11,000 Wallets Snag NIGHT Tokens in Cardano Airdrop—Despite $71M Upgrade Flop

Cardano's latest airdrop sees 11,000 wallets grabbing NIGHT tokens—proof that free money still trumps even the shiniest (and most expensive) tech upgrades.

The Airdrop Gold Rush

While developers hyped a $71 million network upgrade, the real action was in the token grab. Thousands piled in, proving once again that crypto’s favorite pastime isn’t innovation—it’s speculation.

Upgrade? What Upgrade?

The so-called 'groundbreaking' Cardano update barely moved the needle. Meanwhile, the NIGHT airdrop had wallets clicking faster than a trader dumping a meme coin at the first sign of red.

Cynical Finance Bonus

Another day, another reminder: in crypto, the 'builders' write checks, and the degens cash them.

Phased Airdrop Mechanics and Cross-Chain Eligibility

While Cardano users will receive the largest share, 50% of the total 24 billion NIGHT tokens, holders from other networks are also included in the drop. The claim process is designed to be fair and non-custodial, requiring users to verify eligibility and sign a transaction.

This first phase will remain open for 60 days, followed by a second phase (Scavenger Mine) where users can earn unclaimed tokens through on-chain computational tasks. A third “Lost-and-Found” stage will begin post-mainnet and allow late claims for a limited fraction of the original allocation.

Despite the excitement, not everything has gone smoothly. Many ADA holders using Ledger hardware wallets reported issues when trying to claim NIGHT tokens.

According to cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, the problem lies with Ledger’s firmware, which currently supports message signing of only 31 bytes, far short of the 251 bytes needed for the Glacier Drop.

Cardano developers are actively working on a workaround, urging affected users to try again later in the month. “If you are one of the impacted people, then come back towards the end of the month and try again,” Hoskinson advised on X.

Surprisingly, the airdrop’s momentum comes at a time when Cardano’s $71 million network upgrade has underwhelmed the market. Designed to enhance smart contract performance and scalability, the update has barely moved ADA’s price, which hovers around $0.72, a 2.92% drop in the last 24 hours.

Cover image from ChatGPT, ADAUSD chart from Tradingview