The popular clicker game Hamster Kombat, closely linked to Telegram, has officially launched its token, HMSTR, for trading. An airdrop of 60 billion tokens was distributed to 131 million qualifying user accounts, based on their participation during Season 1 of the tap-to-earn game on the TON blockchain.
Trading for HMSTR tokens began on Thursday morning, with the token listed on several centralized exchanges including Binance, OKX, Bitfinex, and Bitget. The 60 billion tokens represent 60% of the total supply of 100 billion HMSTR tokens, while another 15% is scheduled to be dropped during Season 2.
The TON Core team has acknowledged potential challenges in managing the large distribution volume due to the size of the airdrop and the number of recipients. Despite these anticipated technical pressures, the team remains committed to addressing any issues that may arise as they work towards mass adoption.
Hamster Kombat’s token airdrop follows the success of other Telegram-based games like Notcoin and Catizen, which have also seen their tokens go live for trading. Notcoin, in particular, experienced significant growth, with its market capitalization reaching around $1.5 billion at its peak.
However, the Hamster Kombat airdrop has been met with controversy, as some players have expressed dissatisfaction with the eligibility criteria. Only 131 million of the over 300 million signups qualified to receive tokens, with 2.3 million user accounts deemed ineligible due to bot activity or cheating.
The game’s creators have defended the distribution, stating that it was based on player activity and profit-per-hour rates. Additionally, 11.25% of the HMSTR tokens will be vested and unlocked ten months after the listing.
