What is a Cardano airdrop?
An airdrop is a way to distribute tokens to a group of people. On Cardano, this means sending native assets (ada, fungible tokens, or NFTs) to a set of recipient wallets.
The term traditionally refers to bulk-sending tokens to wallet addresses, often scraped from the blockchain. But that model has issues: recipients did not ask for the tokens, many wallets are inactive, and you pay transaction fees regardless of whether anyone cares.
Modern airdrops on Cardano take different forms depending on your goal. You might want to reward existing holders, onboard new users at an event, or distribute proof-of-attendance tokens. Each scenario calls for a different approach.
Method 1: Manual transactions
The simplest approach is sending tokens wallet-by-wallet using a regular Cardano wallet like Eternl, Lace, or Typhon. You build a transaction, add the recipient address and the tokens, sign, and submit.
Small-scale distributions to a known list of addresses. Rewarding a handful of community members or sending tokens to specific partners.
Extremely time-consuming for more than a dozen recipients. Each transaction needs to be built, reviewed, and signed manually. No tracking, no analytics, no way to handle errors at scale.
Method 2: Scripts and CLI tools
For larger distributions, developers often write custom scripts using cardano-cli or libraries like Evolution SDK or MeshJS. A script reads a list of recipient addresses, builds transactions in batches, signs them with a hot key, and submits them to the network.
Distributing to hundreds or thousands of known addresses. Snapshot-based airdrops where you have a list of stake key holders from a specific epoch. Governance token distributions.
Requires development skills and operational expertise. You need to handle UTxO management, transaction batching, fee estimation, error recovery, and concurrency. Getting this right is non-trivial, and bugs can mean lost funds or stuck transactions.
Method 3: QR code claim campaigns
Instead of pushing tokens to wallets, you let recipients pull them. You create a campaign with a set of claim codes (each encoded as a QR code), distribute the codes at your event, and recipients scan them with a compatible Cardano wallet to claim their tokens on-chain.
This is the model behind CIP-99 (Proof of Onboarding), a Cardano standard for claim-based token distribution. Claimpaign is a platform that implements this standard.
In-person events (conferences, meetups, hackathons), proof-of-attendance campaigns, NFT giveaways, community onboarding. Any scenario where you want recipients to actively opt in rather than passively receive.
Recipients need a CIP-99 compatible wallet. Not suitable for distributing to a pre-existing list of addresses (use method 1 or 2 for that). Requires physical or digital distribution of QR codes.
Comparison
| Manual TX | Scripts / CLI | QR code claims | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup effort | None | High (dev work) | Low (web UI) |
| Scale | 1-20 recipients | Thousands | Hundreds per event |
| Event-friendly | No | No | Yes |
| Recipient opt-in | No | No | Yes |
| Pay for unclaimed | N/A | Yes | No |
| NFT minting | Manual | Custom code | Built-in |
| Analytics | None | Build your own | Built-in dashboard |
Running an airdrop at events
Events are the strongest use case for QR code claim campaigns. Conferences, community meetups, hackathons, and workshops all involve a captive audience that is already interested in your project or the broader Cardano ecosystem.
The flow is simple: print QR codes on badges, flyers, or stickers. Attendees scan with their phone, open a compatible wallet, and claim their tokens. No forms, no email collection, no registration.
For newcomers who do not have a Cardano wallet yet, wallets like VESPR, Begin, and Tokeo let users skip the seed phrase backup during setup and do it later. This removes the biggest friction point at events, where nobody wants to write down 24 words in a crowded hall.
NFT giveaways with QR codes
NFT campaigns are a natural fit for events. Each claim mints a unique NFT directly into the recipient's wallet, with sequential numbering and on-chain metadata handled automatically. Common use cases:
- Proof of attendance (POAP-style) tokens that prove someone was at your event
- Event collectibles with artwork specific to the venue or occasion
- Hackathon participation tokens for all attendees or finalists
- Speaker and volunteer badges as on-chain recognition
Since NFTs are minted on demand, you do not need to pre-mint and manage inventory. You upload one image, set a name prefix, and the platform handles the rest. Learn more about campaign types.
What it costs
Costs vary by method. Manual transactions cost the standard Cardano transaction fee (around 0.2 ada). Scripts have the same base fee but require development time.
With QR code campaigns on Claimpaign, you pay a service fee per claimed code (0.5 ada for ada campaigns, 0.8 ada for tokens, 2.5 ada for NFTs) plus the ada that gets sent to the recipient. Unclaimed codes are not charged, and unclaimed codes from deleted campaigns are credited back. See the full pricing breakdown.
Getting started
If QR code claim campaigns fit your use case, you can create your first campaign in a few minutes.