The Base airdrop has quickly become one of the most anticipated events in crypto. With Base confirming plans for a native token in September 2025, speculation is rising that an airdrop could follow, just as Optimism, Arbitrum, and other Layer-2s have done.

In this guide, we cover everything we know (and don’t know yet) about the Base airdrop: what it is, how it might work, eligibility requirements, how to prepare, potential tokenomics, and what this means for the crypto market. Whether you’re new to crypto or an experienced degen, this post will help you position yourself ahead of the drop.

What is Base? 

Base Chain is a Layer-2 blockchain built on the OP Stack, incubated by Coinbase. 

It launched mainnet in 2023 and quickly became one of the most used Ethereum L2s, processing transactions in under a second at a fraction of a cent. The token launch would mark a major step toward decentralization and community governance.

Understanding the Base Airdrop

At BaseCamp 2025, Base creator Jesse Polack confirmed plans to launch a native token. 

While the Base airdrop has not been officially announced, history suggests it is highly likely. Optimism, Arbitrum, and other L2s all launched governance tokens through airdrops to early adopters. Base is expected to follow the same path.

What Is The Base Airdrop?

The Base airdrop is the potential distribution of the upcoming Base token to users who engage with the Base, the Ethereum Layer-2 network by Coinbase. 

This airdrop would likely reward meaningful participation: bridging assets, using DeFi protocols, minting NFTs, building on Base, and contributing to the Base community.

Base Token Economics (Expected)

While details are not confirmed, the Base token is expected to:

  • Distribute governance rights across the Base community
  • Reward liquidity providers and app users on Base
  • Reward major apps built on Base (in turn, apps might reward their users)
  • Support staking or security mechanisms within the L2
  • Enable ecosystem incentives, such as rewards for providing liquidity or subsidizing fees for new users

Although this is purely speculative, Base token economics will likely learn a lot from other L2 networks that launched their tokens over the past few years. 

Is there a Base Airdrop checker? 

No! There is no airdrop checker for Base. It’s very early. 

The official checker is usually available only a few days before the actual TGE. Be very careful when using any non-official checker, it could be a malicious app. 

You don’t really need a checker. Just understand how the airdrop works and prepare for it.  

How to Participate in a Base Airdrop

  1. Set up a Base-compatible wallet — Zerion Wallet supports Base by default, including tracking of all tokens, NFTs, and DeFi positions. The cool thing is that you can also follow any wallet address and get notifications when they do something on Base (like trying new protocols. For example, here is Jesse Polack’s address in Zerion.
  2. Bridge assets — transfer ETH or stablecoins from Ethereum, other EVM chains, or Solana, which you can do with Zerion bridge, which is also built-in the Zerion Wallet.
  3. Engage with Base apps — use DeFi, mint NFTs, try new apps. With Zerion, you can do this on mobile through the built-in browser, which lets you use any dapp on the go.
  4. Stay active — eligibility snapshots are usually retroactive and consider activity over extended periods of time. Try to do something every day or so.
  5. Claim process — typically through a claim portal once the airdrop is announced. Once you qualify for an airdrop, you’ll see it in Zerion Perks.

Besides purely onchain activity, Base airdrop eligibility might consider community engagement, especially on web3 social platforms. 

Community Engagement

Eligibility may also factor in:

  • Using social media features in the new Base app, which replaces Coinbase Wallet (although the transition is gradual and by invitation only)
  • Posting and interacting on Farcaster — the founding team are ex-Coinbase and the product is closely integrated with Base 
  • Participating in Base and Optimism governance discussions 
  • Contributing code, content, or community support

Building on Base

Given Base’s emphasis on supporting builders, a large part of the airdrop will likely go to those who deploy contracts and build on Base. 

However, just spamming Base with deploying contracts won’t work. Rewards will likely go to builders who create apps that have genuine users. 

If you’re planning to build on Base, you should check out Zerion API. It makes it very easy to fetch wallet portfolios, token balances, and transactions. 

Base Bridge Usage

Bridging assets will likely be a core eligibility requirement. Bridging assets shows commitment to the network and has been key in past airdrop criteria.

You can use the official Base bridge from Ethereum, but it can be pricy, especially for smaller transfers. 

