- The Glacier Drop will distribute tokens to over 37 million wallets across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, and more, with no action required by users.
- The entire token supply will go directly to users, granting them full autonomy to hold, trade, or discard the tokens as they wish.
- The project introduces a “capacity unit” enabling payments with various major cryptocurrencies to foster interoperability.
At the Consensus 2025 event, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson explained details about the Midnight upgrade and the upcoming Glacier airdrop. The upcoming airdrop aims to distribute tokens to holders of various prominent cryptocurrencies without requiring user action. The project intends to spread the token to over 37 million existing accounts across different ecosystems, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, XRP, Avalanche, BNB, and Basic Attention Token (BAT).
The Glacier Drop will automatically deliver tokens to users who already hold assets in the supported networks with no need for participants to register or claim manually as the airdrop is set to be distributed freely to eligible wallets.
No VCs, No Limits: Power to the Holders
Unlike most airdrops, this one won’t hand anything to venture capitalists. Hoskinson made it clear that no venture capital firms will be involved. Instead, the entire supply will go to everyday users, who will be free to ignore, hold, sell, or even destroy their tokens—no restrictions have been imposed on post-distribution behavior.
Project representatives emphasized that the token will become the property of its recipients, and how it is handled after the airdrop is entirely up to individual holders. This approach encourages more independence for users and goes in line with the crypto industry’s preference for open-access systems and decentralized ownership
Dual Tokenomics Model
The Midnight project is also introducing a dual-token model as part of its structure where the network will use a separate unit referred to as a “capacity unit.” This mechanism will reportedly allow users to transact using various assets across the supported ecosystems.
The intention is to build a flexible payment framework where any major cryptocurrency could potentially be used to pay for network services to encourage cooperation across ecosystems rather than competition.
Potential Market Impact on Crypto Prices
The Glacier Drop might cause prices of influenced currencies to change rapidly over the next few days. Large airdrops like this often shift market sentiment, especially if traders expect selling pressure or speculate ahead of the event.
For popular tokens like Cardano and XRP, the airdrop may boost short-term liquidity as users rebalance after receiving new assets. Sometimes, early buyers purchase tokens, sending the price up momentarily, followed by declines once tokens are transferred to their wallets.
Since there’s no minimum period for holding, any long-term impact on the price is expected to be very small thus the Glacier Drop tends to create excitement and trading activity rather than long-term effects on the market.
