading volume had skyrocketed to $1.4 billion less than two years ago. Since then, it has dropped a staggering 92% to a mere $115 million! Last week, OpenSea volumes fell below $20 million, representing roughly 16% of the entire market. The whole Ethereum-based NFT marketplace, OpenSea and others included, is crashing down hard right now. During this three month period, daily trading volumes have fallen by more than half. At the start of 2022, OpenSea had a market share as high as 97% for Ethereum NFT marketplace volume. By the summer of 2024, that share crashed to below 20%, falling to a low of only 13%. As recently as early 2025, market share increased to more than 51%. Yet, contrary to what this increase suggests, the rise doesn’t mean the platform is driving users to visit or engage more with other content.

This backdrop is important to our story. The airdrop should be a catalyst to ensure long-term growth beyond just driving an initial increase.

OpenSea has plenty of examples of other projects’ successes and failures with airdrops to draw on. Other successful projects have utilized airdrops to achieve massive traction and user acquisition.

Learning from the Past: Airdrop Best Practices

These case study examples serve as a reminder that planning, structuring, and executing an airdrop requires added attention.

  • Drift: Drift has demonstrated how airdrops can be used to drive significant traction and user acquisition when executed strategically.
  • Across Protocol: Across Protocol has demonstrated how airdrops can be used to drive significant traction and user acquisition when executed strategically.
  • MarginFi & Kamino: MarginFi & Kamino have demonstrated how airdrops can be used to drive significant traction and user acquisition when executed strategically.

So, how should OpenSea structure the SEA airdrop? A nuanced and honest approach is the only way forward. It notably mixes the best historical fee rewards with shiny new engagement Sinai-level incentives.

  • Light users tend to sell tokens quickly: 75% of light users (those who claimed 1 or 2 airdrops out of 8) sell or transfer all their tokens within the first 7 days, which may not build a community or drive long-term engagement.
  • Power users show better retention: Only 54% of power users (those who claimed 7 or 8 airdrops out of 8) sold or transferred all their tokens within the first 7 days, indicating better engagement and retention.
  • Community behavior varies depending on user experience: Users with experience across multiple protocols are less inclined to sell all their airdropped tokens, suggesting that airdrop strategies can have a positive impact on community behavior for users who are more experienced.
  • No one-size-fits-all solution for airdrops: Different projects require different airdrop strategies, and there is no single approach that works for all projects.

OpenSea has a chance to truly reward loyalty, by combining these three aspects into one airdrop. This strategy will further encourage participation and foster the long-term health of its ecosystem. It’s a tall order, to be sure, but one that’s critical for OpenSea’s longer-term success. Join us as we ride the highs (and lows) together at tokenath.com.

A Balanced Approach: The Path Forward

So, what's the best approach for OpenSea's SEA airdrop? A balanced approach that combines elements of both rewarding historical fees and incentivizing new engagement seems like the most promising path forward.

Here’s a possible framework:

  1. Allocate a portion of the airdrop to users based on historical fees paid. This acknowledges the contributions of early adopters and loyal users.

  2. Allocate another portion of the airdrop to users based on their engagement within the OS 2.0 beta. This rewards active participation and incentivizes continued use of the platform.

  • Trading NFTs on a variety of supported chains, such as Ethereum, Polygon, BNB Chain and Arbitrum.
  • Total trading volume from an individual wallet.
  1. Implement a system to prevent Sybil attacks and ensure fair distribution. This could involve requiring users to verify their accounts or using other anti-fraud measures.

By combining these elements, OpenSea can create an airdrop that rewards loyalty, incentivizes engagement, and promotes the long-term health of its ecosystem. It's a complex challenge, but one that's crucial for OpenSea's future success. Ride the highs (and lows) with us at tokenath.com.