Quests

Popularized by platforms like Layer3 and Galxe during 2022-2023.

How They Work

Protocols launch campaigns offering rewards (tokens, NFTs, points) for specific actions. Users complete tasks to earn rewards. Platforms report impressive engagement metrics—thousands of participants, high completion rates, active users.

The Fundamental Problem

Projects pay users to engage. Remove the rewards, and users disappear. The core question remains unanswered: would these users have converted without payment?

Quests attract airdrop farming users who game the system for rewards without genuine product interest. Most sophisticated protocols now recognize quests produce vanity metrics that waste marketing budgets without delivering valuable long-term users.

Market Reality

The quest model peaked in 2022-2023 and is now declining as projects understand users should derive value from the product itself, not from being paid to use it.

Sustainable user acquisition requires genuine product-market fit, not financial incentives for temporary engagement.

Incrementality Question

Before incremental thinking: "Our quest campaign drove 10,000 new users!"

After incrementality thinking: "How many would have tried our protocol without the quest? How many are still active after rewards ended?"

Without proving incrementality, quest metrics are meaningless for understanding actual growth or calculating real CAC.