Dozens of other bridges now also support Base. You can use Zerion’s bridge aggregation to find the cheapest and fastest bridges from Ethereum, 20+ EVM networks, and Solana. 

Transactions and Fees

Transactions on Base cost fractions of a cent. 

This means it’s very easy to spam transactions, so likely only “meaningful” transactions will count. Whether it’s $1, $10, or more, nobody knows. The best strategy is to simply use Base normally without trying to actively “farm” transactions.  

Holding Liquidity on Base

Providing liquidity (i.e. ETH, USDC, or any other assets) in Base-native DEXes or lending protocols could increase chances of eligibility, as seen with Arbitrum and Optimism.

Again, Zerion Wallet is here to help: it tracks all major protocols on Base so you’ll never forget where you put your assets, whether it’s staked tokens, Liquidity Pools, or anything else. 

You have a lot to choose from. Base has one of the largest ecosystems. 

Base Ecosystem

Base includes both established and emerging protocols of all kinds. 

You have two general strategies for deploying assets on Base:

  • Play it safe by depositing liquidity to the older, battle-tested protocols 
  • Maximize returns by depositing and using new and up-and-coming DeFi protocols, which might also airdrop their own tokens. 

DeFi Applications

Engagement with Base DeFi protocols—such as lending, swapping, and stablecoin liquidity—may count toward airdrop allocations. 

Lending

  • Compound — the OG lending protocol 
  • Aave — the leading lending protocol where you can deposit and borrow 
  • Morpho — another fast-growing lending protocol 

Decentralized Exchanges 

  • Uniswap — the biggest DEX, also available on Base 
  • Aero — Base-native DEX with additional rewards for liquidity providers 

If you just want ot swap tokens, you can do it directly in Zerion Wallet, which will find you the best rates across all DEXes on Base. 

Yield

  • Pendle — the largest yield trading platform
  • Beefy — the yield optimizer where you can earn the highest yield for your assets. 

To find the best yields, you can also use Zerion Earn, which aggregates all major staking and other yield opportunities on Base. 

If you want to try newer protocols with airdrop potential, quests in Zerion Rewards are a great way to find them. For example, the quest for Avantis would have positioned you well for their airdrop. 

Farcaster

Farcaster, the decentralized social app, has strong ties to Base. Activity there could factor into eligibility. Similarly, NFT projects and Web3 apps deployed on Base may reward users with extra weight.

Additionally, an active Farcaster profile could serve as a way to prove you are human, not a bot. For example, this can be done with Farcaster’s Neynar Score.

Zora on Base 

Zora, the NFT platform, is now also closely integrated with Base. Zora has already done its airdrop, but it can be a great way to speculate on creator coins and content coins. 

Governance and Decentralization

The Base token will likely introduce governance voting. If you have received other airdrops (e.g. Optimism), it could be a good idea to use them for voting. 

Strategic Implications of Base Airdrop

Many market participants believed that Base would launch their own token. Now they need to update their expectations. 

Market Impact

If the Base airdrop mirrors Arbitrum’s ($1B+ value distributed), it could be one of the largest in crypto history. You can expect significant liquidity inflows and heightened attention from retail and institutions.

Adoption and Growth

Coinbase’s integration makes Base uniquely positioned: an airdrop could onboard millions of retail users directly into Web3, accelerating ecosystem adoption.

Future Opportunities

The initial airdrop may be followed by additional community or ecosystem-specific drops, rewarding continued participation and developer contributions on Base Chain. 

Get Active on Base Now

If you’re not yet on Base, create a wallet with Zerion and get started. We’ll be around to help you in your onchain journey.

FAQ: Base Airdrop

Is the Base airdrop confirmed? Not officially. Token planning is confirmed, but the airdrop has not been announced.

When will the Base airdrop happen? No timeline is available. However, eligibility snapshots are often retroactive, so activity could count later. Once the airdrop date is announced, it will be too late. 

How do I qualify for the Base airdrop? Use the Base network: bridge ETH, swap tokens, provide liquidity, mint NFTs, and engage with apps like Farcaster. Be a genuinely curious user. 

Which wallet should I use? Self-custody wallets like Zerion Wallet fully support Base and are recommended for eligibility.

Will Coinbase users be eligible? Possibly. Base’s link to Coinbase could make it easier to extend eligibility to retail users to encourage them to move onchain.