By George Ward
Following the Arbitrum airdrop last week, several fake airdrops have flooded the crypto community. Unfortunately, several individuals have fallen victim to such scams and lost their funds.
MetaMask, came on Twitter recently to dispel rumors of a supposed MetaMask airdrop or snapshot flooding social media.
MetaMask Responds To Latest Fake Airdrops
The Web3 wallet firm warned clients about such airdrops, asking them to avoid such accounts and links. According to the company’s tweets, the airdrops are “false rumors.” The company is not launching any airdrops on March 31st.
“Not only are these rumors false, but they also pose a danger by providing opportunities for phishers and scammers to dupe users,” warned MetaMask. Meanwhile, reports show that several Twitter accounts are claiming to be affiliated with MetaMask.
One of the accounts, which MetaMask purportedly owns, directs users to a phishing website. MetaMask has refuted the airdrop speculation and cautioned users to remain vigilant against fake websites in the upcoming days.
Speculations circulating could be associated with a “fireside chat” conducted by Joe Lubin, Ethereum co-founder and ConsenSys CEO at ETHDenver 2023, on March 14th. During the session, Lubin reiterated his company’s dedication to decentralizing MetaMask and reportedly disclosed that the team plans to introduce a token.
MetaMask Activity Increases As Rumors Of Airdrop Spreads
Lubin first talked about a MetaMask token on November 8th, 2021, in a tweet that said, “Wen $MASK? Stay tuned.”
“Our company is strongly employee-controlled, and we are actively working towards decentralizing most of our initiatives. As for the release of $MASK and objective journalism, please stay tuned for further updates,” Lubin tweeted.
Although the Web3 wallet firm has laid the rumors of a March 31st airdrop to rest, the MetaMask community is still looking forward to an airdrop. The replies from the community members show that they are still optimistic an airdrop could occur later this year.
Interestingly, MetaMask’s activity surged almost threefold following the rumors. According to DappRadar’s data, the number of transactions on the MetaMask network increased to 21,460 from a baseline of around 8,000.
In November 2021, MetaMask experienced a comparable surge in activity due to rumors of a possible airdrop. This was after the Ethereum Name Service conducted an airdrop, and Lubin mentioned the possibility of launching a token.
Both events further contributed to the heightened activity on the MetaMask network.