A crypto airdrop offers an attractive opportunity to earn some free tokens from your favorite project. But not all ICO airdrops are equal and some may offer better rewards, while conversely, some may be frauds. They might promise to give you a token free, but the end result may be far from the free tokens you were expecting, and you may fall victim to identity theft or worse, put your crypto wallets in a vulnerable position.

Airdrops have gained quite a reputation in recent days. Some question their effectiveness, while others believe that they are a great tool to market the crypto community. Basically, an airdrop provides community members with the opportunity to earn some free tokens by following some pre-defined tasks such as increasing the social media followership of the project or sharing posts.

In order to participate in an ICO airdrop, you will require accounts on the most widely used social media platforms. These include Facebook, Twitter, Telegram and possibly others, depending on the airdrop. Usually, the airdrops will ask you to follow them on Twitter, like their page on Facebook, and leave a productive message on Telegram.

These tasks will increase the social media reach of the project and they pay you for the results. The promised tokens are usually released during or after the Initial Coin Offering or Security Token Offering of the project.

Are Airdrops Effective?

Some say they are, others disagree. Whatever the truth may be, it is not stopping more and more ICO projects from performing their airdrops. Many ICO projects have successfully improved community engagement through airdrops, while many have fallen short, despite the airdrops.

Are the free tokens too good to be true? No! Because you are helping the project by marketing them in different social media platforms. The value being transferred to the participants could otherwise be spent on marketing campaigns, which would have costed the same. As long as you are participating in a legitimate airdrop, both you and the project should benefit from the experience.

Stay Away from Scams

Now that we have determined that the logic behind airdrops is sound and they are not too good to be true, the next step is differentiating the scams from the actual airdrops. When you participate in an airdrop, you are requested to register via your social media accounts and provide a wallet address, in which the rewards will be deposited.

However, under no circumstances should you ever submit your private key to the airdrop registration. Providing your private key to an airdrop is a big red flag and puts your crypto investment at risk. If you find an airdrop that is asking for your private keys, immediately end the registration and let others know, to keep the community safe from scams. Lastly, always access the airdrop through the officially listed link to avoid any risk of identity theft. Be aware of any airdrop being promoted through social media accounts that were created recently and have no apparent affiliation with a trusted ICO project.

Moreover, ICO airdrops are also used by some projects to pump the value of their tokens, by increasing demand, while keeping the supply constant. While this is not a scam, per se, it is a controversial practice, and many are of the opinion that this promotes pump and dump scheming, which is unfair to honest investors, causing them loss. Beware of projects which seem to be focusing too much of their resources into artificially inflating their value through airdrops. This advice applies to initial exchange offerings (IEOs) as well. Visit our IEO list to find more airdrop opportunities.

The crypto market is still in development stages, and as such, it is important that we all play our part in its successful implementation.

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