At its core, cryptocurrency airdrops are one of the ways for traders to get the underlying capital of digital coins. Tokens are distributed by the platforms for free, and the holder can do whatever he wants with them - sell them or keep them as an investment tool.
In one case, tokens will allow you to earn here and now, in the other, only in the long term. However, do not discount the possibility that soon after the distribution they can become much cheaper and later simply depreciate, never returning to the previous price.
And yet, the experience of participating in airdrops can be very rewarding, especially for novice traders.
How do I participate in the airdrop?
To receive cryptocurrency for free, it is important to comply with just a few mandatory points:
- Get a wallet for cryptocurrencies.
- Find a community or other reliable source of AirDrop announcements.
- Fulfill the conditions set by the project.
What is an Airdrop?
Let's find out: what is a cryptocurrency airdrop?
In fact, an airdrop is a lucrative opportunity to get digital currency without spending a penny of your own money. The main goal of such a proposal is to make as many people as possible aware of the cryptocurrency project, to allow it to become discussed and popular.
In each case, the conditions for airdrops are different. Such a promotion allows you to significantly extend the life of the platform's token. After all, the coin obtained in this way becomes even more valuable than the one bought or mined.
Also, very soon, new coins go on public sale on exchanges, and often their rate rises in the near future.
Do not confuse an airdrop with an ICO investment. In the first case, coins are distributed free of charge for the purpose of advertising, in the second, they are not given away, but sold, albeit at a large discount.
You can find out the latest news about the cryptocurrency airdrop in 2023 by following the news of cryptocurrency projects and their posts on official social networks.
How do I participate in a cryptocurrency airdrop?
Taking part in a free crypto giveaway is not that difficult. How do I use Airdrop? You need to follow these simple steps:
- Get a wallet for cryptocurrencies, if, of course, you don't already have one. Regardless of the type of giveaway, the participant of the promotion is obliged to mark the valid address in the network of the project whose token he wants to receive. A profile on a crypto exchange is not suitable for this, it is best that it is a non-custodial wallet.
- Find a community or other reliable source of AirDrop announcements. Among the popular sources of information that can be trusted are not only the official pages of cryptocurrency platforms on social networks. These can also be aggregator resources, for example, the CoinMarketCap website or the Airdrop Twitter community.
- Fulfill the conditions set by the project. Usually, they are specified in detail on a separate page of the official website of the project. As a standard, the conditions are simple – join the community, repost, etc.
How is the distribution carried out?
Airdrop is based on the fulfillment of fairly simple conditions by users, but you should not expect that coins will arrive in the first minutes after completing all the points. Airdrop does not imply instant earnings, the creators of the project determine specific dates for participation in the free giveaway.
When the event ends, coins are sent automatically or manually to the desired wallet addresses. Thus, the crypto airdrop can be credited to the account a few weeks after the conditions are met and even later.
Having received the promised coins, you should definitely find out whether it is put up for sale on cryptocurrency exchanges, if not, then clarify when the listing is planned.
If the token goes on sale, it is advisable not only to clarify its current value, but also to study as much information as possible in order to draw conclusions about the prospects. It is quite possible that it will be more profitable not to sell the received "wealth" immediately, but to wait for time.
What are the different types of AirDrop?
Depending on the method of holding the event, there are several types of airdrops:
- Standard. It is possible to distribute coins without any conditions or for advertising.
- Bounty. Participants must complete simple tasks – retweet, write a post, or become part of a community.
- Exclusive. This option is intended for people who have been cooperating for a long time or simply interact with a startup that arranges an airdrop. For example, it can be intended only for participants who have been in the project for at least a certain period of time – several months or years. An exclusive airdrop may also come with no strings attached.
- Hard fork. This airdrop model is somewhat different from the previous generally accepted options. It is more related to the technological component of the site. When the network is scaled, a new digital currency is created, and then those who had the original asset in their hands are entitled to receive a certain amount of new tokens in their wallet. For example, this happened in 2017 with BCH (Bitcoin Cash), all BTC owners received it equally.
- Remuneration for depositors and holders. The similarity with a hard fork is that holders who already have specific coins in their hands can get new ones. Large cryptocurrency projects often offer their customers gratuitous tokens, which appear as a result of the creation of "subsidiary" startups on one of their blockchains, that is, we do not mean branches, but completely new projects.
Regardless of how airdrops work, they all have one thing in common – it's a free token giveaway. If this condition is not met, then it is either not an airdrop or a scam trap.
How to choose the right project?
Not every airdrop is able to bring great benefits. On the Internet, you can stumble upon a large number of fake ads or fake projects that in fact have no value. Therefore, there is no point in taking part everywhere and at once: it will take time, but it will not be useful.
First of all, when choosing a suitable cryptocurrency airdrop for yourself, you need to take a closer look at the project development team, and how the official website is made.
It is advisable not to pay attention to startups about the founders of which no data can be found. It is important to make sure that the platform has a roadmap, if there is none, most likely, this team is not going to do business, but just cash in on naïve investors.
Another significant reference point is the project's social media accounts. They should not be created just that, and regularly updated with fresh posts, the number of subscribers also matters.
How to protect yourself from risks?
Almost all novice traders, considering a free coin giveaway, see an easy way to make money, but this does not mean that participation in such an event is without risks. This concept is often used by Internet scammers.
Here are some useful tips from the experts:
- If the organizers ask you to transfer a certain amount of tokens, they will send more in return - this is definitely a scam, you do not need to pay to participate in airdrops.
- You can't share your private key or cryptocurrency wallet phrase with anyone. The same applies to registration data for a profile on the exchange or other personal information.
- It is necessary to be especially careful if the organizers promise a quick and, most importantly, large profit for participation in the event, even in the case of an airdrop, this does not happen.
- Every project you are interested in should be carefully checked. The less information is available, the higher the risk of falling into the hands of fraudsters.
There have been numerous cases when scammers sent a fake under the guise of a sought-after token. It is impossible to detect deception until the moment of sale, as a standard response to an attempt to purchase is an error message that asks you to visit a malicious site.
The interface of the page may look quite decent and harmless, but after connecting the wallet and confirming the operation, all sent coins will be irretrievably lost.
The Biggest Airdrops in History
Let's take a look back at the biggest airdrops.
- dYdX: $834 million
- Uniswap: $351 million
- Ethereum Name Service: $342.254 million
- Optimism: $300 million
Drawing conclusions
Different channels and thematic groups in social networks often publish information about the upcoming airdrop. Such sources should not be blindly trusted, unless they belong to a large, time-tested cryptocurrency resource.
The surest way to find out up-to-date information is to look at the platform's website and its messenger pages. Participation in such events allows you to gain new knowledge about the work of the cryptocurrency market. However, it is worth noting that the free distribution of digital coins should not be considered as a regular income.