The Costly Mistake of a Monad Airdrop Farmer: $112K Spent on Failed Trades

A crypto airdrop farmer lost over $112,000 in newly issued Monad (MON) tokens by spending the entire reward on failed blockchain transactions due to gas fees. This incident highlights the importance of careful transaction management in the volatile world of cryptocurrency.

Key Takeaways

A crypto airdrop farmer lost $112,700 in Monad tokens on failed transactions.
The losses occurred despite the trades being executed from a newly created wallet (0x7f4).
A blockchain security firm warned of a potential hack affecting some airdrop recipients' allocations.
Airdrop farming continues to be a controversial practice in the cryptocurrency space.

Airdrop Farmer Losses

A Costly Error in the Crypto World

A professional in the cryptocurrency space, known as an airdrop farmer, suffered a striking loss of over $112,000 when they used their reward on unsuccessful blockchain transactions. Airdrop farmers typically engage with new protocols to earn airdrop rewards, often utilizing multiple wallets to maximize their benefits.

The cryptocurrency wallet involved, identified as 0x7f4, received around $112,700 worth of Monad (MON) tokens as a reward for their engagement before the protocol's official launch. Unfortunately, the trader encountered a series of unsuccessful transactions, leading to the complete loss of the $112,700 in gas fees for the failed trades. This information was revealed through blockchain data sourced from Solscan.

“Congratulations to 0x7f4e...fa7d who managed to spend their entire Monad airdrop (112.7k) on failed txn fees,” commented crypto investor Joe in a post on Monday X.

Transaction Patterns Transactions for wallet 0x7f4. Source: Solscan

Important Reminder for Traders

This scenario serves as a crucial lesson about the importance of conducting test transactions before engaging in larger transfers. Users should send smaller amounts of cryptocurrency to verify that the transaction parameters are set correctly. The transaction history from this wallet suggests that the user executed hundreds of transactions in a brief period, likely through an automated script, and failed to notice that the earliest transactions were not successful.

Warning from Blockchain Security Experts

On top of this incident, some Monad airdrop recipients have reported issues with missing allocations. Cos, the founder of blockchain security company SlowMist, indicated that a security vulnerability in the Monad claim portal allowed hackers to redirect a user’s airdrop allocation to a wallet under their control.

Several users claimed that they did not receive their designated airdrop tokens, as these had already been "bound" to a hacker's address before the distribution took place. Cos explained that this exploit enabled attackers to “hijack” a user’s session on the claim page, redirecting the airdrop to their own address without needing wallet confirmation.

Security Vulnerabilities Source: Evilcos

The Ongoing Challenges of Airdrop Farming

Airdrop farmers represent a long-standing problem for new cryptocurrency projects due to their tactics, which often involve quickly selling off tokens right after the airdrop event. In March 2023, it was revealed that a small group of airdrop hunters had consolidated $3.3 million worth of tokens from the Arbitrum ARB airdrop across 1,496 wallets into just two wallets they controlled.

Earlier, in February, NFT platform OpenSea halted its airdrop reward system after user complaints arose about the new mechanics fostering wash trading and undermining genuine efforts by developers.

Conclusion

This unfortunate incident illustrates the pitfalls that can arise in the fast-paced cryptocurrency landscape, emphasizing the necessity for caution and due diligence. As the market continues to evolve, maintaining awareness of potential risks and best practices is essential for all participants.