From Staking to Airdrops - How Everyday Crypto Habits Are Paying Off

For years now, crypto trading has been likened to a high-stakes game of timing, one where buying low and selling high are the norm (alongside the hope that the bet in question bests everyone else’s). However, fast forward to 2025 and the dynamic seems to have shifted, with more and more traders discovering that it’s possible to generate extra income on top of their daily trading activities.

To date, one of the most established avenues for this has been staking, given that most major exchanges continue to report annual yields between 2 % and 7 %. Moreover, a growing mass of crypto savvy individuals are also increasingly staking their idle funds while deploying liquid staking derivatives elsewhere, multiplying their income exposure without going out of their way. 

In fact, over 80 % of these leveraged restaked positions have been found to deliver profits well above baseline staking rates, resulting in the practice going more mainstream in recent months.

Alongside staking, airdrops and on-chain quest programs too have matured into reliable sources of income, with most protocols employing “points systems” and structured quests to reward activity (such as executing trades, testing new products, etc).

The data is there for everyone to see

Last year, users participating in multi-protocol airdrop campaigns netted token distributions worth several hundred dollars (on average). However, what’s surprising is that these weren’t one-off events as many investors reported saying that collecting these airdrops were an integral part of how they calculated their annual ROIs.

In the same breath, trading competitions also surged in popularity, with prize pools often stretching into six figures. For reference sake, a trading competition from earlier in the year  amassed a prize pool surpassing $300,000 (which was distributed among top performers). For many participants, this meant tangible earnings on activities they were already planning to do.

In light of these developments, a playful announcement on X saw Enclave Markets proclaim the start of ‘edging season’ last week, i.e. a time when the platform’s loyal users could reap extra benefits for simply carrying out their day to day activities as usual. 

Under the program, users (starting with ‘Cohort 1’) can accumulate “Enclave Points” in lieu of executing trades, referring friends to the platform, etc. Moreover, the points are more than just a leaderboard vanity metric as they lay the groundwork for long-term value propositions such as trading fee rebates, enhanced governance rights in the platform, and even the potential for token distribution down the line. 

Not only that, the Enclave team has even hinted at the fact that point balances may correspond to shares in a future token airdrop.

A new way forward?

According to Enclave’s roadmap, in addition to the first cohort of users and their designated reward scheme, more community groups will also be recognized and incentivized during subsequent rounds, a staggered approach that has seemingly kept excitement levels high.

The mechanics of the points program ensure there are multiple paths to gain an edge. Obviously, trading volume on EnclaveX (the world’s first encrypted crypto exchange that  went live earlier this year) is a primary driver with every perpetual swap or market order netting users points proportional to the size of the trade. 

But Enclave is also encouraging more creative involvement allowing users to earn bonus points by subscribing to Alpha Strats (the platform’s upcoming automated strategy feature) and mirroring the moves of top traders.

Perhaps the most novel avenue is via the firm’s freshly launched Edge Bot, a Telegram-based trading bot that lets community members execute trades through a simple chat interface. Every trade done through it not only enjoys the usual benefits (like zero front-running and low latency) but also accrues points at an accelerated rate.

Lastly, the program is slated to run through Q3 2025, giving traders a defined window to maximize their haul, truly making this season all about edging ahead of the pack.

More than just symbolism

The idea of an ‘edging season’ extends beyond its playful name since it signals how a few projects are redefining the trading experience for their users, making them active collaborators rather than passive customers. In this context, Enclave’s strategy of doubling points (for loyal adopters), Telegram integration, and competitive events serve as on-ramps to a broader ecosystem, one that could eventually support real-world assets (RWA) alongside various cryptos.

For now, these developments offer up a glimpse into a future where exchanges can align their growth with user participation, creating not just a platform but a community of long term backers.