Today, we are gonna discuss cryptocurrency and token giveaway called airdrop. Why does this unprecedented generosity happen, how are they actually free and safe, and most importantly, can you profit from these airdrops?
What is Airdrop? Also, classification
Airdrop is a free cryptocurrency or token distribution in order to attract attention to a young project. To participate in an airdrop, you’d need to fulfill several conditions, such as signing up on a project website or owning a certain amount of another cryptocurrency. And of course, you would need a crypto wallet that supports the distributed coins.
So airdrops are split into two categories. The first one being is automatic. It is carried out among a group of users suitable for certain criteria. At the same time, the participants of the airdrop don’t have to do anything. In fact, many of them find new tokens later on in their wallet, initially unbeknownst to the users.
The second type is a stimulating airdrop when the cryptocurrency distribution is carried out in order to attract attention to the project. Usually, participating in such an airdrop would require performing a simple action, such as subscribing to a Telegram group, signing up on the website, sharing a post in social media and so on.
What are the Airdrop criteria?
As we’ve previously pointed out, in theory, you can participate in an airdrop without even knowing about it. But if your goal is to “catch ‘em all”, then it is important to know ahead of all the upcoming giveaways.
For starters, you can become a regular user on the Bitcointalk.org forum where new projects are constantly being announced. Then, there are specific websites like airdropalert.com where you can find information about the upcoming freebies. It’s also common for projects to announce the token distribution on Telegram, Facebook, or Twitter. While it’s difficult to keep the track on them all, it makes sense to subscribe to the most promising and charitable projects.
Once you’ve learned about a certain airdrop, it would be time to assess the conditions of participation and fulfill them in time. Some projects target owners of large cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. However, buying these coins for the sake of some airdrop participation doesn’t make sense as you won’t earn anything.
How much can you earn?
Speaking of earnings, many are concerned about the airdrop profitability. You should always keep in mind the fact that such distribution was planned to cheaply attract users, and not for making someone rich. That’s why this trick is used by little-known projects, as their tokens aren’t worth anything at the time of distribution. In any way, your wallet can store these tokens for as long as you want, and, in theory, their price can grow several times given enough time. It’s important not to miss this moment and sell at a favorable price rate because cryptocurrencies are prone to rapid ups and downs. You can also HODL the tokens, hoping that in a few years, the project will become a leader in the crypto industry.
This somewhat resembles ICO investments, but for airdrops, it’s all freebies. In fact, you can check our previous videos where we go in-depth about ICO and other profitable activities. You may as well subscribe to follow the news regarding the crypto market.
Careful: Scam
There is always a room for fraud when something is offered for free. There are several scam schemes that can fool you.
The most common scheme is to bait cryptocurrencies with fake Twitter accounts of celebrities. If Vitalik Buterin, Elon Musk, Donald Trump, John McAfee or another celebrity offers you a whole Bitcoin or several Ethereums if you send a little less of that sum to the specified wallet, then you can know for sure that this is a guaranteed fraud. Usually, such scams are carried out smoothly, and while one account offers supposedly free cryptocurrency, several others talk about how they became rich already.
Another type of fraud is related to stealing cryptocurrencies and personal data. If participating in an airdrop requires providing your passport data or other documents, as well as sending crypto wallet keys or installing specific software, then it is likely a scam.
We also do not recommend participating in airdrops that have hard-forked from little-known cryptocurrencies. They require to possess the initial coins so buying them after the airdrop announcement would be too late. Such hard forks are carried out in order to up the price of the original coin so it would go down in price later on, while the newly obtained coins would become even cheaper. This is a complicated case of the “pump and dump” scheme, utilizing hard forks and airdrops. Stay vigilant!
Conclusions
Let us sum up things. Participating in airdrops is possible and even necessary to make a profit because they require little involvement and can bring some money over time. Nevertheless, this should be considered with a hunch on scams and no counting on quick earnings. Airdrop is not a job and a way to get a stable income. This is more like a free lottery. If you participate — you can win something big or nothing at all.
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