Prominent cryptocurrency exchange Binance distributed 94% of all the centralized exchange launchpool airdrops and rewards in 2024.
Binance is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of spot trading volume. Controlling about 50% of the global trading volume, the Changpeng Zhao-co-founded exchange has established itself as a leader in the centralized exchange business.
Interestingly, Binance’s lead goes beyond the market attention it commands; the exchange has also positioned itself around projects looking to give back to the crypto community. A recent CoinMarketCap report shows that the trading platform handled a staggering 94% of all launchpool rewards in the past year.
Binance’s User Reward Exceeds $2.64B
The report “Examining Token Listings on CEXes” highlighted several activities among top centralized exchanges, including their token listing and reward performances. Among others, the piece shows that Binance is way ahead in rewarding platform users through airdrops and launchpools.
For context, launchpools are programs organized by centralized exchanges to offer holders alternative income. CEXs allow holders of certain assets to stake them, offering them early access to new tokens while earning rewards on staked assets.
Meanwhile, Binance goes beyond the launchpool program by offering MegaDrops and launchpads, which help new and promising projects access early investments through initial exchange offerings (IEO). Per reports, users of the leading crypto exchange received $2.64 billion in rewards from these programs in 2024.
Interestingly, the figure accounts for almost all the rewards users gained across all other exchanges. For context, an accompanying chart shows that Bybit, which has the second-largest airdrop, managed a meager $125 million (4.62%) compared to Binance’s. Other mentioned exchanges like Bitget, KuCoin, and Gate.io gave back $20.1 million, $5.4 million, and $5.2 million, respectively.
Launchpool Participants Cash Out Big
Moreover, participants in launchpools across major exchanges recorded staggering returns, increasing the program’s appeal. CoinMarketCap highlighted that users’ median average percentage yield (APY) ranged between 11% and 112%.
Furthermore, the normal APY looks even better, ranging between 52% and 436%. Notably, the exact percentage depends on the asset the user staked on and the terms of the launchpool.
Notably, major assets stood out as the top Binance launchpools for 2024. For context, Saga (SAGA)’s April 5-9 launchpool stood out, attracting over ten million staked BNB. The project distributed rewards worth 45 million SAGA, sealing its place among the most lucrative launchpools of last year.
Other prominent pools include Etherna (ETHERNA), where users earned a cumulative 240 million ETHERNA from March 31 to April 1 farming; PIXEL, which gave out over 280 million of the token in its February 9-18 farming, with users earning an average of $9.47 per BNB; and others like the March 28-31 Gunzilla Game (GUN) pool.
In general, last year was good for crypto listings on CEXes through several launch protocols, as they did not perform poorly. The data shows an average return on investment of 167.48%, with Gate.io, Binance, Bitget, and Bybit listing the average best performers in 2024.
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