Given the abundance of new NFT projects and established projects creating new collectibles, users are naturally looking for ways to participate in free NFT drops.
Since the NFT space is now saturated with a large number of projects, finding free NFT drops can be difficult even for experienced users, not to mention newcomers. In this article, we will show you how to find upcoming NFT collection drops and how to get free NFT drops.
Essentials:
- Some projects are trying to differentiate themselves in the saturated NFT sector by dropping their NFTs for free.
- While most free NFT drops never amount to much, some projects distributing their NFTs have achieved significant success (CryptoPunks, Goblintown, Loot).
- You can find upcoming free NFT drops using an NFT calendar platform.
What are NFT drops?
An NFT drop (also known as an NFT airdrop) is an event in which a digital asset, usually in the form of a unique, one-of-a-kind work of art or collectible, is made available for purchase using cryptocurrency. The term “drop” refers to the way the NFT is offered for sale, often in limited quantities and for a specific period of time.
What is an NFT? Non-fungible tokens explained
NFT drops are typically organized by the artist or creator of the digital item, and can take place on a dedicated website or platform designed specifically for buying and selling NFTs. Many NFT drops are highly sought after and can generate significant interest and demand among collectors and enthusiasts of digital art and collectibles.
NFT drops vary widely in terms of collection size (supply), item price, and NFT rarity. While some NFT collections, especially those from high-profile artists or companies, can reach sky-high valuations, there are also NFTs that can be claimed for free (not counting network fees, of course).
How do you find free NFT drops?
There are several ways to find information about free mint NFT drops, ranging from NFT marketplaces and social media platforms to Instant Messaging channels and NFT calendars. Let’s explore each method in more detail.
NFT marketplaces
One of the easiest ways to discover upcoming NFTs is to visit almost any NFT marketplace. Typically, they list upcoming projects in a separate section that allows users to filter upcoming NFT drops using various criteria such as the blockchain they are on, the category, and more.
NFT markets come in different shapes and sizes. The first category, mass marketplaces, includes major cryptocurrency marketplaces such as GameStop NFT, OpenSea, Axie Infinity Marketplace, Rarible, and Nifty Gateway. These websites host a wide range of NFT collections, including collections related to sports, trading cards, digital art, and even virtual reality.
Social media
Twitter is the main communication channel for most NFT projects. To learn more about the next drops, you can also visit other social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and others. Make sure you follow NFT markets and project teams and other influential people in the NFT community so you stay informed about any free NFT giveaways.
Instant Messaging Channels
You can also take advantage of instant messaging services such as Discord and Telegram. In the message groups, you will most likely hear people talking about NFT drops. with very low rock bottom prices, and even free prices are not uncommon. However, because of the private nature of conversations over IMs, you should be especially careful to avoid those who promise things that are too good to be true.
NFT calendars
NFT calendars are one of the best ways to stay informed about new drops on the Ethereum blockchain and other popular decentralized networks for NFTs like Solana and Polygon. The dates and times of each NFT drop are listed on NFT calendars, as well as a countdown that users can use to keep track of how many drops are left until the collection is online. Additionally, most NFT calendars allow users to filter for free NFTs.
Step-by-step guide to getting free NFT drops
For the purposes of this guide, we’ll explore how NFT calendars can be used to find free NFT drops. We use NFT Drops Calendar. Keep in mind that most NFT calendars offer a similar feature set, meaning you can follow the steps below on virtually any NFT calendar platform.
Step 1: Find a website with free NFT drops
Find a trusted website that offers free NFT drops, such as NFT Drops Calendar. Conversely, you can use the service you prefer and get very similar results. The most important thing to note is that you are using a website that allows upcoming NFT drops to be filtered by price and blockchain.
Step 2: Sort by coin price (low to high)
Once you have found a reliable website, you need to sort the prices from low to high. This means that free NFT collections will appear first.
Step 3: Find “free coin” NFT projects
For free NFT drops, choose the one that says ‘FREE MINT’ next to it. While it may be called something different on different NFT calendar sites, virtually all of them have a feature that prominently showcases free NFTs.
Step 4: Select the project you want to participate in
The last thing you need to do is research the information provided and decide which one you want to participate in the NFT drop. This is the crucial part that you need to do as you cannot afford to risk your stake without full knowledge of what you are going to do with your stake.
The most successful projects that started with a free NFT drop
Honestly, most projects that do free NFT drops never gain much traction and are quickly forgotten. However, there have been some very impressive success stories of projects distributing their NFTs via free drops.
CryptoPunks
CryptoPunks is perhaps the most influential NFT project of all time, as it single-handedly kick-started the ‘PFP’ or profile photo genre of NFTs. This NFT collection launched in June 2017 with a free drop. Anyone who had an Ethereum address and was willing to pay the associated gas costs could mint a CryptoPunk NFT at no additional cost.
There are 10,000 CryptoPunks NFTs in total and each CryptoPunk avatar was automatically generated based on a predetermined set of properties. Some features are rarer than others, and CryptoPunks with the rarest features (e.g. the ‘Alien’ features) can sell for over a million dollars.
Although the price of CryptoPunks has seen significant fluctuations in recent years, they are still a highly coveted status symbol in the Ethereum community. The “cheapest” CryptoPunk on the market today sells for a whopping 55.7 ETH (about $132,000 at the time of writing).
Loot
Loot is a unique NFT project that represents virtual equipment used in role-playing games. While the vast majority of NFT collections focus on visual presentation, the Loot project took a very minimalist approach. Loot NFTs are simply a list of 8 virtual pieces of equipment. The contents of each loot bag were randomly generated, with some items appearing more often than others.
Users are encouraged to use Loot NFTs in any way they wish, such as incorporating them into blockchain-powered role-playing games, creating visual representations of items in Loot Bags, and so on.
While enthusiasm for Loot has waned considerably since the project’s launch, the original collection still commands a very respectable minimum price of 0.43 ETH at the time of writing.
Goblintown
Goblintown is an NFT project that went live with a free drop and quickly attracted a lot of attention due to the collection’s grotesque art style and the project’s unconventional marketing, which often incorporates toilet humor and nonsensical messages.
At its peak, the Goblintown Collection floor price rose above 5 ETH, although it has since fallen significantly to around 0.18 ETH. Still, those who took part in Goblintown’s free NFT drop certainly had the opportunity to make a very nice profit.
Final Thoughts – Don’t expect to get rich from free NFTs
While free NFT drops can be a great way to become part of the community, free NFTs rarely explode in value, so don’t get your hopes up too early. However, there are exceptions. For example, several collectibles from Crypto Punks, an NFT collection that was initially distributed for free, later reached a million dollar valuation. In February, the most expensive ‘Crypto Punk’ was sold for a whopping 8,000 ETH, worth more than $23 million at the time.
Ultimately, it’s impossible to predict which NFTs will skyrocket and which will underperform, so it’s best to keep expectations low. In the meantime, you can check out the top crypto airdrop sites to find the best NFT and other crypto airdrop deals.