Cryptocurrencys’ airdrops. Relevant platforms and how to participate

There are dozens of ways to earn cryptocurrency, including without investments. Airdrop is one of those ways. In this article, you will learn what an airdrop is, how to get cryptocurrency for free, where to find current distributions and how to participate in them.

What does cryptocurrency airdrop mean?

Before considering this way of earning in detail, let’s figure out what a cryptocurrency airdrop is – the free distribution of coins or tokens to users who meet certain conditions or even without them.

An airdrop of cryptocurrencies is a free receipt of cryptocurrencies to an address. Still, you often need to complete simple tasks on social networks and not only to receive free cryptocurrencies.

Here are some examples:

• Be subscribed to channels and join project groups on Twitter, Telegram, Facebook, Discord, Instagram and others;
• Make reposts or retweet a specific post;
• Keep a certain amount of certain coins in the wallet until the date of the Airdrop;
• Subscribe to the newsletter;
• Refer other users who will fulfil the necessary conditions to receive free tokens.

The conditions can be different and very different for other projects, as the teams themselves set them.

Why companies are giving away their tokens for free

Companies use Airdrop as a marketing strategy to help promote their brand. Users will receive a small amount of cryptocurrency in exchange for spreading information about the project on social networks, thus attracting the attention of other users. It turns out that it is beneficial for both participants and brands.

Airdrop types

It can obtain free cryptocurrency in many ways. Some of them involve investments, but for holders, this is an opportunity to receive additional income from investments.

First, consider the main types of Airdrop.

Standard airdrops

Classic airdrops involve fulfilling the prerequisites for receiving tokens, for example, subscribing to social networks and making at least one report. Sometimes it is enough to complete one or more of these tasks, but some projects require the completion of all mandatory tasks.

For distribution, the project team allocates a limited amount of cryptocurrency. As soon as the maximum amount of participants is reached, the distribution of tokens is completed. The number of distributed crypto assets is usually tiny. Still, each participant is guaranteed to receive them, although in this case, there are large distributions if the holders store coins for a long time. Of course, only if the project is not a SCAM, which we will discuss later.

In rare cases, companies give away popular coins such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE) and others.

Stakedrops

Stakedrop is a form of Airdrop intended for holders of certain coins or tokens. As a rule, to get cryptocurrencies for free is enough to hold your assets. But sometimes, they must be staked or added to the liquidity pool. For a DEX exchange or other decentralized platform, such distributions allow you to attract additional liquidity, and for projects that issue tokens, they serve as advertising.

The new term stake drop has alternative names: Fairdrop, Strong Holder Offering (SHO) and Wallet Holder Offering (WHO). It usually requires you to hold or stake a certain amount of coins, which can be pretty significant and also sets additional conditions for investors, such as passing KYC verification. For example, to participate in the SHO on the MakerDAO launchpad, you need a minimum of 1000 DAO, which is approximately $5150 at the current exchange rate.

Hardfork

A hard fork involves launching a new blockchain network based on the original protocol. One example of a hard fork is Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which increased the block size to 8MB, allowing more transactions to fit in a single block compared to the original Bitcoin code.

Each holder, who at the time of the blockchain snapshot (network snapshot) had Bitcoins in their wallet, was credited with BCH in an equal ratio. So, for example, if you had 1 BTC in your wallet on August 1, 2017, you can receive 1 BCH at any time. To do this, you only need a private key from the wallet. But beware of scammers who will get your sensitive data. Receiving a coin will be enough to restore the Bitcoin Cash wallet from the seed phrase of the Bitcoin wallet.

Retrodrops

A retro drop is carried out for users who have performed any operations on the platform, for example, holding a cryptocurrency, adding assets to a pool or staking them, making swaps, and so on. For example, users who completed at least one exchange before a specific date on the Uniswap exchange could receive 1,000 UNI tokens for free, which today are worth about $15,000. However, the coins were mainly received by large traders since the commission on the Ethereum network reached $50 or more per transaction.  

The catch is that the platforms do not disclose information about such distributions in advance, but, at best, they only hint. In most cases, they announce retro drops after the fact.

Practical jokes

These giveaways are often carried out through third-party sites such as Gleam.io. Instead of guaranteed coins, participants receive points for completing tasks. The more jobs the user completes, the more issues he will have and the higher the chances of winning.

The number of participants in such airdrops is unlimited, but the distribution is limited in time. The advantage of such airdrops is that they allocate a small pool, and if demand is high, the cost of free coins can be increased. But there is also a minus: the more participants, the less chance to get tokens.

