Disclaimer: Crypto airdrops are promotional events in which tokens are distributed to existing cryptocurrency holders or individuals who meet certain criteria. While airdrops can be a way to acquire tokens at no cost, they also involve risks. There’s no guarantee that the airdropped tokens will increase in value, and there may be associated fees or requirements. Airdrops can also be susceptible to scams and phishing attempts. Always exercise caution and verify the legitimacy of any airdrop opportunity before participating.
SUBFROST has opened PERMAFROST Season 1, a farming campaign designed to distribute its planned FUEL governance token to users who provide liquidity to the protocol’s Bitcoin-dollar market.
The campaign centers on frBTC/frUSD liquidity. Users deposit liquidity, receive cBTCUSD through the PERMAFROST vault and then farm that position to build weight toward FUEL rewards. Users can also permanently bond FIRE to increase a farm’s multiplier.
The project separately operates its existing FIRE rewards program for DIESEL/frBTC liquidity providers. The two systems should not be confused: FIRE rewards DIESEL/frBTC activity, while PERMAFROST is the FUEL farming campaign built around frBTC/frUSD liquidity.
SUBFROST’s current documentation lists FUEL as a planned governance token, but it has not yet published full FUEL tokenomics or the percentage of maximum supply reserved for PERMAFROST Season 1.
What Is SUBFROST?
SUBFROST is a Bitcoin-native decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol built using Alkanes.
It allows users to access swaps, automated market maker (AMM) liquidity and vault strategies while keeping activity on Bitcoin Layer 1 rather than moving assets to a separate sidechain. SUBFROST describes frBTC as the ecosystem’s base asset, backed 1:1 by BTC held through a distributed signer system.
The ecosystem currently includes several assets with different roles:
- frBTC: A programmable representation of BTC backed 1:1 by Bitcoin.
- frUSD: The dollar-denominated asset used in SUBFROST’s Bitcoin-dollar market.
- DIESEL: The protocol’s native emission token.
- FIRE: A governance and rewards token tied mainly to DIESEL/frBTC liquidity.
- FUEL: A planned governance token that PERMAFROST Season 1 is designed to distribute.
SUBFROST’s official token documentation currently categorizes frBTC, DIESEL, FIRE and frUSD as live, while FUEL remains planned.
SUBFROST Funding Round
SUBFROST is operated by Subzero Research Inc., a Delaware corporation founded by Raymond Pulver and Gabe Lee.
Li Hou Capital invested $1.25 million in the project.
Is the SUBFROST Airdrop Confirmed?
The PERMAFROST FUEL farming campaign is active, but there is an important distinction around the token itself.
SUBFROST documentation identifies FUEL as a planned governance token, while the PERMAFROST campaign materials describe Season 1 as distributing FUEL based on users’ farm weight.
However, the final percentage of FUEL supply allocated to Season 1 has not been disclosed, and complete FUEL tokenomics remain unpublished.
| SUBFROST Reward Detail | Current Status |
| FUEL | Planned governance token |
| PERMAFROST Season 1 | Active farming campaign |
| FUEL allocation for Season 1 | Not yet disclosed |
| Full FUEL tokenomics | Not yet published |
| Main PERMAFROST market | frBTC/frUSD |
| FIRE rewards | Separate and live |
| FIRE maximum supply | 2.1 million |
| FIRE premine | None |
Table 1. SUBFROST FUEL and FIRE Reward Status
For airdrop farmers, that means there is a defined method for earning a share of FUEL through PERMAFROST, but there is not yet enough information to calculate the eventual token value or exact percentage of supply being distributed.
How to Be Eligible for the SUBFROST Airdrop?
PERMAFROST eligibility is based on participating in the frBTC/frUSD liquidity strategy and farming the resulting cBTCUSD position.
The campaign uses farm weight rather than a simple task checklist. The amount deposited and the number of Bitcoin blocks that the position remains in the farm determine how much weight it builds toward the Season 1 FUEL distribution.
Users can also permanently bond FIRE worth up to 4% of the farm’s value to increase the multiplier, according to the current campaign terms. The maximum boost is 1.5x.
Because bonded FIRE is transferred permanently to the protocol treasury, users should not treat the boost as free. Weigh the additional FUEL exposure against the value of the FIRE you surrender.
If you are tracking other campaigns besides SUBFROST, our airdrops page covers the active campaigns worth watching right now.
How to Participate in the SUBFROST Airdrop
PERMAFROST runs on Bitcoin mainnet and involves real assets, so this is not a free testnet campaign. Review the protocol mechanics and risks before depositing BTC.
Set Up a Separate Bitcoin Wallet
Open the official SUBFROST app and connect one of the supported Bitcoin wallets shown in the interface.
