One airdrop has been asking me to cash out the tokens using my TON wallet, but when I try to, the prompt I receive is that I do not have TON to complete the transaction. Must I have TON to receive Telegram-based airdrops?
TON is the same as Ethereum, Binance and Tron. You're right that you need TON for you to move tokens on the TON ecosystem and if you're joining airdrops that are done through telegram apps. It only means one thing, that they're running through TON blockchain and for you to cash out those tokens that you'd get from there is you're right, have some TON so that you'd be able to pay for the transaction. It is the same as the gas fees that we have to pay through erc20, bep20, trc20, etc.