Often in such tasks, there are bonuses for attracting referrals, so the most significant prizes go to prominent bloggers with a large audience. To improve their chances, some users participate from multiple accounts. It is not a completely natural method but has a place to be.

Learn & Earn

Companies are also giving away tuition. To get coins, you need to watch videos about cryptocurrency, successfully pass the test and brand the reward.

You can find these giveaways on Coinbase Earn and CoinMarketCap Earn. Unfortunately, rewards are unavailable to all users, so please read the terms and conditions carefully.

Bounty

Bounty is a more advanced type of cryptocurrency distribution. Bounty hunters (as participants are called) are offered to perform more complex tasks, such as creating and publishing blog content and inviting users. These tasks are more suitable for experienced bloggers and content makers. Requirements for bounty hunter accounts are higher: for example, from 1000 subscribers in social networks. But the reward will also be higher. It can find current bounties on specialized sites such as Bounty0x and The Bounties Network.

Free airdrop cryptocurrencies: pros and cons

One of the advantages of crypto giveaways is that no investment is required to receive coins. At worst, you risk wasting time. However, due to inexperience, there are additional risks, which we will discuss when we consider the disadvantages of airdrops.

Pros

• Ability to earn cryptocurrency for free;
• There are no risks of losing funds if you do not transfer them to scammers yourself;
• The ability to get early cryptocurrencies that could be worth a fortune in the future;
• Airdrop does not require much effort and complex actions.

Cons

• You can waste time;
• There is a possibility of a scam. At best, tokens will not be credited; at worst, scammers will lure your assets;
• Developers can abandon work on the platform, and it cannot sell the project tokens. ICO participants need to know;
• Most often, the amount of accrued tokens is small and does not even cover the network commission, but this is not always the case;
• If you regularly participate in airdrops, your social networks will become like SPAM mailings.

List of the best platforms and where to look for cryptocurrency airdrops

On unique platforms, you can keep track of up-to-date information about new airdrops and receive notifications about their launch. Let’s list the popular sites through which you can find the best and new airdrops in cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin Talk Forum

Bitcoin Talk Forum is one of the oldest and largest forums dedicated to cryptocurrencies. BitcoinTalk has a separate section for airdrops and bounties, where project teams post announcements of their giveaways in different threads. BitcoinTalk is a must-have for any project. However, it is common for a couple first to post information about a project in this forum.

There, users discuss projects and can communicate with their representatives. If users suspect fraud, this information is likely to surface quickly: experienced forum members quickly identify scams and warn newcomers if participation in the project may be pointless. There is also a separate section for scam reports.

By the way, some users earn by “pumping” their accounts on the BitcoinTalk forum. In addition, sometimes projects offer exclusive airdrop and bounty conditions for profiles with a high reputation.

Note: bitcointalk.org is the only forum domain. The bitcointalk.com domain belongs to a different resource and has nothing to do with the original BitcoinTalk forum. Access to the bitcointalk.org domain is blocked at the request of Roskomnadzor, so to get to the site, you need to use a Proxy, VPN or Tor.

CoinMarketCap

It is the largest service for monitoring cryptocurrency rates, market capitalization and other vital data. In 2021, CoinMarketCap launched the Airdrop service. The advantage of airdrops published on the CMC website is that the service team selects them. However, due to the limited number of participants and a few places, the probability of becoming one of the lucky ones is not high. Still, the winners can receive more tokens if they win than in the standard Airdrop.

To participate in airdrops, you must register on the CMC website and subscribe to social networks. There will be additional conditions for each distribution, after which you can get into the list of participants. After the Airdrop is completed, it will select a specified number of winners to receive tokens. You can follow new cryptocurrency airdrops on the Airdrop page.

AirdropAlert

AirdropAlert is one of the most popular resources that specialize in airdrops. The AirdropAlert service does not publish all airdrops but only those projects that, in the team’s opinion, have a chance of success or, in other words, the best airdrops in cryptocurrency. In addition, you can subscribe to the AirdropAlert mailing list to receive timely notifications of current giveaways.      

Airdrops.io

Airdrops.io offers more giveaways than AirdropAlert but separates them into categories. For example, with the help of the service, you will find “hot” airdrops, distributions for holders (stake drops and airdrops) or future cryptocurrency airdrops in 2022. There are other similar sites like 99airdrops and Coin Airdrops.

DappRadar

DappRadar is one of the most popular services for monitoring DeFi projects, which, in addition, conducts airdrops from partner projects. You need to register on the site and connect your wallet to participate. In addition, DappRadar supports WalletConnect, which you can use with Trustee.

