BNB Chain unveils $45M airdrop reward for traders who ‘experienced losses’ by memecoin crash

BNB Chain is rolling out a $45 million “reload airdrop” to recognize users who were active during last week’s memecoin chaos, though the team stresses it’s about appreciation. But the program follows a brutal market swing where dozens of memecoins on BNB Chain lost most of their value.

After a wild week where traders made and lost fortunes in minutes, BNB Chain is trying to calm the chaos with what it calls an airdrop for users who might’ve gotten burned in the latest memecoin crash.

In a Monday post on X, Oct. 13, the blockchain announced what it called a $45 million “reload airdrop,” saying “market conditions have created turbulence across the broader crypto landscape, yet the BNB community continues to build, create and stay engaged through it all.”

The initiative, organized with Four.Meme, a memecoin launchpad and supported by decentralized exchange platform PancakeSwap, Binance Wallet, and Trust Wallet, will distribute $45 million worth of Binance Coin (BNB) to more than 160,000 users who traded memecoins in recent days, the X post reads. The airdrops will start rolling out this week and finish by early November.

BNB Chain said the move was designed to “show appreciation for our users and builders, especially the memecoin community.” However, in a follow-up post, the team clarified what the project is really about:

“This initiative focuses on supporting users who experienced losses while trading memecoins during the recent market volatility.” BNB Chain

In commentary to crypto.news, a spokesperson for BNB Chain said the airdrop is an action to show “community appreciation, not compensation,” adding that the initiative is “not a reimbursement program.”

“It is not an incentive for risky behavior, but a way to recognise and assist users who remained active despite recent market volatility. In regards to wallet selection, the teams will publish more details soon.” BNB Chain spokesperson

Moment of craze

The initiative comes after a spectacular run — and equally sharp collapse — in the BNB Chain’s memecoin space. Over the past week, traders piled into new tokens like “4,” a memecoin that exploded after Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao retweeted a meme about it.

Some wallets turned a few thousand dollars into millions within days. One trader reportedly flipped $3,500 into $7.9 million. As crypto.news reported, Four.Meme in a moment even generated $1.4 million in daily revenue, surpassing Pump.fun’s $885,442.

But the frenzy didn’t last long. On Oct. 13, Zhao posted a disclaimer saying his tweets “are not endorsements,” adding, that now he tweets “normally, any overlap to memes is coincidental, not endorsement.”

That single clarification seemingly triggered a sell-off across PancakeSwap, where most of these tokens trade.

Dozens of memecoins plunged between 60% and 95% within hours and many memecoins lost nearly all their gains. Data from Bubblemaps shows that more than 100,000 on-chain traders joined the meme boom, with about 70% in profit at its peak. At least one address made over $10 million, while hundreds more made six-figure gains before the crash.

However, it’s still unclear how many ended up losing money, and BNB Chain didn’t say how it plans to figure out who actually took losses.