Almanak, one of the vital hyped “AI Quant” DeFi projects of the 12 months, just had the launch day nobody wants.
During today's $ALMANAK airdrop claim window, the team reported a mixture of operational errors and a DDoS attack on its infrastructure. The opening of the claims interface, originally scheduled for 12:15 UTC, didn’t develop into operational until around 12:35 UTC.
During the identical period, the value of the token collapsed by about 80 percent in 24 hours to around $0.034, while the primary plaintiffs and secondary market buyers tried to make sense of what had happened.
What an almanac is alleged to be
Almanak presents itself as a DeFi platform where AI agents design and execute quantitative strategies on-chain.
Marketing materials describe a system of AI-driven “strategists” and “optimizers” who:
- Build and test automated DeFi strategies across multiple protocols
- Manage risks and balance positions without human intervention
- Enable retail users to take part in complex quant style strategies through a simplified interface
The project is supported by an unusually strong list of investors. Funding trackers and profiles list Delphi Labs, HashKey, BanklessVC, NEAR Foundation, RockawayX, Shima Capital and others as backers, having raised multi-million dollars in multiple rounds.
In the months leading as much as today's TGE and airdrop, Almanak was heavily promoted on X, Telegram, airdrop aggregators and exchange blogs, and was often presented as a first-rate example of “AI agents will save DeFi.”
What actually happened in the course of the airdrop
The picture that emerges from the PANews note and Almanak's own status updates looks something like this.
- Delayed start: The claims UI was alleged to open at 12:15 UTC, but users report that it was not usable until around 12:35 UTC.
- DDoS and infrastructure issues: The team said it was affected by a DDoS attack on the backend systems answerable for creating wallets and processing claims, coupled with its own operational errors.
- Stuck Wallets: About 1,100 users had their newly created Almanak wallets stuck within the “PENDING” status. They were unable to finish the appliance process while others continued.
- Team response: According to Almanak, the infrastructure is now operational again, no tokens were lost, and the problems were limited to delays and failed deployments fairly than contract-level exploits.
On-chain, none of this has stopped token trading. As claims and early listings unfolded in chaotic conditions, ALMANAK fell sharply and ended the day around 80 percent below its early trading levels.
Retail Experience: From Hype to Stuck on Pending
For many retail users, the narrative whiplash is clear.
- Months of promoting focused on smooth AI-driven strategies and gamified points.
- A high-profile pre-launch campaign on platforms like Bitget, MEXC and airdrop hunting sites that guarantees a giant day in a moment.
- Then, when the moment comes, the front end is just too late and greater than a thousand wallets are stuck in limbo.
For users who got here primarily for the airdrop, the experience has been nothing wanting frustrating: They accomplished the qualifying tasks, showed up on time, after which watched the claims portal fail as the value motion turned against them.
This gap between “quantitative AI precision” within the pitch and really human infrastructure problems within the execution is precisely the type of story that usually sticks in people’s minds.
Tokenomics, expectations and the 80 percent slide
ALMANAK's 80 percent drawdown in the primary 24 hours of live trading raises questions beyond a single DDoS incident.
Several aspects likely contributed:
- Pre-launch expectations: Months of point farming, pre-market speculation, and influencer marketing are likely to drive future demand. When a token is listed, many potential buyers are already registered.
- List mechanics: Multiple centralized exchanges and pre-market locations gave traders the chance to construct positions and speculate on “fair value” before the final airdrop application opened.
- Airdrop supply surplus: When the claims portal finally worked, many recipients simply sold whatever liquidity they might find and secured the remaining profit after fees and slippage.
- Narrative shock: The contrast between the AI Quant branding and the chaotic infrastructure issues likely reduced the willingness of recent entrants to ride out the volatility.
Taken together, these forces look less like a targeted attack on the project and more like a classic case of expectations running higher than what the primary day of trading could sustain.
How this compares to other airdrop fiascos
Almanak's launch joins a small but growing list of airdrops and TGEs that failed on the primary day.
In previous cycles there have been:
- Overloaded claims portals and failed transactions for high-profile bridge and L2 airdrops
- Controversies over permission lists, Sybil filters and last-minute rule changes
- Rapid price drops when large parts of the provision come onto the market without delay
The Almanak case has its own twist:
- The predominant flaw was not a sensible contract exploit, but a DDoS, in addition to operational errors within the off-chain infrastructure supporting the claims flow.
- A comparatively small but highly visible subset of users (around 1,100 wallets) bore the brunt of the failure, making the story seem personal to those affected.
This is one other reminder that in complex launches, the weakest link is usually not the on-chain code, however the Web2-style systems that surround it.
Does this kill the almanac's narrative?
Whether this episode becomes a footnote or a defining moment will depend on what happens next.
Arguments for recovery:
- The underlying contracts weren’t hacked and the team says no tokens were lost.
- The platform still enjoys significant support from well-known investors.
- If the product performs strongly over time, the early launch drama may develop into less essential.
Arguments for everlasting damage:
- Retail users who felt deprived or ignored on day one could also be slow to forgive, especially in the event that they associate Almanak with lost profits.
- An 80 percent drawdown leads to losses for leveraged traders and early secondary market buyers, which may dampen enthusiasm.
- The “AI will make things smoother” narrative is harder to sell when the primary high-profile event is anything but smooth.
Realistically, the launch hasn't killed the thought of AI agents in DeFi, however it has given ammunition to skeptics and reminded everyone that branding and infrastructure are two very different challenges.
Diploma
Almanak’s airdrop day was intended to be a showcase for data-driven, AI-powered DeFi. Instead, it highlighted how fragile heavily marketed launches will be when off-chain infrastructure fails and expectations are sky-high.
A delayed damage portal, 1,100 stuck wallets, and an 80 percent price drop in 24 hours are enough to show a victory lap right into a damage control exercise, even when technically no tokens are lost.
For retailers and builders, the lesson is familiar: narratives and endorsements can create demand, but execution still matters. The next few weeks will show whether Almanak can convert its funding, technology and a spotlight right into a working platform that warrants a re-evaluation, or whether this launch becomes a cautionary tale for the subsequent wave of AI DeFi hopefuls.
The post AI DeFi Darling Almanak Stumbles Out Of The Gate appeared first on Crypto Adventure.
