🚀 [GUIDE] Airdropping Hundreds of Unique NFTs on Ethereum Mainnet Using a Gnosis Safe (Low-Cost Owner-Only Minting)Most NFT airdrop tutorials cover tokens on side-chains (like Polygon) to save money, or use expensive third-party batch tools.
This post explains how I successfully airdropped
500 NFTs to individual unique Ethereum mainnet wallets — for
only a few dollars in gas — using a
Gnosis Safe and a
custom Solidity contract with an
owner-only airdrop function.
This method doesn’t rely on external services or unsafe scripts.
It works natively through your verified smart contract and your Safe’s
Transaction Builder, which automatically reads your ABI so the airdrop functions appear as a selectable option.
🧠 OverviewThe key is to make the
mint function free for the contract owner, you can set a price if you would like to assign a value for anyone else to call the mint function (if supply and setup allow)Then, assign your
Gnosis Safe as the contract owner. Once deployed, you can perform gas-optimized batch mints (airdrops) directly from the Safe, to hundreds of
unique wallet addresses — all inside a single Ethereum transaction.
🔧 The Solidity ContractBelow is the simplified version of the actual contract that powered the airdrop:
// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.20;
import "@openzeppelin/contracts/token/ERC721/extensions/ERC721URIStorage.sol";
import "@openzeppelin/contracts/access/Ownable.sol";
import "@openzeppelin/contracts/security/ReentrancyGuard.sol";
contract YOUR CONTRACT NAME HERE is ERC721URIStorage, Ownable, ReentrancyGuard {
uint256 public immutable MAX_SUPPLY;
uint256 public constant MINT_PRICE = 1 ether; (or whatever you decide)
string public defaultTokenURI;
uint256 public totalMinted;
uint256 private _nextTokenId = 1;
bool public metadataFrozen;
event Withdraw(address indexed to, uint256 amount);
event MetadataFrozen();
constructor(string memory _defaultTokenURI, address initialOwner)
ERC721("TOKENNAME", "TOKEN")
Ownable(initialOwner) // assign your Gnosis Safe as the contract owner
{
defaultTokenURI = _defaultTokenURI;
MAX_SUPPLY = 10; (or whatever you decide)
}
function publicMint(uint256 quantity) external payable nonReentrant {
require(totalMinted + quantity <= MAX_SUPPLY, "Sold out");
uint256 cost = MINT_PRICE * quantity;
require(msg.value >= cost, "Not enough ETH");
for (uint256 i; i < quantity; ++i) _mintWithURI(msg.sender, defaultTokenURI);
if (msg.value > cost) payable(msg.sender).transfer(msg.value - cost);
}
// Free for owner
function ownerMint(address to, uint256 quantity) external onlyOwner {
require(totalMinted + quantity <= MAX_SUPPLY, "Sold out");
for (uint256 i; i < quantity; ++i) _mintWithURI(to, defaultTokenURI);
}
// Airdrop to many unique wallets
function airdrop(address[] calldata recipients) external onlyOwner {
uint256 n = recipients.length;
require(totalMinted + n <= MAX_SUPPLY, "Sold out");
for (uint256 i; i < n; ++i) _mintWithURI(recipients[i], defaultTokenURI);
}
function airdropWithURIs(address[] calldata recipients, string[] calldata uris)
external
onlyOwner
{
uint256 n = recipients.length;
require(n == uris.length && n > 0, "Length mismatch");
require(totalMinted + n <= MAX_SUPPLY, "Sold out");
for (uint256 i; i < n; ++i) _mintWithURI(recipients[i], uris[i]);
}
function _mintWithURI(address to, string memory uri) internal {
uint256 tokenId = _nextTokenId++;
totalMinted++;
_safeMint(to, tokenId);
_setTokenURI(tokenId, uri);
}
}
⚙️ Why It Works- The publicMint() function costs 1 ETH per token.
- The ownerMint() and airdrop() functions are free, but restricted to onlyOwner.
- The contract owner is your Gnosis Safe, not the deployer.
- Your Safe executes airdrop() on Ethereum mainnet, minting NFTs to hundreds of unique recipient addresses in one transaction.
- Built on OpenZeppelin v5 contracts — secure, verified, and compatible with Etherscan ABI fetching.
🧩 Step-by-Step Setup1️⃣ Deploy the ContractDeploy from Remix or Hardhat using any wallet — it doesn’t need to be your Safe.
When deploying, pass your Safe address as the
initialOwner argument.
Example:
constructor(
"ipfs://abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456789",
0xYourGnosisSafe
)
Once confirmed, your
Gnosis Safe is now the contract owner.
2️⃣ Verify on EtherscanAfter verification, Etherscan exposes your contract ABI automatically.
The Transaction Builder in your Safe will pull this ABI so your functions appear as dropdown options.
3️⃣ Use the Gnosis Safe Transaction Builder- Open app.safe.global[/li
]
- Add the Transaction Builder app (under Apps tab).
- Paste your NFT contract address in the “Contract” field.
- The Builder will automatically load the ABI from Etherscan — you’ll see airdrop() and airdropWithURIs() listed.
4️⃣ Execute the Airdrop
Select airdrop(address[]).
Paste your recipient list in JSON format:
["0xabc123...", "0xdef456...", "0x789abc..."]
Sign with your Gnosis Safe and execute.
Because the mint is free for the owner, the only cost is gas — often just a few dollars, even on mainnet. Especially if you execute during low traffic.
💰 Real-World Example (Ethereum Mainnet)
- Deployed on Ethereum mainnet
- Used Gnosis Safe Transaction Builder
- Airdropped 500 unique NFTs to different wallets
- Low Gas Fees, especially compared to other options we found
- No ETH sent to recipients — pure on-chain minting
All done transparently and securely without any scripts or custodial tools.
🔐 Why Gnosis Safe is Ideal
- Multi-sig approval protects against mistakes
- Each airdrop is fully auditable on-chain
- Only your Safe can call owner functions
- Full control over metadata and future freezes
🧭 Final Thoughts
This method proves you can execute large-scale NFT airdrops directly on Ethereum mainnet without spending thousands on gas. And without having the recipient pay a receiving gas fee.
By using a well-designed Solidity contract and making your Gnosis Safe the owner, you can:
- Airdrop hundreds or thousands of NFTs to unique wallets
- Spend only a few dollars in total gas
- Maintain transparency, ownership control, and multi-sig security
Everything happens on-chain — efficient, trustless, and verifiable.