The campaign information lists options including:
- SUBFROST
- Oyl Wallet
- OKX Wallet
- UniSat Wallet
- Xverse Wallet
For this campaign, using a separate wallet is especially important.
SUBFROST warns users not to use a wallet containing Ordinals, Runes or BRC-20 assets because transactions can spend the Bitcoin unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) carrying those assets.
Keep some BTC aside for Bitcoin network fees rather than depositing the full wallet balance.
Review frBTC Custody Before Depositing
SUBFROST’s frBTC is backed 1:1 by native BTC, but its current custody model still relies on a distributed signer group.
The protocol currently uses nine signers, and their identities are not yet public. Six authorize unwrap transactions. SUBFROST plans to move toward a larger and eventually permissionless signer network.
SUBFROST also states that while components of the system have undergone security work, the complete end-to-end protocol has not yet received a formal audit.
Provide frBTC/frUSD Liquidity
Open the PERMAFROST section and provide liquidity to the frBTC/frUSD pool.
The strategy uses SUBFROST’s Bitcoin-dollar market. The protocol’s own site currently lists PERMAFROST as an frUSD/frBTC liquidity vault.
After providing liquidity, deposit the resulting LP position into PERMAFROST to receive cBTCUSD.
This cBTCUSD position is what you use for the next farming step.
Deposit cBTCUSD Into the Farm
Move the cBTCUSD into an available PERMAFROST Farm.
Your farm then begins accumulating weight.
Farm weight depends primarily on:
- How much cBTCUSD you deposit.
- How many Bitcoin blocks the position remains deposited.
A larger position held for more blocks receives more weight toward the FUEL distribution.
Decide Whether to Add a FIRE Boost
Users can optionally bond FIRE to increase their farm multiplier.
The campaign lets users bond FIRE worth up to 4% of the farm value, with the boost scaling up to 1.5×.
The key point is that this FIRE is permanently bonded, as it transfers to the treasury and is not returned when the farm position closes.
Do the calculation before using the boost. A higher multiplier may increase FUEL weight, but the final FUEL allocation and token value are still unknown.
Keep the Position Active to Build Weight
PERMAFROST rewards favor positions that remain deposited longer.
Because duration is measured using Bitcoin blocks, the actual elapsed time can vary with block production.
Avoid assuming a fixed, clock-based return based on an estimated number of days.
The campaign information also states that earned FUEL is subject to a 180-day vesting period, so farmers should not expect their full allocation to become liquid immediately.
Understand the Exit Cost
Leaving PERMAFROST carries an additional mechanism that rewards participants who stay.
5% of the LP position remains behind when a user exits, benefiting positions that continue participating.
Airdrop farmers should consider not only expected FUEL rewards but also the value of the LP the protocol retains when the position closes.
How Does PERMAFROST FUEL Farming Work?
PERMAFROST is built around the frBTC/frUSD market rather than a conventional points dashboard.
The basic flow is: frBTC + frUSD → LP position → PERMAFROST vault → cBTCUSD → Farm → FUEL weight
The final FUEL allocation depends on each farm’s share of total eligible weight.
That means your eventual reward can change as other participants enter, leave or increase their positions.
The system also makes early projections difficult because SUBFROST has not published the percentage of FUEL’s maximum supply allocated to Season 1.
If the Rewards page displays placeholder TVL, Points, farm counts or projected rewards marked as example data, those figures should not be treated as actual deposits or expected payouts.
What Is the FIRE Vault?
FIRE is a separate SUBFROST incentive system.
The FIRE Vault accepts DIESEL/frBTC LP tokens and distributes FIRE to liquidity providers.
Users can choose lock periods ranging from no lock to one year. The current vault interface applies the following multipliers:
| Lock Period | FIRE Multiplier |
| No lock | 1.00× |
| 1 week | 1.25× |
| 1 month | 1.50× |
| 3 months | 2.00× |
| 6 months | 2.50× |
| 1 year | 3.00× |
Table 2. SUBFROST FIRE Vault Lock Multipliers
Longer locks increase a position’s share of FIRE emissions, but the LP cannot be withdrawn until the lock expires.
SUBFROST documents a maximum FIRE supply of 2.1 million, with no premine. Of that supply, 85% is assigned to staking emissions and 15% to bonding, with emissions halving every 105,000 Bitcoin blocks.
FIRE Staking and FIRE Bonding Are Different
Users should not confuse staking LP for FIRE with bonding LP for FIRE.
When you stake DIESEL/frBTC LP, the LP remains tied to your position and can be returned after the lock expires together with earned FIRE.
When you bond LP, you permanently transfer it to the treasury in exchange for FIRE under the bonding terms. The LP does not come back.
