In the crypto world, an airdrop stands for #free crypto tokens. Theese tokens, which you can earn, are mainly from new crypto projects. #Airdrops normally take place 1-3 months prior the ICO of a project. The reason for this is, that new projects want to increase their user base and want to have a virtual domino effect. In addition, they also want to attract new potential investors for their project.
There are also airdrops for established #cryptocurrencies, but they are less frequent.Holder airdrops are more common - if you hold a specific cryptocurrency at a defined time (called snapshot), you'll get a part of the new created cryptocurrency, based on the amount you were holding, hence the name.
Their main goal is to have users spread information throughout different social media channels about their project. Mostly it's about sharing and liking posts on their social media channels. As you can see the tasks are quite easy to fulfill. Because of your support more people will learn about their project. This will raise awareness and attract new potential investors. Obviously, a high user base and awareness have a positive impact on the token value. That's mainly the reason why they are giving you tokens for "free" - That's the way how they promote their projects!
There are different types of airdrops:
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| ICO Airdrops | These airdrops take place prior the ICO (Initial Coin Offering). |
| Holder Airdrops | Companies will distribute free tokens to their token holders. To benefit from it, you have to have their tokens at a certain moment in time. (snapshot). |
| Hard Forks | Requires to hold tokens on the original chain - Most famous examples are Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum Classic. Not so common. |
You need different social media accounts and crypto wallets in order to participate in airdrops. Below you can find a list of the most important social media accounts.
Create a Crypto Wallet
You need to create different wallets to be able to receive airdrops.
We would recommend you to at least create a wallet for ERC20 tokens and NEO tokens.
You should also have at least 1-2 transactions on your wallet, many airdrops check for that, to prevent mass registrations of bots, which automatically create empty wallets.
Create Social Media Accounts
I would recommend to have at least the following Social Media Accounts:
Remark: If you have participated in an airdrop, never leave any social media channel before you've received the tokens of the airdrop, otherwise this can lead to disqualification.
Create an Email Address
You should regularly check your mail account - sometimes additional actions are required.
There are several websites existing, i can recommend you the following website: https://www.airdropbob.com
For an Airdrop you have to do an activity only once. After some period of time (mainly after main sale) you will get your free tokens. Rewards are lower, due to lower effort.
For a Bounty Program you are asked to do regular activities and you often have report all tasks which you have done to the project team in order to receive your tokens.
Bounty programs are worth more than airdrops, but the effort is not comparable. Please always keep in consideration, that some projects can fail. If that's the case you wont receive any tokens for the effort you've done.
Most of the time it takes 1-3 months until you get your tokens. The reason, that you have to wait, is that airdrops mostly take place prior the ICO. Tokens will be distributed after the main sale.
Apart from that, you should keep track of joined airdrops and check for announcements, if the tokens have been distributed to all participants.
Yes!
I recommend to do so for several reasons.
First of all, there could be a release of the main chain, which requires you to exchange your tokens. Besides, its always nice to know, how the project is going. Maybe you can support the project somehow.
So far, there is no problem to keep your tokens in your online wallet, as long as you never share your credentials (beside of your public key). Nothing should happen. During the time your portfolio will grow in value. Therefore we would recommend - to move your tokens to an offline hardware wallet. This way it is nearly impossible to have your tokens stolen.
The best known hardware wallet is called Ledger Wallet. Please only order over the offical website of LedgerWallet
As an alternative we recommend the Trezor Wallet, which is a little bit more expensive.
I prefer to hold our tokens.
I have made the experience that holding a token is a much better way to achieve good profits.
So please be patient and hold your free earned coins. This way you'll support the project a lot more!
More and more exchanges are popping out of the ground. Many of them are listing different tokens. You can check the market your are looking for on coinmarketcap.com. At the beginning most of the free earned tokens are not listed on big exchanges. So in the first time period, if you want to sell your tokens, you can trade them through decentralized exchanges like IDEX
There are many people out there who want to scam and betray you. The most important rule is, that you never send anyone your account data (private key, password) - The only data you can share is the public key of your wallets!
Do not send any money! Airdrops are free and you should never authorize any kind of payment for it. Only do airdrops from trusted sources!
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