Hyperliquid, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, made history on November 29 with one of the largest airdrops ever. Over 310 million HYPE tokens were distributed, valued at $3.90 each at launch, totaling $1.2 billion, per CoinGecko. Within 12 hours, HYPE surged 63%, trading at $6.16 and pushing its market cap near $2 billion. The token plays a vital role in Hyperliquid’s ecosystem as both a staking and gas token for its HyperEVM, an Ethereum-compatible layer. The protocol, which boasts speeds of 200,000 transactions per second on its proof-of-stake blockchain, allocated 31% of its supply to the airdrop, reserving 38.8% for future incentives. Meanwhile, core contributors receive 23.8% under a long-term vesting schedule. This event solidifies Hyperliquid's position among major DeFi airdrops, following historic distributions by Uniswap and Arbitrum. Uniswap's 2020 airdrop initially valued at $3.40 per UNI token saw its price soar to $42 during DeFi summer, while Arbitrum's 2023 airdrop reached 625,000 wallets. Airdrops are a popular tool for promoting blockchain projects and rewarding early adopters, with over $26.6 billion in tokens distributed industry-wide at peak valuations, according to CoinGecko. Hyperliquid’s genesis event is a testament to the transformative potential of DeFi’s innovative rewards systems.