Polymarket at war with airdrop farmers before the launch of its token

As the long-awaited launch of its POLY token approaches, Polymarket is seeing its users redouble their ingenuity to maximize their chances of receiving a piece of the pie. Between the sophistication of farming techniques and challenges for the platform, the crypto ecosystem is witnessing a new battle.

Polymarket facing the influx of farmers: an intensifying game of cat and mouse

Since 2024, Polymarket has been in the spotlight. The rapidly expanding prediction platform is actively preparing the launch of its POLY token, scheduled for 2026. This prospect has triggered a rush towards crypto airdrops, these free distributions of tokens intended to reward the most active users.

Last year, farming techniques were still rudimentary: users went back and forth on the same positions to artificially inflate their trading volumes. These practices, easy to spot, ended up saturating feeds and harming the experience of legitimate traders. In 2025, the landscape has changed. Polymarket farmers have refined their methodsmaking their activities much more discreet.

Influential figures like Phantom Bets and CSP Trading, experienced traders on Polymarket, confirm this development. According to them, obvious wash trading patterns have almost disappeared, replaced by more subtle strategies. Users are now optimizing their activity to resemble ordinary crypto traders, while maximizing their chances of being among the airdrop beneficiaries.

Crypto: a token in the crosshairs — can Polymarket win the game?

Polymarket's timetable is clear: the POLY token should not see the light of day before 2026. The platform first wishes to consolidate its position in the United States, a strategic market after years of absence. This wait has not discouraged crypto farmers, quite the contrary. It simply pushed the platform to be more vigilant.

The challenge is significant. Polymarket must identify real users among a crowd of increasingly organized farmers. Traditional detection methods, such as identifying suspicious volumes, are no longer enough. The platform must innovate to preserve the fairness of its rewards system, without discouraging the legitimate engagement of its crypto users.

A paradox emerges: the more farmers perfect their techniques, the more Polymarket must refine its detection tools. This technological arms race could well define the future of the platform. If it fails to distinguish the wheat from the chaff, the launch of POLY risks being marred by controversies, as has been the case for other crypto projects.

POLY vs ETH: two opposing visions of token distribution

Ethereum made crypto history in 2014 with a successful ICO, without resorting to airdrops. ETH tokens were distributed via a public sale, reserving 60% of the funds for the foundation and early contributors. This approach has allowed Ethereum to build a strong community, focused on the utility of the network:

• Smart contracts;
• Challenge ;
• NFT.

Today, Ethereum is a safe bet, despite criticism of initial centralization.

Polymarket, on the other hand, relies on an airdrop to reward its most active users. A risky strategy, because it inevitably attracts farmers ready to do anything to maximize their profits. The challenge for POLY will be to prove its usefulness beyond speculation. Without clear governance or concrete advantages (fee reductions, access to exclusive features), the crypto token could struggle to establish itself.

The launch of the POLY token promises to be a pivotal moment for Polymarket, which also wants to launch its own stablecoin. Between the ingenuity of farmers and the challenges of the platform, the balance will be difficult to find. One thing is certain: if POLY wants to be sustainable, it will have to offer much more than a simple speculative reward. And you, do you think that airdrops remain an effective tool for building crypto communities?