Airdrop era is over as focus shifts to performance-based models, says Delphi Digital

The strategy of using airdrops to acquire users has reached its limit, according to an analysis by Delphi Digital. In a post on X, the research firm stated that building a holder base through airdrops is over, noting that for major projects, between 78% and 94% of recipients sold most of their tokens within 90 days. While some point to Hyperliquid (HYPE) and Jito (JTO) as successes, Delphi Digital argued this was not due to the airdrop itself. Hyperliquid absorbed the sell-off with buybacks funded by over $1 billion in revenue, and Jito avoided large-scale farming with a smaller target audience. The firm explained that tokenomics are now shifting to require actual protocol performance, citing MegaETH (MEGA) linking 53% of its supply to performance goals and Pendle (PENDLE) using 80% of protocol revenue for staker buybacks. This marks a move in token distribution from airdrops to performance-based structures, the analysis concluded.