In the ongoing airdrop season, Solana’s DEX aggregator Jupiter’s JUP is gaining significant attention from the cryptocurrency community. This surge in interest is primarily attributed to its massive airdrop of 1.35 billion JUP tokens, set to be distributed among 1 million Solana wallet holders. Notably, this Jupiter airdrop marks the first of its kind for the JUP token within the Jupiter DEX.
Jupiter airdrop impact on the price of JUP and SOL
The ongoing JUP airdrop has created an impact on both the JUP price and its underlying blockchain, Solana’s native token SOL. Beyond impacting the prices of SOL and JUP, Jupiter’s market capitalization has also experienced a surge, currently reaching approximately $840 million, as per CoinMarketCap data.
On Wednesday, January 31, 2024, Solana DEX aggregator Jupiter rewarded its users with JUP tokens based on their platform activity. However, due to not all crypto users being eligible for the JUP airdrop, JUP extended an offering of tokens on the open market through a trading pool. This move aimed to foster liquidity and assist airdrop recipients seeking to sell their newly minted tokens.
Amidst ongoing airdrops, JUP is currently trading around $0.63, exhibiting over 5% upside momentum in the last 24 hours. However, a broader perspective reveals a 61% downside momentum in the past 7 days and a similar trend over the last 30 days.
Concurrently, Solana’s native token SOL has witnessed a significant price shift, currently trading at around $100 with a 6% upside momentum in the last 24 hours. Examining SOL’s price before the initiation of the JUP airdrop reveals an 11% upside momentum in the past 7 days.
Jupiter’s airdrop methodology
Jupiter implemented a trading pool strategy to offer tokens at a specific price, influenced by market demand and liquidity. Despite its appearance of fairness, some critics argue that this approach resembles more of an Initial DEX Offering (IDO) than a genuine airdrop.
In an airdrop, users receive tokens as a reward, while an IDO typically involves the sale of tokens to the market by the development team. Critics contend that Jupiter’s trading pool, despite its seemingly fair nature, essentially functions as an IDO, with allegations suggesting the team sold over $200 million worth of tokens through this mechanism.
