Free Mints and NFT Raffles on Ethereum
How Web3 Founders Can Use Free Mints and Raffles to Grow Their Projects
Free Mint and NFT Raffles have become some of the most compelling growth mechanics in the Ethereum ecosystem. Despite market shifts, these tools offer strong opportunities for early traction, community building, and viral visibility. However, in 2025, they require a much more strategic and thoughtful approach, especially from Web3 founders.
In this guide, we’ll explain how free mints work, what NFT raffles are, how to analyze these opportunities safely, and how to incorporate them into a smart marketing strategy.
What Is a Mint and How Did Free Mint Begin?
Minting is creating an NFT and registering it on the blockchain. Technically, it transforms a digital file into a unique token tied to a specific wallet. Mints can be paid for or free. Users pay both the NFT price and gas fees in a paid mint. Users only pay the gas fee in a free mint — the token is free.
Free Mints have existed before, but the trend exploded in May 2022 when Goblintown.wtf launched with a free mint. The collection's floor price soared to 7.65 ETH, over $14,000 per NFT. This inspired a wave of similar drops. Speculators minted 10 to 20 projects daily at the peak, flipping for massive profits.
Later, in August 2022, DigiDaigaku proved the model could scale. NFTs from that free mint climbed to 15 ETH on secondary markets.
Free Mint in 2025: Does It Still Work?
Yes, but the rules have changed. Most low-effort, speculative projects have disappeared. Users are more cautious. Collections are more selective. A successful mint today requires good timing, access to private alpha groups, active monitoring of market trends, and deeper research.
For founders, Free Mint is no longer a gimmick. The strategic launch model must be built into the product roadmap. Without clear positioning, a retention plan, and sustainable tokenomics, Free Mint has a short spike in activity followed by a rapid floor price collapse.
How to Mint Safely: Using the Smart Contract Instead of the Site
With Free Mints gaining popularity, phishing attacks have surged. Scammers create fake mint pages that swap the standard mint function for SetApprovalForAll. When a user unknowingly signs the transaction, they grant access to their entire NFT portfolio.
Cware Labs recommends minting directly via Etherscan:
- Find the verified smart contract via official project channels (Twitter, Discord).
- Go to the “Contract” tab, then “Write Contract.”
- Connect your wallet using “Connect to Web3.”
- Locate the minting function (
mint,claim,publicMint). - Enter quantity and amount (0 ETH for free mints).
- Sign the transaction and check the status on Etherscan.
Use a separate hot wallet for minting that holds no other valuable NFTs. Regularly revoke permissions using Revoke.cash.
Whitelists and Filtering Participants
A whitelist (an allowlist) grants early access to minting before the public phase. For Web3 founders, it’s a critical tool for filtering out bots and multi-account farmers.
Users earn whitelist spots by participating in Discord, completing tasks, creating content, winning contests, or through Twitter raffles. In the past, users farmed dozens of accounts to game the system, leading to fast sell-offs and community fragmentation. Today’s projects use smarter filters: Discord verification, wallet linking, and engagement history checks.
What Are NFT Raffles and How Do They Work?
NFT Raffles randomly selects eligible participants who directly get access to the mint or an NFT. It’s similar to crypto launchpads like CoinList or DAO Maker, but it is designed for NFT drops.
Premint was the first major platform to enable raffle-based access with user verification. Hundreds of collections use it today, often requiring users to follow a Twitter account, join a Discord, or hold a specific NFT.
Other key platforms include:
- Superful – a popular Premint alternative used by mid-sized collections.
- HeyMint – beginner-friendly and free to use for small projects.
- Magic Eden Drops – originally Solana-focused, now also supports Ethereum.
Track raffles with @premint_bot, which aggregates updates across major platforms.
Farming, Multi-Accounts, and the Challenge of Decentralized Identity
As NFT raffles grew in popularity, users began farming multiple accounts to increase their odds, undermining fairness and damaging the reputation of drops. Projects now combat this with wallet-linking, IP tracking, activity scoring, and NFT ownership validation.
Founders should prioritize anti-sybil tools during pre-launch. Platforms like Premint and HeyMint offer built-in verification, but many teams go further, deploying Discord bots, IP filters, and wallet age checks. A clean whitelist leads to stronger floor price stability after minting.
Can You Still Profit from Free Mints and Raffles?
Yes — if you know what you’re doing. Success today requires sharper analysis, better tools, and more patience. The bear market creates opportunity: less competition, higher reward per win. A single good slot can generate 0.2 to 1 ETH in profit.
Smart users evaluate Discord engagement, team backgrounds, project structure, KOL involvement, and overall social energy before participating. It’s better to join 20 well-researched raffles than spam 200 average ones.
Cware Labs recommendations for Web3 founders:
- Only use Free Mint if you have a strategy for post-mint retention and engagement.
- Implement verified NFT raffles with proper user filtering.
- Base your strategy on data: analyze traction using Dune, Nansen, and DropsCalendar tools.
- Avoid mass influencer marketing — focus on partnerships and real opinion leaders with active audiences.
- Built with long-term community progression in mind, not one-time promotion boosts.
Final Thoughts
Free Mints and NFT Raffles aren’t outdated relics from the last cycle. When used strategically, they’re still powerful launch tools. For Web3 founders, they can be either a growth catalyst or a trap, depending on their team's clarity, planning, and control over key metrics.
If you're preparing to launch an NFT project and want to move from concept to traction with expert support, the Cware Labs team will guide you. From concept validation and roadmap creation to Premint campaigns, GTM execution, and partnership growth, we cover the full cycle. Contact us here to discuss your NFT launch. Follow Cware Articles for more actionable insights that help Web3 founders grow smarter.
