Points programs: how projects turned the airdrop into a casino with no rules

The classic airdrop had understandable criteria after the fact. Points flipped the scheme: the project awards points for activity upfront, but announces the points-to-tokens exchange rate at the very end. It is a casino where the house announces the rules after everyone has placed their bets.

Why this is great for the project

Points are an infinite resource: they can be handed out generously without promising anything concrete. Users push volume and TVL for months, competing on leaderboards, while the project decides at the end what percentage of the supply to allocate. The gap between farmers' expectations and the actual allocation is a steady source of disappointment: the typical post-TGE complaint is "my points turned into dust".

How to evaluate points soberly

• Count your share, not your points: your points / all points × expected allocation × FDV at the last round. All four numbers can usually be estimated.
• Dilution grows every day: the later you join the program, the cheaper your hour.
• Deposits made for points are protocol risk: a hack or a depeg takes your principal, not the "bonus".

We track points program launches and outcomes in the section - with numbers, not leaderboard screenshots.