Detailed Explanation of Monad Airdrop: Eligibility Criteria, Claim Process, and Anti-Sybil Mechanism

Original Title: "Everything You Need to Know About the Monad Airdrop"

Original Author: 1912212.eth, Foresight News

At 9 PM on October 14, Monad officially opened airdrop eligibility checking and claiming. Claim website.

Airdrop Quota

This airdrop will distribute tokens to 5,500 Monad community members and nearly 225,000 cryptocurrency community members.

MON tokens have been allocated to recipients through five main pathways, each with several sub-pathways, as detailed below. Individuals who qualify through multiple sub-pathways are entitled to claim the total amount of tokens allocated across all their eligible sub-pathways. The portal uses Privy for identity verification. You can sign a message with your EVM or Solana wallet to prove ownership. You can also link your accounts. All authentication operations are completed through Privy.

The claiming period ends on November 3, 2025.

Anti-Sybil

When determining criteria to identify deep blockchain users, Monad considered behaviors that Sybil attackers could easily repeat and instead focused on standards that are difficult to fake. Behaviors such as repeatedly conducting low economic value transactions, which are easily automated by bots, cannot serve as independent and effective criteria, as the share allocated to real users would be negligible compared to that given to bots.

Ultimately, Monad selected a set of criteria that identify highly active users both on-chain and off-chain. On-chain, Monad focused on users’ engagement with mainstream DeFi protocols, especially those requiring long-term capital commitment, high-frequency DEX traders, and holders of certain well-known NFT collections. Off-chain, Monad emphasized metrics related to verified social identity, participation in social and educational Web3 communities, and contributions to public goods and security research. Monad invested significant effort in manual labeling and developed two applications—Monad Community Recognizer and Monad Cards—to gather input from Monad and broader crypto community members and integrate it into the selection process.

For on-chain data analysis, the Monad Foundation commissioned third-party firm Trusta AI to help identify and remove Sybil addresses. The third party’s expertise in anti-Sybil allocation played a crucial role, and Monad extends sincere thanks to the Trusta team for their assistance.

Which On-Chain Users Are Eligible

This portion of the airdrop targets users with EVM and Solana addresses who have historically generated significant on-chain value, specifically covering several of the following prioritized value forms:

High-frequency DEX traders: including users who trade on

· Hyperliquid and Phantom Wallet (spot and perpetual contracts), as well as users trading tokens issued on platforms like Pump.fun, Virtuals, and other memecoin platforms.

· Large depositors in mainstream DeFi protocols: including users who have deposited significant funds into major decentralized finance protocols such as Aave, Euler, Morpho, Pendle, Lighter, Curve, PancakeSwap, and Uniswap.

· Long-term holders of various NFTs: including users holding well-known NFTs such as Azuki, Chimpers, CryptoPunks, Doodles, Fluffle, Hypurr, Mad Lads, Meebits, Milady Maker, Moonbirds, Pudgy Penguins, Redacted Remilio Babies, Sappy Seals, Solana Monkey Business, and Wassies.

· Users who have recently actively participated in DAO governance of major DeFi protocols on Ethereum: referring to users who have recently taken part in governance decisions of major DeFi protocol DAOs within the Ethereum ecosystem.

Blockchain user selection is based on snapshot data as of 23:59 (UTC) on September 30, 2025. Some selection criteria are based on retrospective calculations over several months of data.

Monad Cards Users Are Also Eligible

The MON airdrop also targets a broader group of cryptocurrency community members identified through social graph analysis and initiatives like "Monad Cards." The core principle is to select genuine cryptocurrency users. Although it is impossible to identify every such user, eliminate all "airdrop hunters"/bots, and avoid double-counting, this airdrop still strives to find those passionate about crypto and make them stakeholders in the Monad network.

One particularly important component is the "Monad Cards" initiative. "Monad Cards" is a campaign on Twitter to identify many active, thoughtful, and deeply engaged individuals in the crypto space. Selected individuals were then encouraged to nominate others who had not yet been recognized but were equally deserving. Whether they were in the first wave of card recipients, the second wave, or forgot to claim their cards, all were included in this airdrop.

In addition, Monad also included participants from the Legion fundraising platform, Backpack users, Fantasy Top hero players, MetaDAO token holders, ARC community members, active participants in the LobsterDAO group, and well-known Farcaster users.

Including Security Experts, Researchers, and More

This airdrop covers individuals who have contributed to the development of the crypto space through security research, protocol development, and educational outreach. Monad specifically included renowned crypto investigator ZachXBT, SEAL 911 organization members, Cantina selected auditors who have made significant audit findings, and Protocol Guild members identified through Splits contract review.

Additionally, the airdrop targets students and instructors from educational projects such as RareSkills and SheFi.