By the way, DappRadar is running its retro drop for users who have used DeFi applications and made transactions worth at least 1 ETH. If you are one of them, go to the drop page and check if your wallet meets the requirements. Each loyal user can claim 4,000 RADAR tokens already traded on the exchange.

How to participate in cryptocurrency airdrop

As a rule, any user can participate unless there are restrictions for residents of certain countries and conditions for passing KYC verification.

How are the distributions

The project team determines the type of distribution, how the Airdrop will take place and what conditions must be met. There are mandatory conditions for participation and additional ones that allow you to get more cryptocurrency. Project websites or platforms describe what needs to be done to receive cryptocurrency.

What you need to get coins/tokens

You must prepare the tools and follow simple steps to participate and receive free tokens. Here is a sample procedure for participating in airdrops.

1. Create a wallet

First, you need a crypto wallet. We recommend using mobile multi-currency wallets, as collecting coins in one application will be convenient. The most commonly distributed tokens are ERC-20 (Ethereum) and BEP-20 (Binance Smart Chain). Trustee Wallet supports these and many other address formats that will allow you to participate in most giveaways.

In the case of a hard fork, if there were coins on your bitcoin wallet at the time of the snapshot of the blockchain, then you can brand, that is, receive coins from another network using a private key or seed phrase.

2. Create dedicated social media accounts

You will need dynamic pages on social networks with live subscribers and friends. We recommend that you create separate pages for this and not use personal ones so as not to clog them with “garbage”, especially if you do not want to advertise your activities. Promote pages: the more users, the more you can earn on distributions.

3. Register and participate in the giveaway by completing the airdrop conditions

Each project will be different. For example, in some, it will be enough to subscribe to channels on Twitter and Telegram, while other projects require you to be active: make reposts, publish a post, chat, and so on.

4. Wait for coins

Usually, the term for accruing free cryptocurrencies is announced immediately or after the end of the Airdrop. Follow the news of the project. Be careful: to receive coins, it may set additional conditions; for example, before a specific date, go to the project website and brand the cryptocurrency.

How to make money on airdrops

It is better to choose a few projects and focus on them than to participate in many projects whose tokens are not listed on the exchanges. Promoted projects do not bring results, so follow how the platform develops. For example, it talked about the Pi Network project in the media. At one time, it made a lot of noise thanks to the unique concept of mobile mining, but for more than a year, the project has not been developed in any way, and its token has not yet been listed on any, even a small exchange.

How much can you earn

Earnings on cryptocurrency airdrops can be significant if you actively participate in distributions and choose promising projects. However, one of the main pitfalls of this type of earnings is that you can earn thousands of dollars from just one allocation, as in the case of the Uniswap Airdrop, and you can not get anything from dozens of projects.

If you invite referrals, then earnings can be increased several times. The same applies to the storage of coins: if you do not sell immediately, but hold tokens for a long time, then you can increase the amount of investment by tens and even hundreds of times.

How it not to become a victim of scammers

Of course, scammers also use this tool, so it is essential to take care of security when participating in various free cryptocurrency airdrops.

By following simple rules, you can minimize the risks and avoid becoming a victim of scammers:

• Carefully check the information about the project. The more attractive the project, the more actively its users discuss it on social networks, on forums and in the media;
• Check team activity. If its members ignore problems and don’t answer users’ questions, delete comments, or respond too harshly, there’s reason to think;
• Avoid the project if the team requires any contributions. Airdrops mean free distribution: users do not have to pay to receive tokens, even for commissions. But, of course, sometimes financial costs are required, such as swapping tickets on an exchange or adding assets to a liquidity pool. But be careful, as scammers take advantage of this;
• Do not use the same wallet in which you store your assets for airdrops. If it is compromised or you connect to a scam platform, then you may lose your funds;
• It can steal your assets in other ways. For example, attackers charge fake tokens to the wallet, but to unlock them, you need to connect the wallet to their website and pay a fee. When combined, the victim may also accidentally allow the attacker’s application to spend funds from the wallet and, as a result, lose all their assets;
• Another popular method of withdrawing funds is a google form that asks you to enter a seed phrase from a crypto wallet instead of a public address. In no case do not do this, as you will lose your funds in an instant.

Conclusion

Airdrops allow you to get free cryptocurrency for performing simple actions or on the condition that you have completed them before. Most giveaways won’t bring in large sums, but if you’re lucky and the project “shoots”, then the reward can be impressive. However, beware of scammers and follow the safety rules; otherwise, you risk wasting your time and losing your funds.

? Best Trading Robots Editor’s Pick

Relevant news