Crypto's Airdrop Boom Faces Ethical and Regulatory Crosswinds

The cryptocurrency market is abuzz with activity as COMMON, a blockchain-based community infrastructure protocol, prepares to launch on Bitget with a 27.77 million token airdrop. The move, announced by Bitget and the Common team, underscores a broader trend of token-based incentives driving adoption in decentralized ecosystems. Meanwhile, competing narratives around airdrops and regulatory developments highlight the sector's rapid evolution.

The Common protocol, designed to enable programmable on-chain communities through automated markets for actions, has partnered with Bitget to distribute its native token. This airdrop, one of the largest in recent memory, aims to incentivize participation in governance, workflows, and community-driven initiatives. Bitget's role as a distribution channel leverages its 120 million-user base, creating a direct link between infrastructure innovation and mass adoption, according to a SuperEx announcement.

The launch coincides with Morph's rebranding as a global stablecoin settlement layer, a development that could underpin the infrastructure for such large-scale token distributions. Morph's CEO, Colin Goltra, emphasized the project's focus on scalability, security, and real-time cross-border payments, with throughput targets exceeding 10,000 transactions per second, Business Insider reported. By integrating Bitget's BGB token as its gas and governance asset, Morph aligns with Bitget's Universal Exchange (UEX) vision, which seeks to unify trading, payments, and decentralized finance (DeFi) under a single ecosystem.

The airdrop trend is further amplified by Polymarket, a prediction market platform preparing to launch its native POLY token following a $2 billion investment from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). Polymarket's CMO, Matthew Modabber, confirmed that the token and a potential airdrop would follow the platform's U.S. relaunch, which is expected imminently after acquiring CFTC-regulated derivatives exchange QCX, CoinDesk reported. Modabber highlighted the need for a token with "real utility and longevity," echoing strategies employed by platforms like Hyperliquid.

However, not all airdrops are met with regulatory or public approval. Meteora, a blockchain protocol, distributed a $4.2 million airdrop to addresses linked to Donald Trump's crypto ventures just hours after its co-founder faced a $57 million class-action lawsuit for alleged pump-and-dump schemes, CryptoNews reported. The incident, which saw the airdropped tokens immediately deposited to OKX for liquidity, raises questions about the ethical implications of token distributions in contested markets.

As the industry navigates these dynamics, SuperEx has announced the listing of COMMON/USDT trading pairs, effective October 27. This follows a year of explosive growth in stablecoin usage, with DeFiLlama reporting a 50% increase in stablecoin circulation to $310 billion in 2025. Projections suggest stablecoin value could reach $4 trillion by 2030, underscoring the urgency for scalable infrastructure like Morph's.