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How to Check if Your Wallet Is Eligible for an Airdrop

A magnifying glass held over a white computer keyboard
Photo: deltaworks / Pixabay

You hear that a project gave tokens to its early users, and you wonder whether your wallet was one of them. Checking should be simple: look up a public address and read an answer. Because it sounds so simple, fake "eligibility checkers" are one of the most common ways people lose their coins.

This guide explains how projects decide who is eligible, where the official answer lives, and a step by step way to check your wallet without handing over anything you shouldn't.

How airdrop eligibility is decided

Almost every airdrop follows the same three steps, and each one is usually written down in the project's official documentation.

1. A snapshot. The project picks a moment in time and reads the blockchain history up to that point. Activity after the snapshot doesn't count. Uniswap's UNI airdrop, for example, was "based on a snapshot ending September 1, 2020," according to the official Uniswap announcement.

2. Criteria. The project decides which activity before the snapshot qualifies. Uniswap kept it simple: 400 UNI for each address that had ever called the Uniswap v1 or v2 contracts. Arbitrum used a points system based on actions such as bridging funds and making transactions in different months, and addresses with too few points did not qualify. The rules are in the Arbitrum Foundation's eligibility documentation.

3. Filtering. Many projects remove addresses that look like bots or farms of wallets controlled by one person. Arbitrum's documentation describes deductions and disqualifications for this kind of activity. That is why two people who used the same app can get different answers.

The result is a list of addresses and amounts. Many projects publish it, or at least publish enough that anyone can check a single address.

Where the official answer lives

Most claim contracts on Ethereum and its layer 2 networks use a Merkle tree. The project turns the full list into one short fingerprint, called the Merkle root, and stores it in a claim contract. When you claim, you send a proof that your address and amount are part of that list. The contract checks the proof, sends the tokens, and records that the allocation was claimed.

You can see how simple this is in Uniswap's open source MerkleDistributor contract. It has a public isClaimed function that anyone can read, and a claim function that sends the tokens to the eligible account named in the proof.

This matters for your safety. Eligibility is a fact about a public address. Looking it up is a read. You can check a public address without connecting a wallet, and reading a list never needs your seed phrase or private key.

Why the checker is the bait

Because checking feels harmless, it is the step scammers focus on. A fake checker copies a real project's look and then asks you to connect your wallet and sign a "verification" message. That message can be a token approval or a permit signature that lets someone move your tokens later. Some fake pages go further and ask for your recovery phrase to "sync" your wallet.

The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center described this pattern in a public service announcement on June 3, 2025: fraudulent airdrop links spread through social media, third-party websites and phishing emails, and the linked site connects to the wallet and drains it.

The losses are real. The security firm Scam Sniffer counted $83.85M lost to wallet-drainer phishing on EVM networks in 2025, from 106,106 victims, and calls that a lower-bound estimate (Scam Sniffer 2025 report).

How to check your eligibility safely, step by step

1. Start from the project, not from a search result

Find the eligibility checker through the project's own website, documentation or verified social accounts, then type the address yourself. Search ads and replies under popular posts are where fake checkers are promoted.

2. Read the rules before you read a result

Look for the snapshot date, the criteria, any registration step and any regional restrictions. If your wallet was created after the snapshot, no checker will change that answer.

3. Use only your public address

Your public address is the string that starts with 0x. It is safe to look up, because it is already visible to anyone on the blockchain. Official portals ask you to connect a wallet only when you actually claim, and only on their own domain.

4. If a "check" asks you to sign, stop

A check is a read. If a site opens a signature request just to show you a result, close it. If you already signed something you didn't understand, review your token approvals. Our guide to wallet history and token approvals explains how.

5. Never type your seed phrase, and never download a "claim tool"

No real checker needs your recovery phrase or private key. Anyone who has them controls the wallet.

6. Check the deadline

Many claim windows close. The ENS claim window ended on May 4, 2022, and the unclaimed ENS went back to the DAO treasury, according to the ENS DAO. The Arbitrum window ended on September 24, 2023. After a deadline, a site that offers to let you claim is fake.

7. Read "not found" carefully

A result is only as good as the sources behind it. "Not found" can mean you are not eligible. It can also mean a tool never looked at the right list, or that a source failed without telling you. If the answer matters, confirm it on the project's own portal.

QUICK TEST FOR ANY ELIGIBILITY CHECKER:
Did I reach it from the project's own channel? Does it work with a pasted public address? Does it ask me to connect, sign or download something just to show a result, or ask for my seed phrase? If yes, close the tab.

Checking many airdrops at once

Checking one airdrop at a time works when you know which project to ask about. If you want to know whether an older wallet was eligible for any of several programs, an airdrop checker that reads the official lists for you saves time.

PoolIndex is an app for Windows and Android that does this. You paste a public 0x address, and it checks public airdrop and claim sources on Ethereum, Arbitrum One, Optimism, Base and Polygon. For airdrops such as Uniswap (UNI), ENS, CoW Protocol, dYdX, Safe, Arbitrum (ARB) and ZORA, it looks up the address in the official list or claim contract and shows whether the allocation was claimed. Closed programs are marked as closed.

What you can expect:

PoolIndex doesn't decide eligibility, and it can't promise there is anything to find. The project's own portal has the final word.

Check your wallet: get PoolIndex from the Microsoft Store for Windows, or get it on Google Play. Free after you register: check 1 wallet and 5 links a month.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check if my wallet is eligible for an airdrop?
Find the official checker through the project's own website or documentation, read the snapshot date and criteria, then paste your public address. Close the page if it asks you to sign, download something or type a seed phrase just to show a result.

Do I need to connect my wallet to check airdrop eligibility?
No. You can check a public address without connecting a wallet. Eligibility is tied to the address, and many projects publish their lists. Official portals ask you to connect only when you claim, and only on their own domain.

An eligibility checker asked me to sign a message. Is that a scam?
Treat it as one. Checking is a read, and a read never needs a signature. A signature on a fake checker can be a token approval or permit that lets someone move your tokens later.

Why does a checker say I'm not eligible when I used the app?
Your activity may have come after the snapshot, it may not have met the criteria, or the address may have been removed by a bot filter. Some programs also required registration or excluded certain regions.

Can I still claim an airdrop if the deadline has passed?
Usually not. When a claim window closes, the project often moves the unclaimed tokens, as ENS and Arbitrum did. A few programs, such as the 2020 UNI airdrop, have no deadline.

What should I do if I signed something on a fake checker?
Stop using the site, then review and revoke your token approvals from a tool you reach by typing its address yourself. If you typed a seed phrase, treat that wallet as compromised and move what is left to a new wallet with a new recovery phrase.

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