A shill is someone who promotes a particular asset in an effort to move the price higher so as to personally benefit.
The payoff could come in two ways. One could simply have the asset and profit from the price move. This is common among people who are not influencers.
Those who are, are often paid to promote a particular asset. These individuals have little interest but will use their influence to try and move things. This is what the organizers are depending upon.
Shills are often a part of pump and dump schemes. The idea is to run the price up, exit at the higher levels, and leave others holding the bag.
One of the keys is the ability to influence the markets.
Within cryptocurrency there are many who shill Bitcoin but without much luck. The market cap is too large for any one individual to move to any meaningful degree.
For this reason, most shilling is done using altcoins, often as part of a larger scheme.
