Original Article Title: "Binance Alpha Airdrop Threshold Skyrockets, Is the Good Time for Retail Investors Coming to an End?"

Original Article Author: 1912212.eth, Foresight News

On June 8, Binance Alpha launched Open Loot (OL). The airdrop claim threshold now requires a minimum of 233 points, marking the highest point requirement since Binance Alpha adopted the points system. Since June this year, the airdrop participation threshold on Binance Alpha has been continuously increasing, starting from just over 200 points to 223, and now to the current 233 points. The increase is in points and thresholds, while market participants' mindset has become "numb."

Since its launch in December 2024, Binance Alpha has attracted numerous players with its low threshold, high reward airdrops and TGEs. However, with the continuous rise in the point threshold, one cannot help but wonder: is this points frenzy approaching its end? Will it continue to roll on?

High-Cost Game: Why It's Getting Harder

The appeal of Binance Alpha lies in its potential rewards. According to airdrops.io statistics, in May 2025, the platform's 5 airdrops on average brought a first-day value of $270 to each user, with a total value reaching $656 based on historical highs. For example, the 1500 tokens from the SIGN airdrop were worth approximately $177, and the BOOP and NXPC airdrops also brought substantial returns to users. Compared to the uncertainty of traditional on-chain airdrops, Binance Alpha's transparent rules and quick cash-out mechanism have made players flock to it.

However, high rewards come with high costs. Acquiring points mainly relies on asset holding and token purchases. Taking the transaction volume points as an example, buying $2 worth of Alpha tokens earns 1 point, with an additional point for every doubling (3 points for $8, 10 points for $1024).

Now, let's assume an ordinary retail player whose trading platform balance ranges from $10,000 to $100,000, with a daily balance point of 3. According to the transaction volume points rule, if an ordinary player wants to earn 15 points, they would need to reach a transaction volume of around $32,000, which is just the requirement for buying (selling does not count towards points). If a new player starts from scratch to boost their trading volume, they would need to persist for at least 13 days of full trading volume to qualify for the Binance Alpha airdrop. This undoubtedly poses a significant challenge to the capital size and patience of ordinary retail investors.

In addition, during the token airdrop process, Binance Alpha has also introduced an additional point consumption. Typically, each time you claim an airdrop or participate in a wallet TGE event, you need to consume 15 points. This means that if your points have just reached the required amount, claiming this airdrop will make you ineligible for the next one. This also puts players' judgment to the test. If the current airdrop project is of average quality and you choose to claim it, worth only tens of dollars, missing out on the opportunity for the next airdrop or TGE worth hundreds of dollars, the time and opportunity cost will be significant.

The "friction" cost during the trading process is also significant. Foresight News noted that when trading a portion of a token, even if you buy and sell quickly, you may incur a "loss" of several tens of dollars. Therefore, when choosing a coin, players need to consider the trading volume, price fluctuations, and other factors comprehensively; otherwise, they may find themselves in a situation where they make rapid trades but the airdrop's benefits cannot cover the cost.

The MEV issue is also worth attention. If luck is not on your side and you have not enabled MEV protection, the losses could be substantial. According to AI Auntie's monitoring, on June 8th, a user engaged in volume trading for KOGE/USDT, and a single transaction was sandwiched for $47,000, spending $47,000 USDT to buy only 0.009 KOGE, resulting in a per-coin cost of up to $5.18 million. However, as long as the airdrop profit exceeds the friction cost, arbitrageurs will continue to pour in.

Studio Frenzy?

Binance Alpha officially launched on December 17, 2024, positioning itself as a discovery platform for early-stage Web3 projects, aiming to provide users with early participation opportunities in high-potential tokens. Its core mechanism is the Alpha Points system, which determines eligibility for participating in TGEs and airdrops by assessing users' asset holdings in the Binance trading platform and wallet ecosystem (Balance Points) and the volume of Alpha token purchases (Volume Points). Points are updated daily based on a snapshot of assets and trading behavior from the past 15 days, with a 15-day validity period.

Initially, the threshold for Alpha Points was relatively low. For example, the April 2025 SIGN airdrop required only a low number of points to participate. However, as the platform attracted more users, the points threshold increased. In May 2025, the BOOP airdrop required 137 points, and the Privasea TGE required 198 points. By June, the Bondex (BDXN) airdrop required 213 points, while Open Loot raised the bar to 233 points. Some community users pointed out that thresholds above 220 points have become the norm, and a slight lack of effort may lead to missing out on opportunities.

According to the Dune Analytics dashboard, on June 8th, Binance Alpha's trading volume reached $20.4 billion, setting a new all-time high and significantly surpassing competitors like the Solana blockchain.

The root cause of this "arms race" phenomenon lies in a supply-demand imbalance. The airdrops and TGE opportunities of Binance Alpha have continuously raised the bar for entry, leading to a surge in participants. It is estimated that around 10,000 people are eligible for the Open Loot airdrop, with each person receiving 1836 OL tokens. As arbitrageurs rushed in, the platform increased the point threshold to filter out truly active users while curbing bot behavior. In June 2025, Binance announced an upgrade to its risk control system, where any use of bots—including but not limited to scripts, automation tools, or other non-manual methods—would be considered a violation.

From thousands of dollars to hundreds of dollars, the destination of Binance Alpha?

In the early stages, with fewer participating users and high-reward projects, retail investors who completed airdrops could receive returns above $1000 after deducting costs. However, as the number of users increased and the bar was raised, their monthly earnings have dropped from over a thousand dollars to around $600, and the earnings from a mid-May airdrop of a certain project dropped to as low as $25, far below user expectations. This shift indicates that the Alpha points game is transitioning from "low-entry high-reward" to "high-entry low-reward," diminishing its appeal to ordinary players.

The frenzy around Binance Alpha has not only altered user behavior but also had a profound impact on the entire industry ecosystem. On the one hand, Alpha's massive traffic has brought about a "spillover effect" for other public chains. Since May, trading volume on Solana's DEX has increased from $22 billion to $45.9 billion, partly due to the frenzy around tokens like $MOODENG on the Alpha platform. The NAVX token in the Sui ecosystem also saw a surge in trading volume after being listed on Alpha, injecting vitality into emerging public chains to some extent.

On the other hand, Alpha's success has spurred imitation by other trading platforms. Twitter KOL @_FORAB revealed that exchanges like Kraken and Bithumb have acknowledged Alpha's model and may launch similar activities. As competition intensifies, airdrop thresholds and costs will increase further, posing higher barriers to entry for users. Binance itself is continuously adjusting its strategy, for example, by introducing double points events (where purchasing Alpha tokens through the BSC chain or limit orders earns double points) to stimulate trading volume. However, these incentive measures have further raised the points threshold, exacerbating the "arms race."

Facing a high entry barrier and intensifying competition, is Binance Smart Chain Alpha approaching its end? The answer may not be a simple yes or no. User fatigue is showing, with the high barrier and cost discouraging newcomers. If profits continue to decline, ordinary users may choose to exit. Bots and arbitrageurs are crowding the space: although Binance has upgraded its risk control system, the bot gaming issue has not been fully resolved. This not only damages fairness but also increases the platform's operating costs. Furthermore, market saturation is also a negative factor, and the supply of high-quality projects for Alpha projects may be drying up. In the long run, the platform may struggle to sustain high-frequency, high-value airdrop activities.

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