Americans Lost Billions to Geoblocking: Can They Prevent Future Crypto Losses?

Key Notes

• Between 920,000 and 5.2 million active U.S.crypto users were affected by geoblocking.
• The estimated airdrop revenue loss reaches $2.64 billion.
• The U.S.government’s tax revenue losses reach $1.38 billion.

Cryptocurrency users in the U.S. may have lost around $1.84 billion to $2.64 billion between 2020 and 2024 from 11 major airdrops due to geoblocking policies between 2020 and 2024.

According to the State of Airdrops Report 2025 by the crypto investment firm Dragonfly, between 920,000 and 5.2 million active addresses — from the total of 52.3 million crypto users in the U.S. — couldn’t access 11 Ethereum-based airdrops.

These projects, from Dragonfly’s sample, distributed roughly $7.16 billion to 1.9 million users globally — each address claimed an average of $4,600 — the report reads.

The paper adds that if the number of active U.S. addresses is applied to another collection of 21 geoblocked airdrops, analyzed by CoinGecko, the potential lost earnings of Americans could reach between $3.49 billion to $5.02 billion in the same timeframe.

The report estimates that geoblocking costs the U.S. government between $525 million and $1.38 billion in federal tax revenue from individuals. Moreover, crypto companies that operate offshore “substantially reduced U.S. tax revenues,” according to Dragonfly.

“For instance, Tether, which reported $6.2 billion in profits in 2024 but is incorporated offshore, could have contributed approximately $1.3 billion in federal corporate tax and $316 million in state taxes if it had been fully subject to U.S. taxation,” the report added.

Avoiding Future Losses

While the U.S. government and citizens lost billions of dollars in potential earnings due to geoblocking and unclear regulatory frameworks for years, there’s still a chance to avoid further losses.

Jessica Furr, Associate General Counsel at Dragonfly, posted on X that the right approach to airdrops would be “clear frameworks,” clarity on taxes, and allowing “registration pathways” instead of taking enforcement actions and geoblocking that would just create more confusion.

The right approach to airdrops:

✔️ Clear frameworks, not enforcement actions
✔️ Tax clarity, not confusion
✔️ Registration pathways, not forced geoblocking

The wrong approach? Status quo in U.S.

Dragonfly’s report @hildobby_ data quantifies impact👇 https://t.co/2TLlLeqv5m

— Jessica Furr (@JessicaFurr305) March 11, 2025

With President Donald Trump’s crypto-friendly government, there’s a good chance of developing a clear regulatory framework for the decentralized ecosystem. Trump signed an executive order to create a national digital asset reserve.

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