The supplied campaign information describes FIRE bonds as using a discount to market price with a vesting period of roughly 2,100 Bitcoin blocks, or around 14 days based on average block production.
The displayed discount can change, so check the live vault rather than assuming a fixed return.
What Is cFIRE?
SUBFROST also has a separate cFIRE vault for FIRE holders.
This is not the same as the FIRE LP staking vault.
SUBFROST’s documentation says the cFIRE vault does not generate farming yield on its own. Its value increases when other users leave and pay the vault’s exit tithe.
An exiting position leaves 8% for remaining participants, while 1% of FIRE is burned and another 1% goes to the treasury.
That makes cFIRE dependent on participant exits rather than a normal emission schedule.
What Happened in the July 2026 SUBFROST Incident?
SUBFROST experienced a serious exploit attempt on July 2, 2026.
An attacker exploited a consensus-level bug in the Alkanes indexer and created approximately 1.47 million phantom DIESEL in the corrupted indexed state. The attacker then used those balances to drain 82.3 frBTC from the DIESEL/frBTC pool and attempted to redeem it for native Bitcoin.
The redemption failed.
SUBFROST’s signer layer refused both unwrap requests, so no reserve BTC left the protocol. The team disabled frBTC-to-BTC unwraps as a precaution, fixed the indexer issue and reported that the protocol returned to operation roughly 10 hours after detection.
What Are the Main Risks of Farming FUEL?
PERMAFROST requires real Bitcoin liquidity, so the risks are materially higher than completing free social quests.
frBTC Custody Risk
frBTC depends on a signer group to authorize redemptions back into BTC. The current nine-member signer group is not yet publicly identified, and the protocol’s decentralization roadmap is still in progress.
Smart Contract and Infrastructure Risk
SUBFROST operates newer Bitcoin DeFi infrastructure, and its full end-to-end protocol has not yet undergone a formal audit.
Liquidity Risk
Providing liquidity exposes users to the changing relative value of frBTC and frUSD as well as the health of the underlying pool.
Exit Cost
PERMAFROST’s stated exit design leaves 5% of LP behind for remaining participants.
FIRE Bonding Risk
FIRE used for the farming multiplier is permanently transferred to the treasury.
Unknown FUEL Valuation
SUBFROST has not published complete FUEL tokenomics or the percentage of supply allocated to Season 1. A high farm weight therefore cannot currently be translated into a known dollar reward.
Is the SUBFROST Airdrop Worth Farming?
SUBFROST may be worth exploring for users who have prerequisite understanding of Bitcoin DeFi, liquidity provision and the risks of wrapping BTC into programmable assets.
Notably, the campaign also has more moving parts than a typical airdrop. Farmers are providing real liquidity, receiving cBTCUSD, building block-based farm weight and potentially sacrificing FIRE for a larger multiplier. Exit costs and a 180-day vesting period also matter.
So for beginners, farming this airdrop can be confusing. Start with a separate wallet and only use capital you can afford to lose.
The biggest unknown is the reward itself. FUEL is part of SUBFROST’s planned governance system, but the project has not yet disclosed complete tokenomics or what percentage of supply it will distribute in Season 1.
That makes this a higher-risk farming opportunity: you can measure the cost of participation today, but you cannot measure the eventual FUEL reward.
Frequently Asked Questions
Need a refresher? Here are the questions most readers ask about SUBFROST.
Is the SUBFROST FUEL Airdrop Confirmed?
PERMAFROST Season 1 is an active farming campaign designed to distribute FUEL, while SUBFROST’s official documentation currently lists FUEL as a planned governance token. The percentage of supply allocated to Season 1 and full FUEL tokenomics have not yet been published.
How Do I Farm FUEL on SUBFROST?
Provide frBTC/frUSD liquidity, deposit the LP into PERMAFROST to receive cBTCUSD and place the cBTCUSD into a Farm. Your position builds reward weight based on its size and how long it remains deposited.
Are FIRE and FUEL the Same Token?
No. FIRE is SUBFROST’s live governance and rewards token for DIESEL/frBTC liquidity, while FUEL is a planned broader governance token associated with PERMAFROST farming and SUBFROST’s future protocol design.
Is frBTC Backed by Bitcoin?
SUBFROST says every frBTC is backed 1:1 by native BTC held under its distributed signer system. Its current configuration uses nine signers, with a roadmap toward a larger and eventually permissionless signer set.
Has SUBFROST Been Exploited?
An Alkanes indexer bug was exploited in July 2026 to create phantom DIESEL balances and obtain 82.3 frBTC in the corrupted state. SUBFROST’s signer layer rejected the attacker’s attempts to unwrap that frBTC, and the project reported that no reserve BTC left the protocol.
