What haffen Filipinos? I know, vamfyr right?
After Mass Founder and CEO Rudy Kadoch recently referred to airdrop farmers from five countries, including the Philippines, as “vampires” of web3 following the platform’s temporary geo-blocking of their access to the know-your-customer (KYC) process, the local web3 community and thought leaders have spoken out to share their perspectives on the issue.
What Happened?
A screenshot from the Discord server of Mass revealed that users from five countries—Nigeria, the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh—were temporarily banned from completing the platform KYC process. In a post, Kadoch referred to users from these countries as “vampires of web3,” accusing them of exploiting the platform’s KYC incentive program without meaningful engagement or financial contribution.
Kadoch explained to BitPinas that the temporary geo-blocking was due to airdrop farming behavior, which caused financial losses since KYC verification costs the platform around $3 per person. He emphasized that the ban was not discriminatory, but a protective measure to prevent abuse and ensure platform sustainability.
What is Mass?
Mass is a mobile DeFi platform that aims to simplify decentralized finance through an all-in-one app. While KYC-required features are blocked for the affected countries, non-KYC features remain accessible. The company plans to reintroduce KYC access with improved safeguards.
Leaders Urge Balance
In a Facebook post, GCash Vice President and GCrypto Head Luis Buenaventura commented that labeling users as “vampires” reflects a growing concern among web3 projects about the commercial limitations of a largely Filipino user base.
“Seriously though, this is not that different from my thoughts on the Philippine userbase being a web3 bull trap. As projects become more aware of the commercial limitations of a Pinoy-centric community, there will be some that overcorrect like these guys and actually try to ban pinoys outright. That won’t help them either, but neither will blindly expect your project to hit critical mass by hiring a couple of Manila based Discord community managers. As always, the answer is somewhere in the middle, and requires time, balance, and compromise.”
Luis Buenaventura, Vice President, GCash,and Head, GCrypto
In an X post, Oscar Franklin Tan, core contributor at Enjin, shared that while Nigerian IPs frequently appear in giveaway campaigns, he has not seen the same pattern with Philippine IPs.
In addition, he emphasized that in 2025, projects must design more sophisticated airdrop systems, as basic claim models are easily exploited, even by bots. He also cited Enjin’s conditional claims as a better approach, where only users holding ENJ tokens or specific NFTs are eligible to claim rewards.
Call Out on Airdrop Design
On the other hand, local community Airdrop ng mga Bobo Founder SG criticized Mass CEO Kadoch for poorly designing the airdrop system, saying it’s hypocritical to blame the community for exploiting flaws he created. SG emphasized that it’s not the users’ fault for taking advantage of an open and easily farmable system, and called out the CEO for deflecting responsibility while making contradictory and potentially discriminatory remarks.
“Make it make sense. You created the loophole. Now own it or change it without being racist… And yeah, no one’s spending when the product screams “free sample with no flavor.” People spend when they see value, not when they’re baited by air, then blamed for not buying smoke. Maybe build something worth staying for—instead of gaslighting and hiding your racism behind ‘nothing against.’”
SG, Founder, Airdrop ng mga Bobo
Moreover, DvCode CEO Eliezer Rabadon also argued that participants shouldn’t be blamed for using what’s allowed by a system, even if it’s flawed.
“In Web3, we often say “code is law” but even in off-chain systems, the same logic applies. If the rules or platform allow it, people will naturally act within those boundaries. The real challenge is to design better systems that are fair, secure, and resistant to abuse.”
Eliezer Rabadon, Chief Executive Officer, DvCode
Aside from local leaders, the BitPinas community also shared their opinions on the Facebook posts (1, 2, 3) about the news, the comment sections are a mix of sarcasm, memes, and frustration, with users making fun of the situation using the trending “vampire” jokes.
One of the comments argued that web3 projects rely heavily on users from developing Asian countries and avoid Filipinos because they quickly expose scams. They argue it’s unfair to expect users to spend money to join, as it makes projects look like scams, especially when funding is disguised as an eligibility requirement and the team disappears afterward.
Some admit to airdrop farming as a common practice in developing countries like the Philippines, while there are comments saying some airdrop hunters do it out of necessity there are others that straight up says that Filipinos just extract.
“Widespread adoption will remain elusive as long as people view crypto more as a profit machine than a practical tool. Wala silang pakialam dahil ang gusto nila ay mga taong hindi gagawing cash cow ang project nila. Lahat ng Pinoy kasi gusto ay quick-rich schemes. Deserve ng Pinoy matawag na ganyan at ma-ban sa KYC nila.”
BitPinas Community Member
[Translation: Widespread adoption will remain out of reach as long as people see crypto as just a way to make money. These developers don’t care because they prefer users who won’t treat their project as a cash cow. Filipinos are always after get-rich-quick schemes. They deserve to be labeled that way and banned from KYC.]
This article is published on BitPinas: “Vampires of Web3?” Are Pinoys Gaming the System For Airdrop and Mass Extraction?
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