How do you claim a crypto airdrop safely?

To claim an airdrop, you connect the wallet that qualified to the project's official claim page, check the amount, and sign a claim transaction. The claim is usually free apart from the network fee. The basics are in what a crypto airdrop is.

How do you claim airdrop tokens on MetaMask?

MetaMask has a built-in way to find eligible airdrops. Its help page says you connect your accounts, open the Tokens page and look for an Eligible Airdrops section. Selecting Claim airdrop shows the network, conditions and registration dates. Pressing Claim then sends you to the third-party site that runs the airdrop.

MetaMask says eligibility depends on your public address and on-chain history, and as of October 2026 its page lists Ethereum, Optimism, Arbitrum, Base, Zora and Polygon as supported. It also warns that once you leave for the airdrop site, you are using apps it does not control. After claiming, a new token may not show up until you add its contract address to the wallet.

How do you claim airdrops on Phantom or Coinbase Wallet?

On Solana, Phantom advises accessing airdrops only through trusted banners or verified apps inside the wallet, and never through links in social posts or ads. Phantom automatically hides spam NFTs and any token with a web address in its name, and lets you report and hide others. It also previews each transaction and flags known malicious sites.

Coinbase Wallet, which was briefly called the Base App from July 2025 until Coinbase restored the old name in September 2026, works like other self-custody wallets: you open the claim site in its browser and sign. Coinbase's help page says no real airdrop will ask for your recovery phrase. Suspicious tokens can be removed with Hide and report.

How do you claim an airdrop from the contract?

Some projects let users claim directly on a block explorer such as Etherscan. Lido's guide for its early staker airdrop is a typical example. Users found their address and index in a file the project published, used the contract's Read tab to check whether the claim was still open, then used the Write tab to connect a wallet and fill in the index, address, amount and a proof.

This avoids lookalike websites only if the contract address comes from the project's official documentation, since a blockchain explorer shows fake contracts too.

What should you check before signing a claim?

• The link. Get it from the project's official site or account, not a reply, ad or direct message.
• The request. A claim should not need your seed phrase or a payment sent first.
• The approval. A request for unlimited spending of tokens you already own is a warning sign. See phishing and wallet drainers.
• Unexpected tokens. Tokens that appear on their own, often with a website in the name, are usually bait and are best left alone.

Tax treatment of claimed tokens is covered separately in are crypto airdrops taxable.