Is the Binance Alpha Program Pricing Out Small Traders?

The Binance Alpha Point program has gradually changed airdrop distribution in the crypto market. However, the point requirement to receive airdrops keeps increasing. It has now exceeded 200 points, causing many investors to feel it’s becoming too difficult to succeed.

Despite this, the trading volume of tokens in the Binance Alpha program continues to rise. It has reached new highs, indicating that the trend still shows no sign of cooling down.

Traders Need 233 Binance Alpha Points to Receive Airdrops

At the time of writing, Open Loot (OL) is the latest token set for airdrop distribution. However, Binance now requires traders to earn 233 Binance Alpha Points — the highest level ever.

“Eligible Binance users with at least 233 Binance Alpha points can claim an airdrop of 1,836 OL tokens,” Binance announced.

A report from HC Capital shows that Binance Alpha Points increased steadily from 150 points on May 9 to over 200 points in June.

As BeInCrypto previously reported, users must trade more frequently to earn enough points. This leads to higher trading fees and increased exposure to risks.

Even when users reach the required points, there’s no guarantee of high profits. Token prices fluctuate. In many cases, the returns aren’t enough to justify the time and money users have spent.

The data shows that while point requirements keep rising, profits (measured from all-time highs) continue to fall. As a result, many traders have decided to quit.

“223 points with Binance Alpha. Received 88 FLY = $29. Okay, I’m quitting Binance Alpha now. Goodbye,” investor ApolloSYNC said.

In addition, according to Chain Bowy, the Alpha point threshold has already passed 200, making the program unsuitable for small accounts. He also shared a video criticizing a Chinese user who reportedly farmed Alpha points using multiple accounts. If true, this creates an unfair advantage in airdrop distribution.

Trading Volume Still Growing

However, not everyone is pessimistic. On-chain data from Dune Analytics paints a different picture. Trading volume for Binance Alpha tokens continues to grow and has even hit all-time highs, surpassing $17 billion.

Binance Alpha Tokens Trading Volume. Source: Dune

The data also shows that around 460,000 traders are actively participating in the program, a 100% increase compared to May. This suggests that although some small investors are leaving, the Binance Alpha program still attracts a large amount of capital from others.

This growth likely stems from Binance’s incentive policies. For example, each transaction on the BNB Chain counts double Alpha points. Additionally, Binance offers very low transaction fees. This allows traders to repeat their trades quickly without incurring high costs.

These conditions are especially attractive to large investors, who can maximize their profits by exploiting this system.

However, for small traders, earning points through small transactions becomes too costly. Over time, they are gradually pushed out of the game.