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How to Airdrop NFTs

Learn how to airdrop NFTs using both on-chain and off-chain implementations

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One of the most common but effective ways of marketing your NFT project is by airdropping NFTs to influencers and backers/community members of another NFT project (which may or may not be owned by you).

Airdropping has also shown application in projects which want to reward existing members with even more utility.

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Gutter Cat Gang NFT holders were able to mint Gutter Dogs and Gutter Rats for free

In this article, we will explore how to go about creating the two most common types of airdrops:

  • The on-chain direct mint and transfer drop
  • The off-chain allowlist

We will build the former using Solidity and standard OpenZeppelin ERC721 contracts. For the latter, we will employ digital signatures and the OpenZeppelin ECDSA library.

Finally, we will also write a script that leverages the [Alchemy NFT API][./] to get a list of all wallets that own an NFT of a particular collection.

Part 1: Direct Mint and Transfer

In the direct mint and transfer model, the creator of the project mints the NFTs directly to a certain selection of wallets.

Step 1: Install Node and npm

If you haven't already, install node and npm on your local machine.

Make sure that node is at least v14 or higher by typing the following in your terminal:

node -v

Step 2: Create a Hardhat project

We're going to set up our project using Hardhat, the industry-standard development environment for Ethereum smart contracts. Additionally, we'll also install OpenZeppelin contracts.

To set up Hardhat, run the following commands in your terminal:

mkdir nft-airdrop && cd nft-airdrop
npm init -y
npm install --save-dev hardhat
npx hardhat

Choose Create a Javascript project from the menu and accept all defaults. To ensure everything is installed correctly, run the following command in your terminal:

npx hardhat test

To install OpenZeppelin:

npm install @openzeppelin/contracts

Step 3: Write the smart contract

Let’s now write a basic NFT smart contract that has built-in airdrop functionality . To do this, we will use the function airdropNfts, which mints NFTs to a list of wallet addresses.

Open the project in your favorite code editor (e.g., VS Code), and create a new file called NFTAirdrop.sol in the contracts folder. Add the following code to this file:

//SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.4;

import "hardhat/console.sol";
import "@openzeppelin/contracts/utils/Counters.sol";
import "@openzeppelin/contracts/access/Ownable.sol";
import "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC721/extensions/ERC721Enumerable.sol";

contract NFTAirdrop is ERC721Enumerable, Ownable {
    using Counters for Counters.Counter;
    
    Counters.Counter private _tokenIds;
    
    constructor() ERC721("NFT Aidrop Demo", "NAD") {
        console.log("Contract has been deployed!");
    }

    // Airdrop NFTs
    function airdropNfts(address[] calldata wAddresses) public onlyOwner {

        for (uint i = 0; i < wAddresses.length; i++) {
            _mintSingleNFT(wAddresses[i]);
        }
    }
    
    function _mintSingleNFT(address wAddress) private {
        uint newTokenID = _tokenIds.current();
        _safeMint(wAddress, newTokenID);
        _tokenIds.increment();
    }
}

Notice that airdropNfts has been marked as onlyOwner. This means that only the owner/creator of the contract will be able to call this function.

Compile the contract and make sure everything is working by running:

npx hardhat compile

Step 4: Create the Airdrop Script

Next, let’s write a script that allows us to mint and airdrop NFTs from the contract above. To do this, create a new file called run.jsin the scripts folder, then add the following code:

const { ethers } = require("hardhat");
const hre = require("hardhat");

async function main() {

  // Define a list of wallets to airdrop NFTs
  const airdropAddresses = [
    '0x70997970c51812dc3a010c7d01b50e0d17dc79c8',
    '0x3c44cdddb6a900fa2b585dd299e03d12fa4293bc',
    '0x90f79bf6eb2c4f870365e785982e1f101e93b906',
    '0x15d34aaf54267db7d7c367839aaf71a00a2c6a65',
    '0x9965507d1a55bcc2695c58ba16fb37d819b0a4dc',
  ];

  const factory = await hre.ethers.getContractFactory("NFTAirdrop");
  const [owner] = await hre.ethers.getSigners();
  const contract = await factory.deploy();

  await contract.deployed();
  console.log("Contract deployed to: ", contract.address);
  console.log("Contract deployed by (Owner): ", owner.address, "\n");

  let txn;
  txn = await contract.airdropNfts(airdropAddresses);
  await txn.wait();
  console.log("NFTs airdropped successfully!");

  console.log("\nCurrent NFT balances:")
  for (let i = 0; i < airdropAddresses.length; i++) {
    let bal = await contract.balanceOf(airdropAddresses[i]);
    console.log(`${i + 1}. ${airdropAddresses[i]}: ${bal}`);
  }

}

main()
  .then(() => process.exit(0))
  .catch((error) => {
    console.error(error);
    process.exit(1);
  });

Note that in this script, we are airdropping NFTs to a specific list of addresses. However, if you'd like to airdrop to existing holders of an NFT collection, check out the section below.

