Humanity Protocol Surges 403% After Turbulent Launch and Controversial Airdrop

Humanity Protocol’s native token, $H, is making headlines again, this time for a dramatic rebound. After crashing by over 80% within days of its highly anticipated launch, $H has surged 403% over the past week, regaining investor attention and pushing its market cap back above $180 million.

A Hyped Launch Meets Turbulence

Launched on June 25, 2025, Humanity Protocol promised to revolutionize decentralized identity with its palm scan-based Proof of Humanity (PoH) consensus model, built using Polygon CDK on an Ethereum Layer 2. Backed by top-tier investors including Pantera Capital, Shima Capital, and Jump Crypto, the protocol had already onboarded nearly 7 million Human IDs in its testnet phase, creating major hype ahead of its token generation event (TGE).

On day one, $H was listed on major exchanges like Binance, KuCoin, Bybit, OKX, and Upbit. Trading volumes exceeded $220 million, with early optimism driving the token up by 125% in the first 24 hours. However, the hype was short-lived.

Backlash and Crash

Despite the momentum, user backlash quickly followed. The project’s airdrop drew criticism, with many users accusing the team of failing to properly distinguish real users from bots. Roughly 80% of active users were deemed ineligible, sparking accusations of poor execution and favoritism. Founder Terrance Kwok later admitted that up to 88% of the network’s 9 million Human IDs may have been bots, further damaging credibility.

Amid profit-taking and declining trust, $H crashed by up to 87% within 48 hours, with its fully diluted valuation (FDV) plummeting from $1.1 billion to $247 million. The token’s 24-hour trading volume also dropped nearly 48%, reflecting waning interest.

A 403% Rebound: What’s Behind the Recovery?

Despite the shaky start, $H has rebounded strongly, trading at $0.09920 as of July 5, up 403% over seven days. Several key drivers supported the bounce:

• Ongoing Exchange Support: Binance added futures trading with up to 50x leverage, drawing renewed trader interest and boosting liquidity.
• Innovative Technology: The project’s focus on privacy-preserving identity through palm scanning, combined with strategic partnerships with Animoca Brands and Polygon Labs, kept long-term investor interest alive.
• Resilient Market Interest: Despite volatility, AI and identity protocols remain in focus, with on-chain activity for AI tokens up 86% since January, according to DappRadar.

Lingering Concerns

While the rally signals renewed optimism, challenges persist. Only 1.82 billion $H tokens are in circulation out of a 10 billion max supply, raising concerns about future dilution. Community trust also remains fragile, especially following inconsistent communications and unresolved transparency issues during the airdrop.

Founder Terrance Kwok has acknowledged past missteps and pledged to improve bot detection and community engagement, though sentiment on social platforms remains mixed.