The CPR CIPHER 2021 airdrop wasn’t just another free token giveaway. It was a strategic move by a project trying to survive in a market that had already moved on. Back in 2021, Cipher (CPR) was trying to rebuild its presence after years of slow progress. The airdrop was their last real push to get users back on board - and it happened right on CoinMarketCap, one of the most trusted names in crypto at the time.

What Was Cipher (CPR)?

Cipher wasn’t a typical crypto project. It launched in April 2018 as a utility token meant to act like shares in a company. Holders weren’t just speculating on price - they were supposed to have a stake in a business ecosystem built around secure, scalable mobile apps. The team, spread across India, the UK, and New Zealand, promised transparency, real-time data access, and business-grade tools. No flashy whitepaper. No hype. Just a claim: we’re building something useful.

The token, CPR, was originally an ERC-20 on Ethereum. But by 2021, gas fees were killing small transactions. So they moved to Polygon PoS - a faster, cheaper chain. The new contract address? 0xaa404804ba583c025fa64c9a276a6127ceb355c6. That’s the only one that matters now. The old Ethereum version? Dead. That’s why you’ll see it labeled as “Cipher [Old]” on CoinMarketCap and other trackers.

Why the 2021 Airdrop Happened

By 2021, Cipher had been around for over three years with little traction. The market had exploded - DeFi, NFTs, Solana, Avalanche - and Cipher was stuck in the past. They needed users. They needed volume. They needed legitimacy.

That’s where CoinMarketCap came in. CMC wasn’t just a price tracker anymore. It had become a distribution hub. Projects could run airdrops directly through its platform, targeting users who already followed crypto trends. It was low-cost, high-reach, and trusted. For Cipher, this was the best shot they had.

The goal? Distribute CPR tokens to real users - not bots, not speculators, but people who might actually use the platform. The airdrop wasn’t tied to holding other coins or completing complex tasks. It was simple: sign up on CMC, verify your account, and get CPR.

How the Airdrop Worked

Details are scarce, but here’s what we know for sure:

• The airdrop was conducted through CoinMarketCap’s official airdrop portal in early 2021.
• Eligibility required a verified CMC account - no KYC beyond email and phone.
• Token distribution was automatic upon claim, sent directly to the wallet linked to your CMC profile.
• The total number of participants is unknown. No official numbers were released.
• The amount per user varied, but most reports suggest between 500 and 2,000 CPR tokens per claim.

That’s not much in dollar terms - at the time, CPR was trading around $0.0001. So 2,000 CPR = $0.20. But for a project with near-zero visibility, even $0.20 was a hook. It gave people a reason to check out the website. To read the roadmap. To wonder if this was worth their time.

What Happened After the Airdrop

The airdrop did its job - temporarily. CPR’s price spiked. Trading volume jumped. The project got listed on a few smaller exchanges. But the momentum didn’t last.

Why? Because the platform never delivered. The promised mobile apps? Never launched. The business tools? Still just slides on a website. The team went quiet. Social media updates stopped. The GitHub repo hasn’t been touched since 2022.

By 2023, the circulating supply was still around 186 million CPR out of a total 1.08 billion. That’s a huge amount of tokens sitting idle. Most of the airdrop recipients either sold immediately or forgot about them.

The market didn’t forget. In February 2024, CPR hit an all-time high of $0.004065 - a 40x jump from its low. But that wasn’t due to adoption. It was pure speculation. A few whales bought up cheap tokens and pumped them. Then they dumped. The price crashed back to $0.00005.

Is Cipher [Old] Still Alive?

Technically, yes. The Polygon contract is still active. You can still check the balance on Etherscan or Polygonscan. You can still send CPR. But no one is building on it. No new features. No partnerships. No updates.

The project is frozen in time. It’s a ghost of what it hoped to be. The 2021 airdrop was its final attempt to restart. And it failed.

If you still hold CPR from that airdrop, you’re holding a digital artifact. It’s not worthless - you could still sell it on a decentralized exchange like Uniswap or PancakeSwap. But it’s not an investment. It’s a relic.

What You Can Learn From It

The Cipher airdrop story isn’t unique. It’s a blueprint for dozens of projects that launched between 2018 and 2022. They got attention with free tokens. They got listed on exchanges. They got a few thousand users. But they didn’t build anything real.

Here’s what to watch for in any future airdrop:

• Is there a working product? Or just a website with buzzwords?
• Has the team shipped anything in the last 12 months?
• Are they on a scalable chain like Polygon or Solana - or still on Ethereum with high fees?
• Is the token supply reasonable? Or are 90% of tokens locked up by insiders?

Cipher checked none of these boxes after the airdrop. And that’s why it’s called “Cipher [Old].”

Where to Find CPR Today

If you want to trade CPR, you’ll need a wallet connected to Polygon. The token contract is:

0xaa404804ba583c025fa64c9a276a6127ceb355c6 You can add it manually to MetaMask, Trust Wallet, or any Polygon-compatible wallet. Then check the price on decentralized exchanges like QuickSwap or SushiSwap.

But don’t expect liquidity. Trading volume is low. Slippage is high. You’ll likely lose money just moving it.

Should You Claim Old Airdrops Like This?

Yes - if you’re curious. No - if you’re looking for profit.

Airdrops like Cipher’s 2021 campaign are low-risk. Signing up takes five minutes. Claiming the tokens costs nothing. And if the project somehow comes back? You’ve got a free position.

But treat it like a lottery ticket. Don’t put your faith in it. Don’t wait for it to explode. Just collect it, check the contract, and move on.

Most of these tokens will never be worth more than a few cents. But some - like early Uniswap or Polygon airdrops - became life-changing. The difference? Real development. Real users. Real progress.

Cipher didn’t have any of that.