DeFi trader scores over $20 million in 1INCH token Christmas airdrop

On Christmas day, decentralized exchange aggregator service 1inch has released its governance and utility token. As part of the launch, the platform airdropped 90 million 1INCH tokens to users who had previously traded on the exchange.

According to data from on-chain analytics provider Dune, the highest recipient of the free token distribution received 9,749,686.003 tokens that were worth about $27.5 million at the peak price of $2.8 per token. 

An examination of the address with the largest initial claim shows significant yield farming activity with a lot of lending and loan collateral supply transactions. The address also has been active on automated market maker (AMM) platforms like Uniswap and SushiSwap.

In total, over 55,200 addresses are eligible to claim the free 1INCH tokens with more than half of the coins already claimed according to Dune. The average token sum across these addresses was about 1,629 tokens with qualified addresses assured of at least 600 tokens.

To qualify for the airdrop, a trader must have completed a transaction on the platform before Sept. 15. Users who executed four trades in total or transactions valued at least $20 before Dec. 24 are also eligible to claim the free tokens.

1INCH was up by 16% in just 24 hours with a trading price reaching $2.9 but has since dropped off to around $2. The airdrop event is coming on the heels of the project successfully raising $12 million in a Pantera Capital-backed funding round earlier in December.