What are “Airdrops” in Crypto World?

Have you ever come across the term cryptocurrency airdrop

and wondered what it meant? Well, it’s nothing like the image you probably have in your head of an airplane dropping coins from the sky. In times of war, natural disaster, or other forms of crisis where the lives of people have been affected in places that are difficult to access by land, airdrops are carried out to provide essential supplies to people trapped in those zones. In the world of cryptocurrencies, airdrops have a different meaning. The cryptocurrency world has its own unique vocabulary which is expanding as the market evolves over time. In this article, cryptocurrency airdrops will be explained in detail.

Definition

Airdrops can be defined as the process whereby a cryptocurrency enterprise distributes cryptocurrency tokens to the wallets of some users free of charge. Airdrops are usually carried out by blockchain-based startups to bootstrap their cryptocurrency projects. Also, established blockchain-based enterprises like cryptocurrency exchange platforms and wallet services can also carry out airdrops as well.

Process Mechanism

There are basically two major types of airdrops; the ones that come as a surprise and the ones that are announced beforehand. For already established blockchain-based enterprises, they may choose to go the route of the former rather than the latter. Getting to know about it might depend on how involved one is in the crypto community. These are the types of airdrops that occur and have people commenting on online forums that their wallets have been credited with coins and no one is the wiser as to where the coins came from.

For blockchain-based startups, they mostly favor the route that involves pre-airdrop announcements to get the buzz going. Since the aim is mostly to bootstrap the project, the airdrop process usually involves the completion of a number of tasks by the user in order to qualify for the airdrop. When the date of the airdrop arrives, the enterprise will release the free tokens to the users who qualify.

Reasons for Carrying Out an Airdrop

From creating hype and buzz around a new blockchain-based enterprise to rewarding loyal customers, there are a number of reasons why a cryptocurrency airdrop is carried out. The following are some of the reasons for carrying out a cryptocurrency airdrop.

As a Reward for Loyal Customers

From time to time, blockchain-based services like cryptocurrency exchange and trading platforms, wallet service providers etc. wish to give back to their customers and subscribers. Airdrops can be used as a means of rewarding loyal customers with free cryptocurrency tokens. This serves as an incentive that can assure continued patronage on such platforms. This type of airdrop mirrors the voucher and discount giveaways of non-blockchain companies in the mainstream commercial world.

In 2017, the cryptocurrency exchange platform, Binance, carried out an airdrop of 500 TRX cryptocurrency to account holders on the platform. The airdrop lasted from the end of October 2017 to the middle of November 2017. In order to qualify for the airdrop an account holder needed to have at least 0.003 BTC in addition to having completed at least one transaction on the account. Binance account holders who had the equivalent of 0.003 BTC in other cryptocurrencies were also eligible for the airdrop as long as they fulfilled the transaction requirement.

To Generate Lead Database

Marketing is all about leads. Organizations tend to pay a lot of attention to generating appropriate leads that will drive their marketing campaigns and increase patronage. Airdrops can be used by blockchain-based enterprises to generate valuable lead databases for their organizations. In exchange for free cryptocurrency tokens, users will be asked to complete online forms that contain valuable user information which can be used to develop targeted marketing strategies. This application of airdrops to generating lead databases can even be utilized by none-blockchain enterprises.

To Create Awareness About a New Cryptocurrency

With the sheer size of the cryptocurrency market, a new cryptocurrency can go completely unnoticed if it isn’t given the right boost in terms of substantial marketing campaigns. Just like every other aspect of the digital world, hype and buzz play an important role in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. With many cryptocurrency enthusiasts looking for new cryptocurrency options, an airdrop is a great way to get people interested in a cryptocurrency.

The marketing campaigns on social media for an airdrop can lead to increased attention being paid to a new cryptocurrency. Word of mouth advertising and other forms of organic engagements brought about by an impending cryptocurrency airdrop can lead to increased user participation in the cryptocurrency. This can help to bootstrap a new cryptocurrency as seen in the case of Bitcoin Cash. After the Bitcoin fork that led to the creation of the Bitcoin Cash, the developers of Bitcoin Cash carried out an airdrop rewarding all of its users. For every bitcoin held by a Bitcoin Cash participant, the developers gave a corresponding amount of Bitcoin Cash. The end result was that in less than one month, Bitcoin Cash was among one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies in the market.

How to Get Involved in Airdrops

Getting involved in airdrops requires access to information and the ownership of a cryptocurrency wallet to receive the free coins. The first step is to sign up for online services that provide timely information about cryptocurrency airdrops. These include websites, Twitter accounts, Telegram groups, as well as online cryptocurrency airdrop forums. Some examples of such online services include Airdropaddict and Icodrops. These services provide vital information that will help users stay informed about upcoming cryptocurrency airdrops. They also provide information on the qualifying criteria for participating in the airdrops.FundYourselfNow also has an ongoing Airdrop Program .

