Airdrop
A distribution of free tokens sent to wallet addresses, typically used to reward early users, bootstrap a community, or distribute governance tokens. Airdrops may be based on criteria like holding a specific token, using a protocol before a certain date, or participating in governance. Retroactive airdrops reward past usage of a protocol.
“Uniswap airdropped 400 UNI tokens to every wallet that had ever used the protocol before September 2020, worth over $1,400 at the time of distribution.”
Governance Token
A token that grants holders voting rights in a decentralized protocol's governance process. Governance tokens allow the community to propose and vote on changes to protocol parameters, treasury allocation, fee structures, upgrades, and strategic direction. Voting power is typically proportional to token holdings, though some systems implement quadratic voting or delegation to reduce plutocratic influence.
Token Distribution
The plan for how a project's total token supply is allocated among various stakeholders — including the team, investors, community, ecosystem grants, treasury, and public sale. Token distribution is a critical element of tokenomics because it determines initial ownership concentration, vesting schedules, and potential sell pressure over time.
DeFi (Decentralized Finance)
An ecosystem of financial services built on blockchain networks that operate without traditional intermediaries like banks, brokerages, or insurance companies. DeFi uses smart contracts to provide lending, borrowing, trading, insurance, derivatives, and yield generation in a permissionless, transparent, and composable manner. Anyone with a wallet can participate.