What is a Crypto Airdrop?

What is a Crypto Airdrop?

A​ ​crypto airdrop​ ​is​ ​when​ ​a​ ​blockchain project distribute​s free​ ​tokens or​ ​coins to​ ​the​ crypto ​community.

To​ ​be​ ​a​ ​recipient​ ​of​ ​an​ crypto ​airdrop often​ ​the​ ​only​ ​requirement​ ​is​ ​that​ ​you​ ​have​ ​coins from the relevant blockchain stored​ ​in​ ​your​ ​wallet. Examples of this format of airdrops are Byteball, Stellar lumens and OmiseGo. The​ ​format​ ​of​ ​these​ crypto ​giveaways​ ​is​ ​usually​ ​like​this:​ ​At​ ​a​ ​pre-announced​ ​time​ ​the​ ​project​ ​behind the​ ​event​ ​will​ ​take​ ​a​ ​”snapshot” ​of​ ​the​blockchain,​ ​and​ ​anyone​ ​holding​ ​Ether or Bitcoin​ ​at​ ​that​ ​point​ ​will​ ​receive​ ​a certain number​ ​of​ ​free​ ​tokens.​ ​This can also be done on other blockchains, but Ethereum and Bitcoin are the most used for this airdrop format.

Currently the most commen crypto airdrops require a few simple social media task. These projects use an airdrop as a marketing campaign. Examples of this format are Shivom, TraXion and Sandblock.

A Hardfork is a less common, but well known way to do an airdrop. At a certain block number a chain Hard fork's into two separate chains. if both chains get miner and community support you now have 2 separate coins! The most famous examples of this are Bitcoin Cash & Ethereum Classic.