Genius 70% Airdrop Sparks Controversy, Adds Refunds to Resolve the Issue

Genius, a decentralized perpetual contract trading terminal backed by YZi Labs, announced on April 13 that it has added a “refund” feature to its original airdrop plan in response to widespread concerns. According to the official announcement, users can burn all of their GENIUS airdrop allocation within 48 hours after the TGE (token generation event) in exchange for a net trading-fee refund. The core of this controversy is that the prior airdrop rules required immediate claimers to burn 70% of the tokens.

Airdrop Claim Rules Explained: Claim Now vs. Wait a Year

According to the Season 1 airdrop document published by Genius, at the time of the TGE a total of 70M GENIUS tokens will be distributed, and users face two completely different choices:

Comparison of the Two Airdrop Claim Methods

Claim Immediately (within 7 days after the TGE): 70% of the tokens will be permanently burned, and users can only receive the remaining 30%. For example, with 100 GENIUS, an immediate claim only yields 30, while the other 70 are permanently zeroed out

Claim After One Year (no penalty): Tokens are locked in a smart contract for 12 months. After the lockup ends, you can claim 100% of the allocation. There is no requirement to complete any tasks, but you must bear the time cost

Genius officially characterizes this design as “providing an exit route for users who don’t care about long-term development, while rewarding holders who truly believe in the product.” The official even cites a tweet from CZ in the document: “If you’ve ever been jealous of people who bought crypto at low prices and went through cycle volatility, think about what they did during times like this.”

Refund Mechanism: Net Trading-Fee Calculation and Scope Limits

The “refund” option gives users a third way out, but Genius clearly emphasizes that refunds are based on the “net trading fee,” not the total trading fee:

Fees already deducted: Genius has so far returned cash totaling more than $7 million to the trading community and paid referral rewards totaling more than $1.3 million. These amounts are all deducted from the fees that are eligible for refund, so the actual refund amount will be lower than the total trading fees users paid.

Third-party fees are not within the refund scope: If a trade’s total trading fee is 20 basis points (with 15 basis points going to PancakeSwap and 5 basis points going to Genius), then Genius only refunds the 5 basis points it charges itself, and the underlying protocol fees cannot be refunded.

Refund process: Users apply within 48 hours after the TGE. The refund will be processed within 48 hours after the application is submitted. Choosing a refund equals burning 100% of the GENIUS airdrop allocation.

The “Betrayal” Feeling in the Community: A Textbook Rules Reversal

The heart of the criticism from the community is that a critical change to the rules occurred right before the TGE—people commenting have called it “textbook expectation manipulation.”

Initially, Genius built strong positive expectations with YZi Labs’ funding backing, CZ serving as an advisor, clearly stated airdrop ratios, and the TGE timeline, attracting a large number of users to keep investing time and capital to increase trading volume. However, the introduction of the “70% burn” rule completely changed the cost calculation: previously, the cost per point was about $0.025 to $0.045. If users chose to claim immediately and only received 30%, the real cost per point ballooned to $0.083 to $0.15.

Based on community estimates, if the total points amount reached 200 million, Genius’s initial fully diluted valuation (FDV) would need to be at least $800 million for users who increased investment in recent weeks to avoid losses—an almost impossible threshold for many mid-to-late participants.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the Genius airdrop refund option work?

Users can choose a refund within 48 hours after the TGE. This means burning 100% of the GENIUS airdrop allocation in exchange for a refund of the net trading fees already collected by the Genius platform (after deducting $7 million in cashback and $1.3 million in referral rewards). The refund is processed within 48 hours after the application is submitted.

Why did the Genius airdrop trigger strong dissatisfaction in the community?

Users only found out as the TGE was approaching. If they chose to claim immediately, 70% of the token allocation would be permanently burned, and they would only receive 30%. Many users, having invested months of time and capital based on clear early commitments, felt this was a crucial rules reversal, sparking a collective “betrayal” sentiment.

What is the Genius project, and which organizations support it?

Genius is a privacy-centered decentralized trading platform supporting spot trading, perpetual futures contracts, and copy trading, covering more than 10 public chains. In October 2024, it completed a $6 million seed round led by CMCC Global. In January 2025, it announced it had received additional investment of “tens of millions of dollars” from YZi Labs, with CZ serving as an advisor.