As of 2025–2026:
Base (Coinbase’s L2) — Massive TVL, no native token yet. The lack of a BASE token despite being one of the top L2s by usage is the elephant in the room. Staying active on Base apps is widely considered S-tier positioning.
MetaMask — Not a chain, but ConsenSys confirmed a MASK token is coming. With hundreds of millions of users, the eligibility criteria will likely heavily weight on-chain footprint using MetaMask’s native features (swaps, bridges, staking, the mUSD stablecoin).
Solana ecosystem — Jupiter, Phantom, Pump.fun and dozens of Solana-native DeFi projects remain active. The SOL ecosystem has a faster development cycle and more frequent launches than most EVM chains.
Hyperliquid ecosystem — The HIP-3 perpetuals model enabled trading of tokenized stocks and commodities on-chain. Projects building on top of Hyperliquid are a strong focus for 2026.
Perp DEXs broadly — Extended, Aster, and others are actively running points campaigns. Trading perps carries more risk, but the allocations for active traders have historically been significant.
Prediction markets — Polymarket confirmed a token. This is one of the few confirmed 2026 drops with clear farming criteria.
Restaking — EigenLayer and its ecosystem of actively validated services (AVSs) continue distributing tokens. Staking ETH into restaking protocols remains a consistent source of drops.
