SOMETIMES MONEY LITERALLY FALLS FROM THE SKY

What if I told you, in the magical world of crypto, sometimes money literally falls from the sky? It’s new, it’s true, and it’s the slickest marketing scheme in the business. Airdropping is the practice of gifting token holders free additional coins. We’ll break down why this happens, what the benefits for a team are, and how you can pocket some easy cash.

However, before we talk about airdropping tokens, let’s experience one. Hukaii is currently airdropping tokens through Coinist for users who sign up for our newsletter. So you see that little newsletter sign up bar to the right? Enter your email, and then after you confirm your email you’ll receive free tokens into your Hukaii wallet.

Some of the biggest and most successful projects we’ve profiled in our premium, members-only Insiders Network, have used air dropping techniques to help kick start the community building process.

Airdropping is quite simple. Although the word “airdrop” conjures up images of huge planes parachuting supplies, cryptocurrency airdrops are the 21st century equivalent. Holders of a token, who have it in a wallet (not on an exchange) are eligible for an airdrop. At a certain point, the team takes a “screenshot” of the blockchain. Everyone holding tokens gets free, additional tokens. That’s it. No fee, no cost. Free money. It’s a pretty sweet situation for token holders. But is it worthwhile for companies?

The answer is yes. Omise recently announced they’d be passing out 5% of their total token supply in an airdrop. Holders of NXT will receive tokens from NXT’s upcoming project, Ignis. ByteBall, Bitcore, and Bitsend are just a few other tokens that have sent airdrops to their communities. Up-and-coming tokens have myriad issues and expenses to deal with it. On the surface, it doesn’t make sense for them to be throwing away money.

AIRDROPS ENCOURAGE PROJECT SUPPORT & GOAL ALIGNMENT

But ICOs are being released left and right. Take a look at our ICO calendar. As you can see, there is lots on the go! The market is arguably being saturated, making it tough for a coin to standout. We’ve already covered the wide range of ways ICOs have chosen to market themselves. Many ICOs promote through BitcoinTalk or Reddit. Others use social media like Twitter and Facebook. Still others promote through Instagram, and even dating apps like Tinder. And some enterprising tokens have used celebrities like boxer Floyd Mayweather and socialite Paris Hilton to endorse their coins.

We’ve already covered the pros and cons of each of these methods, but there are sound marketing and psychological reasons for giving away free money. If a token announces an upcoming airdrop, many people will buy some and download a wallet just to cash in on the free coins. This makes people psychologically more invested, and they can’t help but think positively about a project that literally gave them free money. And who wouldn’t tell their friends or Twitter followers about it? There’s myriad ways for an ICO to market itself. But just like any other business, word of mouth is still the strongest strategy. Getting people discussing your coin is essential. As is having people use your coin. It’s an uphill battle for new ICOs to become relevant – the more people holding and spending your token, the better.

Some projects just airdrop tokens to your wallet, but some employ more creative marketing methods. Downloading a team’s app can earn you tokens. That’s an easy step that takes seconds for a user, and helps the team get more people on their app. Some projects give tokens as a reward for posting on a forum. This would require registering with a forum, making it more likely the user would return again, and read up more on the project. Teams are dreaming up new incentives for airdrops every day.

FREE JUNK IS STILL JUNK

There are some limits to airdrops. Occasionally, scams will pose as airdrops. These are typically easy to spot, as they’ll ask for your private keys or ask you to send funds to unknown wallets. Some airdrops have the best intentions, but free junk is still junk. Many coins that are airdropping will be worthless long term.

Still, it’s a worthwhile marketing move for many teams, since their coins may often be worth fractions of fractions of a cent right now. Low risk, solid reward. There are websites and social media accounts that list ongoing and upcoming airdrops, where investors can keep track. Airdropping is a nifty marketing move that investors can’t help but love.