Everything You Need to Know Ahead of Thursday’s 'Hamster Kombat' Airdrop

We’re less than 24 hours away from Hamster Kombat’s long awaited token launch and airdrop. Hundreds of millions of players have been furiously tapping their screens hoping to get a piece of the action, and it’s finally time for all of that Telegram tapping to pay off.

On September 26 at 12pm UTC, Hamster Kombat’s HMSTR token will launch onto The Open Network (TON), the blockchain most Telegram games have used. Most notably, the original tap-to-earn titan Notcoin released its NOT token in May, and it peaked at a market cap just shy of $3 billion. Can the hamsters reach similar heights?

Here at Decrypt’s GG, we’ve been closely covering Hamster Kombat’s rise and have gathered all the crucial information you need to know ahead of the September 26 airdrop. We’ll let you know where the token is launching, how to claim your tokens, what you can do with them going forward, and what’s next for the tap-to-earn game.

How can I claim my airdrop?

Players who are eligible to claim the HMSTR token airdrop can click the “Airdrop” button located at the bottom of the Hamster Kombat mini app on Telegram. After pressing the “Withdrawal” tab, players could initially select from a list of crypto exchanges and wallets to receive their tokens, some of which required completing know-your-customer (KYC) steps.

However, now that the airdrop is so close, these options have dwindled down. Crypto exchange Ebi is the only available withdrawal option as of this writing. If players do not choose a withdrawal method by the time of listing, then they can use the “direct claim” method to pull their tokens to a wallet. But this is not available until the listing on September 26.

From the over 300 million users that played the game, just 131 million made the initial cut—with an additional 2.3 million being banned due to cheating. Those who are eligible had their token allocations revealed over the weekend, with many players grumbling that they didn’t get enough for their efforts… despite not knowing the value of HMSTR yet.

What can I do with the token?

First off, you won’t be able to claim all of your tokens from the get-go. When the token allocation was revealed, Hamster Kombat also confirmed that users will only be able to claim 88.75% of the allotment, with the remaining 11.25% unlocking 10 months later—presumably July 2025.

Of course, once someone claims their tokens, they can choose to sell them. According to pre-market trading on Bybit, HMSTR tokens are expected to trade for $0.095 apiece. Granted, pre-market trading is often incorrect, as traders are simply speculating on a token’s potential price without knowing every aspect of the token distribution.

Currently, there does not appear to be any ways to stake HMSTR within the game after launch, which would let users lock up their tokens for a small percentage gain. This is not to be confused with Binance allowing customers to stake Binance Coin (BNB) and the FDUSD stablecoin right now in exchange for a share of HMSTR tokens on September 26.

The anonymous team behind Hamster Kombat revealed an ambitious roadmap on Wednesday which shows plans to integrate HMSTR into its expanding ecosystem. 

In January, the team plans to launch “two major game titles” with “full token integration” into their respective economies. There are also plans to launch an NFT marketplace and create an on-ramp for the game, which may integrate with the HMSTR token.

What happens after the airdrop?

As previously mentioned, Hamster Kombat just revealed a substantial roadmap for the year following its token launch and airdrop on TON. In the roadmap shared with Decrypt, there are plans to release NFTs and new games.

Earlier tap-to-earn game Notcoin, which created the Telegram gaming craze, reinvented itself by partnering with Lost Dogs as well as the classic mobile game Flappy Bird. This helped the game feel fresh after players spent months monotonously tapping their screens.

Hamster Kombat is looking to do that and more, aiming to rapidly expand its game library with new titles in the near future and eventually launch “two major game titles.” It is also looking to add a “competitive clan championship” to Hamster Kombat, launch a second season of its airdrop campaign, and create an NFT marketplace.

Maybe most significantly, Hamster Kombat is looking to create a progressive web app (PWA) for iOS, Android, and desktop—essentially a website that behaves like a regular app. In other words, Hamster Kombat is expanding beyond its Telegram confines, aiming to reach more players in the wider world of gaming.

And then by Autumn 2025, Hamster Kombat is looking to move beyond its PWA by integrating directly with desktop games—Hamster Kombat in GTA 6, anyone? Time will tell. 

Edited by Andrew Hayward