Why Do New Projects Like to "PUA" Users with Points Systems? The Points System Hints at an Airdrop
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Why Do New Projects Like to "PUA" Users with Points Systems? The Points System Hints at an Airdrop
The "points system" has become an emerging incentive tool in the crypto space, with project developers leveraging it to improve user retention and engagement.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy Chloe, PANews
Reward programs pioneered by NFT marketplaces Blur and Tensor are sweeping across the DeFi landscape. These DeFi protocols distribute points to users who complete specific tasks, such as trading or locking tokens. The market now views this as a novel method for attracting and influencing user behavior.
Almost overnight, "points systems" have emerged as a new incentive tool in the crypto space, with project developers leveraging them to boost user retention and engagement.
Numerous projects have demonstrated that these points could eventually translate into tokens with real economic value. In many cases, users already place confidence in the value of these points, widely recognizing them as indicators that a protocol may conduct a token airdrop.
Points Systems as Tools for Project Incentives
Friend.tech launched explosively on Base chain on August 11, but transaction volumes noticeably declined by the end of that month. However, in September, Friend.tech surged again, surpassing Opensea in trading volume. Multiple factors contributed to its resurgence, one key being anticipation of a future token launch. For active users, each earned point could potentially be converted into a token airdrop worth $1–5.
At the time, Friend.tech officially announced it would distribute a total of 100 million points over 25 weeks, reinforcing market belief that these points represented potential airdrop eligibility—closely tied to total investment within the app, holding duration, and user activities such as clicks, time spent, and interactions.
Next came Blast, the new L2 project from Blur’s founder, launched on November 21. It attracted $230 million in TVL within just 48 hours, making Blast the third-largest holder of staked ETH in the market. According to Blast's released points system (Blast Points), the team plans to conduct an airdrop next May and has established a corresponding points leaderboard, where the number of points directly impacts airdrop allocations.
For regular users, there are two primary ways to earn Blast Points: first, simply deposit assets into the Blast L2 network; second, invite more users to join. Additionally, Blast rewards users based on the number of successful referrals. Riding on airdrop expectations, this mechanism has become a major driver behind user growth—a win-win strategy for users.
More recently, on December 13, the crypto wallet Rainbow launched a points program aimed at rewarding existing users and attracting new ones. Previously, Rainbow had taken a snapshot of Ethereum user activity, allocating at least 100 points to each Ethereum user as an incentive to explore the platform. Moreover, Rainbow targeted MetaMask users—anyone who used MetaMask services in the past year also became eligible for point rewards, with reward amounts determined by their transaction volume.
From Rainbow offering ETH-based point rewards, to Friend.tech building user engagement loops around points, to NFT platform Blur’s new L2 Blast, the application of points systems is becoming increasingly widespread.
Avoiding Regulation by Not Promising Token Issuance?
This trend indicates that crypto applications are broadly seeking product-market fit and actively capturing user attention amid a bear market. This shift reflects how founders and developers not only continue innovating but also strategize on maintaining competitiveness and long-term user engagement in a crowded environment.
Indeed, the popularity of points systems not only motivates greater user participation but also provides projects with a method to build ecosystems and sustain attention.
Specifically, points systems allow protocols to subtly signal upcoming airdrops while guiding users toward high-value activities that earn rewards—enabling deliberate shaping of user behavior. As Kellan Grenier, co-founder of Parcl, noted, “Without a points program, it’s difficult to keep users engaged with our product, let alone attract new users or capital.”
However, notably, these protocols may have found a way to sidestep regulatory issues through points mechanisms.
In other words, protocols can design attractive mechanisms to draw in users without formally committing to issue any tokens—an approach particularly useful in jurisdictions like the United States, where the legal status of tokens remains contentious.
While such strategically designed mechanisms bring significant benefits to protocols, they have also sparked controversy. Critics argue that these practices are fundamentally predatory—exploiting users’ expectations of future airdrops while avoiding corresponding responsibilities.
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