Run the script using the following command:

npx hardhat run scripts/run.js

You should see output that looks something like this:

Contract has been deployed!
Contract deployed to:  0x5FbDB2315678afecb367f032d93F642f64180aa3
Contract deployed by (Owner):  0xf39Fd6e51aad88F6F4ce6aB8827279cffFb92266 

NFTs airdropped successfully!

Current NFT balances:
1. 0x70997970c51812dc3a010c7d01b50e0d17dc79c8: 1
2. 0x3c44cdddb6a900fa2b585dd299e03d12fa4293bc: 1
3. 0x90f79bf6eb2c4f870365e785982e1f101e93b906: 1
4. 0x15d34aaf54267db7d7c367839aaf71a00a2c6a65: 1
5. 0x9965507d1a55bcc2695c58ba16fb37d819b0a4dc: 1

Notice that every wallet we marked as eligible to receive an airdrop now has an NFT balance of 1. The owner/creator of the project was responsible for minting all the NFTs as well as paying the gas fees associated with it.

Part 2: Off-chain Allowlist

The on-chain direct mint and transfer method works well in situations where you need to airdrop sporadically or to only a few wallets. If you plan on distributing NFTs to hundreds or thousands of wallets, this method may not be the best approach.

It can be costly to mint a large number of NFTs yourself, and even if you have the budget, you may still hit Ethereum's block limits while trying to mint thousands of NFTs at once.

Fortunately, an affordable and effective design is employed by large projects that use off-chain allowlists. In an off-chain allowlist model, the project's creator stores a list of wallets eligible for an airdrop in an off-chain database.

Wallets that belong to the off-chain database can then interact with the NFT contract and mint the NFTs themselves, thereby saving the creator gas fees associated with minting.

Step 1: Write the smart contract

Let’s write a smart contract that can operate with an off-chain allowlist. In the contracts folder of your existing project, create a new file called NftAllowlist.sol and add the following code:

//SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.4;

import "hardhat/console.sol";
import "@openzeppelin/contracts/utils/Counters.sol";
import "@openzeppelin/contracts/access/Ownable.sol";
import "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC721/extensions/ERC721Enumerable.sol";
import "@openzeppelin/contracts/utils/cryptography/ECDSA.sol";

contract NFTAllowlist is ERC721Enumerable, Ownable {
    using Counters for Counters.Counter;
    
    Counters.Counter private _tokenIds;

    // Signature tracker
    mapping(bytes => bool) public signatureUsed;
    
    constructor() ERC721("NFT Allowlist Demo", "NAD") {
        console.log("Contract has been deployed!");
    }

    // Allowlist addresses
    function recoverSigner(bytes32 hash, 
													 bytes memory signature) 
						 public pure returns (address) {
		    bytes32 messageDigest = keccak256(
	        abi.encodePacked(
	          "\x19Ethereum Signed Message:\n32", 
            hash
	        )
		    );
		    return ECDSA.recover(messageDigest, signature);
		}

    // Airdrop mint
    function claimAirdrop(uint _count, bytes32 hash, bytes memory signature) public {
        require(recoverSigner(hash, signature) == owner(), "Address is not allowlisted");
        require(!signatureUsed[signature], "Signature has already been used.");

        for (uint i = 0; i < _count; i++) {
            _mintSingleNFT();
        }

        signatureUsed[signature] = true;
    }
    
    function _mintSingleNFT() private {
        uint newTokenID = _tokenIds.current();
        _safeMint(msg.sender, newTokenID);
        _tokenIds.increment();
    }
}

The main function that allows off-chain allowlisting functionality is the recoverSigner function, which checks who has signed a particular message.

To learn more about how this works in detail, check out our article on How to Create an Off-Chain NFT Allowlist.

Compile the contract and make sure everything is working by running:

npx hardhat compile

Step 2: Create the Off-Chain Allowlist

Now, let’s write a script that lets allowlisted addresses to claim their NFTs . To do this, create a new file called runAllowlist.js in the scripts folder, then add the following code:

const { ethers } = require("hardhat");
const hre = require("hardhat");

async function main() {

  const [owner, address1, address2] = await hre.ethers.getSigners();

  // Define a list of allowlisted wallets
  const allowlistedAddresses = [
    address1.address,
    address2.address,
  ];

  // Select an allowlisted address to mint NFT
  const selectedAddress = address1.address;

  // Define wallet that will be used to sign messages
  const walletAddress = '0xf39fd6e51aad88f6f4ce6ab8827279cfffb92266'; // owner.address
  const privateKey = '0xac0974bec39a17e36ba4a6b4d238ff944bacb478cbed5efcae784d7bf4f2ff80';
  const signer = new ethers.Wallet(privateKey);
  console.log("Wallet used to sign messages: ", signer.address, "\n");

  let messageHash, signature;