Getting a cryptocurrency wallet is an essential part of being in the cryptocurrency market and that applies for airdrops as well. It is a good idea to get an ERC20 compatible multicurrency wallet since the majority of the cryptocurrency tokens in the market are ERC20 tokens. When participating in airdrops, it is important to be security conscious so as to not fall a victim of fraudulent airdrop campaigns. Some airdrops are designed to hack wallets and steal private keys. Always confirm the authenticity of a cryptocurrency airdrop campaign before participating in it.

Article Produced By

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

How to use AirDrop with iOS and macOS

Here's how to turn on AirDrop and use it to move files between an iPhone and a Mac.

If only transferring large and small files was as simple as sending a Tweet

– while being as private as handing something physical to another person. The good news? With Apple’s AirDrop (available in iOS and macOS devices) it already is. Here is everything you need to know to get to using this valuable tool.

Table of Contents

• What is AirDrop?
• What can I share with AirDrop?
• What are the limits of AirDrop?
• How to use AirDrop on iOS
• How to use AirDrop on macOS

What is AirDrop?

Apple introduced AirDrop with Mac OS X Lion in 2011, including the feature on iPhones when the company shipped iOS 7 that same year. The simple-to-use technology lets you pass audio, image, video or any other kind of file (including very large files) to another Mac or iOS device with almost zero configuration and zero stress, so long as you’ve got everything working right. Not only this, but there’s no file size limit, and you don’t need to wait for a file to upload to the Internet and then wait again to download it. This makes it much more convenient than uploading items to Dropbox, Box or iCloud in order to share them.

AirDrop uses Bluetooth to detect other compatible devices that are on the same Wi-Fi network, and when you ask it to share a file, it will do so wirelessly. It’s a peer-to-peer connection, which means so long as you have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled on both devices, you can share files even when you aren’t on a Wi-Fi network. Your data never goes online. That’s good in terms of privacy, but really, really good if you are sharing large files or dealing with limited ISP bandwidth. It answers a real need for quick and easy file transfers, particularly in creative departments. (Older readers may recall how frustrating it used to be to share files across workgroups.)

What can I share with AirDrop?

On a Mac, you can share almost anything, but you must be certain the device you are sending it to can use what you are sending, or you’ll be wasting your time.A hallmark of digital transformation is the evolution and adoption of the “as-a-service” model for delivery of IT services. So it makes sense that PCs should join networks, infrastructure,… On iOS, the digital assets you can share with AirDrop include photos, videos, contacts, Passbook passes, Notes, documents, PDFs, Mail attachments, items from the Files app, URLs, Maps directions, Books and more. 

What are the limits of AirDrop?

In order to share using AirDrop, devices must be within 30 feet of each other and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth must be enabled on both systems. AirDrop only works with Macs and iOS systems. There are some other limitations:

• AirDrop settings must be discoverable on both systems.
• Both devices must be awake.
• AirDrop does not work with Windows or Android devices, though third-party utilities (such as Air Transfer +) try to deliver some of this functionality.
• Some older Macs use an earlier version of the AirDrop software, which can be a little troublesome.
• You must be running iOS 7 or later and have Personal Hotspot turned off.
• You need to run OS X Yosemite or later on a 2012 or newer Mac.
• The Mac must not have “Block all incoming connections” enabled in Security & Privacy preferences.

How to use AirDrop on iOS

It’s easy to use AirDrop to share items with other iOS devices, with Macs, or between Macs and iOS devices.

AirDrop Settings:

On an iPad or iPhone, AirDrop is controlled in Settings>General>AirDrop. You can set AirDrop receiving to off, to contacts only or to everyone. I usually choose to set the feature to Contacts Only in order to avoid being sent unwanted files by strangers. You can also get to these settings from Control Center, where it will appear as one of the items on the next screen when you hard press the green networking icon. (Other items there include Bluetooth, Personal Hotspot, Wi-Fi and Airplane mode.)

Share a file:

• When you want to share something, you should first make sure AirDrop is active on both devices.
• The device you are sending to should be discoverable either by Everyone (the easiest choice). or by Contacts Only (assuming you are in the contacts book of the receiving system)
• Open the item you want to share and tap the Share button.
• If AirDrop is supported by the app you will see the AirDrop icon appear above the application and services rows.
• You should see an icon representing all of the available devices you can share to, find the one you want to send the item to and tap it.
• Your device will prepare the file, and the recipient will be told when the item has been downloaded to their device and asked for permission to accept it. It will appear in Downloads on a Mac, or automatically opened in the relevant app on iOS.

