1. Classify the opportunity
Identify whether the campaign is a confirmed token distribution, a points program, a referral offer, a testnet incentive, a governance allocation or community speculation. The label determines which facts should exist and which risks deserve attention.
Record the official domain, network, issuer, program dates, known eligibility terms and whether a token is actually announced. A points dashboard is evidence of a program, not proof of a future conversion rate or token value.
- Confirmed distribution
- Points or season program
- Referral or affiliate reward
- Testnet or contributor incentive
- Unverified community speculation
2. Verify primary sources
Build a trusted path from the project’s established homepage or documentation to the campaign page. Do not begin from a direct message, search advertisement, reply, QR code or unsolicited token.
Separate what the project says from what creators and community trackers infer. Keep hypotheses labeled as hypotheses so a popular checklist does not become a false guarantee.
3. Set a risk and cost budget
Estimate network fees, bridge costs, swap spread, liquidity risk, lockups, tax-record work and the time needed to manage positions. Decide the maximum amount that can be exposed before connecting a wallet.
Use a dedicated activity wallet rather than placing long-term holdings in every new application. Wallet separation limits the blast radius but does not make a malicious transaction safe.
4. Participate like a real user
Use features because they are useful or because you genuinely want to test them. Repetitive low-value transactions, self-referrals and clusters of identical wallets can violate program terms and may trigger anti-abuse filters.
Document meaningful feedback, governance participation and sustained product use. Ethical participation is easier to defend and less likely to create a negative outcome even when no token launches.
5. Review every signature
A button label is not the authorization. Read the wallet request, transaction simulation, assets affected, spend limits, destination addresses and contracts.
Treat permit signatures and offchain typed-data requests with the same care as visible onchain transactions. Reject any flow requesting a recovery phrase, private key, remote access or manual payment to support.
6. Keep a campaign log
Save the wallet address, network, protocol, first interaction date, transaction hashes, points balance, terms, snapshot details, claim event, token contract, quantity and valuation evidence.
Review the log regularly to close stale positions, revoke unnecessary permissions, update bookmarks and export records before platforms remove history. Never store a recovery phrase or private key in the log.