What is Snapshot?

A snapshot is a moment frozen in time on a blockchain. At a chosen block height, a project records who held what or who did which actions, and that record becomes the basis for rewards or governance. Because the chain is public, anyone can later verify the snapshot.

For rewards, snapshots are why timing matters. If a project snapshots on a Tuesday, buying or bridging on Wednesday will not help you qualify for that round. This also protects projects from people who rush in only after an airdrop is announced.

A plain example: a staking protocol wants to reward loyal users, so it snapshots all wallets that had tokens staked at block 20,000,000. Everyone staked at that exact block is eligible; everyone who joined later is not.

Safety note: no one needs your private key to include you in a snapshot, because it reads public balances only. If a “snapshot registration” page asks you to sign a strange message or grant a token approval, be suspicious. Related terms include airdrop, eligibility criteria, and on-chain.