Crypto Airdrop — How To Get Legit Crypto Airdrops

Crypto airdrop has been a part of the blockchain incentive that has caught the attention of many people in the crypto space.

It's unarguably that some of the crypto enthusiasts had made a fortune from crypto airdrops.

Most crypto enthusiasts (newbies & experts) are all on the lookout for legit crypto airdrops in different approaches — because it's one of the best ways to make money in the crypto sphere.

Likewise, it is one of the most common hectic activities in the crypto space that bad actors have been using — over the past few years to exploit crypto investors (you will discover that as you're reading this article).

Without further ado, I will be enlightening you on what crypto airdrop is, different types of the crypto airdrop, crypto airdrop scams, and how to get legit crypto airdrops.

What Is Crypto Airdrop?

Crypto airdrop is simply a distribution of free crypto assets to users from a crypto or blockchain project.

It's usually used by crypto projects to create awareness of their project in the crypto space.

It's often distributed for free, which means the crypto project will give out some of its tokens to anyone that meets the criteria laid out by the project.

The tokens distributed could either be a newly launched token that's yet to be traded in the open market or the one that has already been listed on major exchanges (it's depending on the project and the airdrop goal).

Different Types Of Crypto Airdrop?

While the crypto airdrops simply mean an activity carried out by a crypto project — to give out their token (for free) to crypto enthusiasts that meet the project airdrop requirement, the crypto airdrop operates in different ways — which different crypto projects utilize to attract crypto enthusiast to their project.

Below is the list of different types of the crypto airdrop.

Pre-Launch Airdrop

A pre-launch airdrop is a form of airdrop activity that's typically used by crypto projects — that's still in its infancy stage.

These kinds of projects are crypto projects that have not yet launched any product or service that's been used by users.

The project that utilizes this type of airdrop might intend to launch a presale or IDO (initial dex offering) for their project token or might have already been launched.

The major goal of the airdrop is to attract potential investors to the project — and also to acquire a huge user base.

This type of airdrop can have requirements laid out by the project owners as follows:

Users must follow the project's social handles (Twitter, Facebook, Telegram, etc.)

Invite their friends to also perform these activities.

Existing holders of another crypto asset.

If the requirement is to follow the project social handles, the airdrop hunters will have to follow all the social handles as instructed and submit their crypto wallet — then these activities will be verified by the project and the token will be sent to the wallet submitted.

To reach a large number of audiences, the project could also set up a referral campaign to allow anyone that has performed the airdrop activities to earn more of the token.

The airdrop to existing holders of other crypto assets that are already trading in the market is often utilized by new crypto projects whose goal is to attract existing users on the blockchain that the new project was built upon or from other established projects.

This kind of airdrop activity usually operates with a snapshot, which means — the new project token will be given to the holders of an existing token or the blockchain native token — that has been holding the crypto asset for a particular point in time.

Bounty Program

The bounty program is an activity to earn free tokens that are not usually considered an airdrop, but in a real sense — it is.

Bounty programs are often used by established blockchain projects to also get their project known to the world. This means that the crypto asset used in the project already has value and its trading in major exchanges.

It always has a limited amount of the crypto asset allocated by the project, which a limited number of people can luckily get.

The bounty program comes with different tasks — which include blog post writing, video creation, reporting bugs, etc.

A project that utilizes this type of airdrop will ask participants to create a blog post about their project, create a video explaining how their product works or what their project is all about and also report bugs that are found on the project website or app.

They usually select winners based on the quality of the task at random — since there's a limited number of winners that the limited amount of tokens is allocated for.

Retroactive Airdrop

Retroactive airdrop is one of a kind of surprising and interesting way of distributing free tokens.

This type of airdrop is often used to reward loyal users of an existing protocol. However, it's always centered on DeFi (decentralized finance) activities.

A DeFi protocol that's already up and running but hasn't launched any utility or governance token yet always uses this type of airdrop method.

The DeFi protocol that utilizes this type of airdrop are projects that have many users that are using their services, but then, they didn't have a token tied to the protocol.

Since a crypto project must launch a token to create an economic model or users' stake in the project, these protocols will also have plans to create their utility/governance token. And when they do, they reward some of the tokens to the early users of the protocol.

However, the airdrop usually operates based on a snapshot. So the protocol will take a snapshot and reward users that have been using this protocol for a particular point in time.

Crypto Airdrop Scams

As the airdrop is also sweet, it's often used to dupe loyal investors in the crypto space. Here is how it is done:

Some bad actors will create a crypto token and launch an ICO (which means investors will be giving them liquid assets to get the newly created token at a discounted price), then they will launch an airdrop event — and they usually utilize the Pre Launch Airdrop method.

Hence, they will gain a huge number of users. While the token will be free, some of the crypto enthusiasts that participated in the airdrop would be intrigued by the project marketing and buy into the ICO.

This kind of project (especially if it's not trusted) always runs away with investors' funds or dumps them in strategic ways.

That's why, it's important to do your due diligence on any crypto project — and not participate in any airdrop that's not verified.

How To Get Legit Crypto Airdrop

Many crypto enthusiasts chase airdrop almost every day but getting a legit one has been the critical issue.

To get legit airdrop is very simple, you can participate in any available bounty program that's organized by an established project (not anyhow project).

However, that may be somehow complicated and competitive but there's the best way of approaching airdrop.

The best way is to hunt for retroactive airdrops, most of the people that got a fortune from airdrops usually got it from the retroactive airdrops.

Find and research established DeFi protocols that have not yet launched its native/governance token, and start using the protocol (lending, borrowing, trading, etc).

And when they decide to launch their token, you might be fortunate to be among the eligible users based on the snapshot taken — according to when you started using their services. An example of a protocol that might launch their token soon, and eventually airdrop some of the tokens to their early users is 01 Protocol.

Final Thought

Crypto airdrop is an exciting way of making money in the crypto space — and also a way to lose it all to bad actors in the space. It has been a major catalyst in the crypto space since Uniswap rewarded its early users with their time

This article explained how you can filter the scam and legit ones.

However, the article is not a recommendation to use any project mentioned herein.