Identify the product
A hosted crypto account and a self-custody wallet can share a brand while using very different custody models. Determine who controls the keys and which address the project can see.
Check the current support page
Hosted platforms decide whether to support a distribution, fork or migration. Verify the current first-party policy rather than relying on a creator or old screenshot.
Account for transfer timing
Withdrawal reviews, holds, batching and network congestion can prevent a transfer from settling before a snapshot. Leave a buffer and confirm the required chain.
Compare reward with custody risk
Moving to self-custody can provide direct control, but it adds key-management, address and software risk. Test with a small transfer and protect the recovery phrase offline.
Preserve evidence
Save the platform policy, project rules, account statement, transfer hash, destination address and any later credit or support correspondence.