  // Check if selected address is in allowlist
  // If yes, sign the wallet's address
  if (allowlistedAddresses.includes(selectedAddress)) {
    console.log("Address is allowlisted! Minting should be possible.");

    // Compute message hash
    messageHash = ethers.utils.id(selectedAddress);
    console.log("Message Hash: ", messageHash);

    // Sign the message hash
    let messageBytes = ethers.utils.arrayify(messageHash);
    signature = await signer.signMessage(messageBytes);
    console.log("Signature: ", signature, "\n");
  }

  const factory = await hre.ethers.getContractFactory("NFTAllowlist");
  const contract = await factory.deploy();

  await contract.deployed();
  console.log("Contract deployed to: ", contract.address);
  console.log("Contract deployed by (Owner/Signing Wallet): ", owner.address, "\n");

  recover = await contract.recoverSigner(messageHash, signature);
  console.log("Message was signed by: ", recover.toString());

  let txn;
  txn = await contract.connect(address1).claimAirdrop(2, messageHash, signature);
  await txn.wait();
  console.log("NFTs minted successfully!");

}

main()
  .then(() => process.exit(0))
  .catch((error) => {
    console.error(error);
    process.exit(1);
  });

Again, note that we are only allowlisting default Hardhat wallet addresses. In case you want to allowlist wallets that hold NFTs from another collection, check out the section below.

Run the script using the following command:

npx hardhat run scripts/runAllowlist.js

You should see output that looks something like this:

Wallet used to sign messages:  0xf39Fd6e51aad88F6F4ce6aB8827279cffFb92266 

Address is allowlisted! Minting should be possible.
Message Hash:  0x52d01c65d2e6acff550def14b5ce5bf353ac7ad53b132fc531c5d085d77c4ee3
Signature:  0x55d2baf93dff9184dea51cc81c7837c0d65e01962d7292f03afa80cedf3dcdb948ada6cae3bc49ae56d3546019ebd62cc56efe1ef9c946a7c4fe66f21596e6c91c 

Contract has been deployed!
Contract deployed to:  0x5FbDB2315678afecb367f032d93F642f64180aa3
Contract deployed by (Owner/Signing Wallet):  0xf39Fd6e51aad88F6F4ce6aB8827279cffFb92266 

Message was signed by:  0xf39Fd6e51aad88F6F4ce6aB8827279cffFb92266
NFTs minted successfully!

Notice that we did not store allowlisted wallets on-chain. Instead, we stored them locally and performed the following steps:

  1. Check if the selected wallet is allowlisted.
  2. If yes, sign the hashed version of the wallet’s public address using a secret private key.
  3. Pass the hashed address and the signature to the minting function of the smart contract.
  4. In the minting function, recover the signer and check if the signer is the owner of the smart contract. If yes, allow mint. Else, return an error.

Also, note that the address that makes the claim also mints the NFT. Therefore, minting costs are spread across the entire community rather than applied only to the NFT creator.

Airdrop to holders of another collection

Now that you know how to airdrop NFTs to a particular set of wallets, it is worthwhile spending some time deciding which wallets to airdrop to. Besides friends, investors, and early community members, a common group to airdrop NFTs to are holders of a popular NFT collection (like Cryptopunks or Bored Ape Yacht Club).

Getting a list of all wallets that hold an NFT of a particular collection is extremely simple using Alchemy's NFT API. Sign up for a free Alchemy account, and use the following code snippet to get a list of all wallets that have a BAYC NFT.

const { Alchemy, Network } = require("alchemy-sdk");

const config = {
    apiKey: "<-- ALCHEMY API KEY -->",
    network: Network.ETH_MAINNET,
};
const alchemy = new Alchemy(config);

const main = async () => {

    // BAYC contract address
    const address = "0xBC4CA0EdA7647A8aB7C2061c2E118A18a936f13D";

    // Block number or height
    const block = "15753215";

    // Get owners 
    const owners = await alchemy.nft.getOwnersForContract(address, false, block);
    console.log(owners);
};

const runMain = async () => {
    try {
        await main();
        process.exit(0);
    } catch (error) {
        console.log(error);
        process.exit(1);
    }
};

runMain();

To learn more about creating an Alchemy App, and accessing the NFT API using the Alchemy SDK, check out our article on How to get NFT Owners at a Specific Block Height.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You now know how to conduct airdrops using on-chain direct mint and transfer method and the off-chain allowlists method.

If you enjoyed this tutorial about creating on-chain allowlists, tweet us at @AlchemyPlatform and give us a shoutout!

Don't forget to join our Discord server to meet other blockchain devs, builders, and entrepreneurs!

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Updated over 1 year ago

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