Wormhole announced an airdrop that saw over $800 million worth of its W token airdropped to select users, however, the event rapidly drew the attention of scammers. Crypto scammers, hackers, and meme-coiners have flocked to a massive $850 million airdrop event from cross-chain bridging platform Wormhole, which released its native governance token $W.
W Token Launch and Airdrop Announcement
The W token officially launched on April 3 for $1.66 on the Solana-based decentralized exchange (DEX) OpenBook, commanding a total market capitalization of $2.98 billion at launch.
The bridging protocol set aside 674 million tokens—6.75% of the total supply—for the airdrop, meaning that the current total value of the airdrop stands at $896 million for users who met the protocol’s eligibility requirements.
The token price has fallen 30.8% and is currently trading at $1.14.
Source: CoinGecko
Wormhole’s W token is currently only available on the Solana network, however, the project has shared that it will soon be made available on the Ethereum network as an ERC-20 token and other layer-2 networks later. The airdrop’s massive value and subsequent challenges underscore the need for caution and due diligence in the crypto community.
In an April 3 post to X, independent blockchain sleuth ZachXBT noted that Wormhole’s official post announcing the airdrop was targeted by “tons” of convincing scam accounts, many of which sported “gold checkmarks.”
Source: ZachXBT
The official X account of the Wormhole founder, Robinson Burkey, also suffered an attack that saw the founder begin posting malicious links to suspected wallet drainers several hours after the airdrop was announced. Burkey’s account has since been made private.
Source: Robinson Burkey
Conclusion
In the aftermath of Wormhole’s W token airdrop, the crypto community witnessed a surge in scam activity, highlighting the risks associated with large-scale events. Despite the promising launch and significant market capitalization, the subsequent price decline underscores the volatility of the crypto market. Wormhole’s expansion plans to other networks suggest ambitious goals, but the airdrop fallout serves as a reminder of the importance of security measures. Moving forward, vigilant community engagement and enhanced security protocols will be crucial in safeguarding against similar incidents in the future.
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