# What is a snapshot in crypto? Airdrops and live checks

> A crypto snapshot records which wallets held a token at one block. How airdrop snapshots work and how they compare with whitelists and live checks.


What is a snapshot in crypto? It is a record of which wallets held a token, and how much each held, at one specific block or moment. Projects take one to decide who qualifies for an airdrop, and nothing that happens on-chain after that block changes the record. Cherry (cherry.fun), a wallet-to-wallet messenger and community app for crypto, takes the other approach: its airdrop campaigns check each wallet at the moment it claims.

## How a snapshot in crypto works

The team picks a block, reads every balance or NFT holding at that height, and saves the matching addresses with their amounts. CoinMarketCap's glossary describes it as documenting the status of a blockchain at a specific block height.

An announced snapshot names its date or block in advance, and Spark's glossary notes that this can be gamed by buying before the block and selling after it. An unannounced snapshot uses a block chosen before the airdrop is made public, so nobody can time it. Either way, CoinMarketCap notes, holders can usually move their funds once the snapshot is taken without losing eligibility for that round.

Two terms get mixed up here. Snapshot, capitalised, is a separate product: an off-chain tool DAOs and NFT communities use to vote without gas fees. And in airdrops a whitelist, or allowlist, is a list of addresses the team allows to claim; in a presale or NFT mint the same word means the addresses allowed to buy early.

## Snapshot vs whitelist vs live check

The three methods differ in when eligibility is measured, and that decides who gets through by mistake.

| Method | When eligibility is measured | Who gets through wrongly | Who builds the list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snapshot | At one block, announced or not | A wallet that sold after the block; a wallet that bought after it is left out | The team, from chain data at that block |
| Whitelist | When the list was compiled | Anyone on the list, whatever they hold now; anyone missed stays out until added | The team, often from a snapshot, a form or a contest |
| Live check | The moment the wallet claims or joins | A wallet that buys just before claiming; one person with several wallets that each pass | No list: the team writes rules and the chain answers |

## Example on Cherry

A Cherry airdrop campaign runs its checks when the wallet claims. The team picks from a token balance, an NFT from a collection, a whitelist, a domain (`.sol`, the Seeker's soulbound `.skr`, or another AllDomains ending), messages sent in Cherry, optionally in one room, a minimum wallet age in days, and a check the team's own server answers. A campaign can require all of its checks or any one, and each wallet claims once.

A wallet that sold after a team's snapshot fails a balance or NFT check at claim time; the [airdrops page](https://cherry.fun/learn/features/airdrops-and-quests/) explains the claim itself. A team that already has a snapshot uploads it as a whitelist, and pairing that list with a balance check under the all-checks policy pays only the listed wallets that still hold. The [airdrop setup guide](https://cherry.fun/learn/guides/run-an-airdrop-for-your-community/) walks through it.

Gated rooms apply the same idea over time. A [token-gated chat](https://cherry.fun/learn/features/token-gated-chat/) checks the wallet at join, and Cherry re-checks holdings in the background, so a wallet that sells is paywalled: it stays a member and the room stays in its chat list, with messages withheld. It can take up to a few days to catch up. A later passing check, or the "Re-check" button after buying back, restores access with no re-join.

A claim link that follows a snapshot announcement deserves a look at [how to spot a fake airdrop](https://cherry.fun/learn/guides/spot-a-fake-airdrop/). To run a claim campaign or a gated room, create a group at [chat.cherry.fun](https://chat.cherry.fun).

## Related terms

- [Multisender](https://cherry.fun/learn/glossary/multisender/): the snapshot-and-push tool that sends a token to every address on a list, whether the wallet still holds or not.
- [Sybil attack](https://cherry.fun/learn/glossary/sybil-attack/): one person farming a drop with many wallets.
- [Token-gated chat](https://cherry.fun/learn/glossary/token-gated-chat/): a room whose entry rule is a live holdings check.
- [Holder chat](https://cherry.fun/learn/glossary/holder-chat/): the room where a token's holders talk.

## FAQ

### Does selling after a snapshot change eligibility?
Not for a drop paid from the snapshot itself: the record was fixed at that block, so a wallet that sold afterwards usually still qualifies for that round. It does when eligibility is read at claim time, as in Cherry airdrop campaigns, where a wallet that no longer holds the token or NFT fails the check.

## Sources

- [Snapshot, CoinMarketCap Academy glossary](https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/glossary/snapshot)
- [Snapshot, Spark glossary](https://www.spark.money/glossary/snapshot)
- [Snapshot voting documentation](https://docs.snapshot.box/)