How to use AirDrop on macOS

AirDrop Settings:

Imagine an infrastructure that predicts and prevents problems before they can affect your business. HPE InfoSight takes care of it for you.To check whether AirDrop works on your Mac, just take a look at the Go item in the Menu bar – if AirDrop is listed there, you can use it.

Choose AirDrop in the Go menu to open the AirDrop application. You’ll be asked to enable Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth if either is switched off. At the bottom of the AirDrop application screen, you will find small blue words that let you define who you share files with:P No one, Contacts or Everyone. You enable AirDrop as a Share item on your Mac in System Preferences>Extensions; in the Share Menu item, just tick AirDrop to activate it.

Share a file:

• Ensure AirDrop is active on both devices and that they are both discoverable to each other.
• In Finder, tap Go and then choose AirDrop.
• The device you want to send an item to should be listed there. If you are sharing with a contact, you should see any contact icon you have assigned appear in the window
• Select the item you want to share and drag-&-drop it onto the icon of the system you wish to send it to in the AirDrop window.
• The item will automatically be sent to the device, and the recipient will be asked if they want to accept the file. On a Mac, it will automatically be placed in the Downloads folder. On iOS, the item will automatically open in the relevant app.
• When AirDrop is enabled in the Share menu, you can use that to share from within compatible apps. In this case, all possible destinations to share items to will appear in a list; tap one to send it to them.

AirDrop problems, and how to fix them

Every silver lining ships with its very own cloud, and AirDrop is no exception.

• There is some AirDrop incompatibility between Macs and iOS devices. If you are trying to use AirDrop to send a file to a Mac that is running OS X Mavericks, Mountain Lion, or Lion then you must ensure the recipient has an AirDrop window open on their system first.
• You may also find AirDrop a little less stable if you have a device that is interfering with your Bluetooth network.
• If you leave your AirDrop settings set to receive items from ‘Everyone’ you may suffer cyber-flashing, where people send unwanted images to people they find on their Bluetooth network.

Don’t forget, in most cases you’ll solve any AirDrop problems by switching the feature off on your system, restarting your Mac, iPhone, or iPad, and switching AirDrop on again. As I most Computerworld readers know, nine times out of 10, "Switch it off and Switch it on Again" fixes almost every problem you find on a Mac, iOS device or PC.

One final suggestion

You can make it super-easy to share AirDrop files from your Mac – just pop an AirDrop icon into your Dock and you can do so using drag-&-drop.

• In Finder select Go>Go to Folder
• Type: /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/Applications/
• Tap Go

You’ll be in a new Finder window that contains several applications, including AirDrop. All you have to do is drag it to your Dock, and in the future, sharing files using the system will be even more of a breeze; just drop the item on the icon in the Dock. (Or tap Command-Space and type AirDrop until it shows in search results).

Google+? If you use social media and happen to be a Google+ user, why not join AppleHolic's Kool Aid Corner community and get involved with the conversation as we pursue the spirit of the New Model Apple?

Article Produced By
Jonny Evans

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3265709/apple-ios/how-to-use-airdrop-with-ios-and-macos.html

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Polymath did an airdrop (free coins) worth $300

In December 2017, I signed up to learn more about a coin called Polymath. As I learned more about it, my interest peaked and I wanted to learn how to get my hands on some of the coins. Turns out, the coins weren’t available yet; in fact, the team wasn’t even doing an ICO. Instead, they were conducting an airdrop. I signed up for it, and didn’t have to pay a penny (only enter some identifying information to comply with KYC regulation). A month later, 250 POLY showed up in my Ethereum Wallet. As of the time of writing, that’s worth around $300.

What is an Airdrop?

The simple answer: it’s literally just free coins just waiting for you. The method behind the madness, though, is a decision regarding marketing strategy. As a way to spread awareness to the relevant audience of potential investors and eventual enthusiasts, coin teams will, from time-to-time, do airdrops.

A Brief History of Airdrops

Coins have been doing this for a while — pretty much since the first Ethereum ICO. If you check your wallet on Etherscan (which I totally recommend doing — never open your wallet with a private key just to check your balance, it’s riskier than necessary), you’ll know there’s a row up top named Token Tracker. If you see it, then there are also tokens in your account; if you don’t, then you don’t have any tokens or airdrops — yet. Some of you ETH wallet holders that have had wallets with balances for a while now might’ve noticed this — one day you just see an extra random token in your Token Tracker. No, someone didn’t randomly deposit some obscure token into your wallet address on accident; instead, the coin’s team decided to send a small amount to a population of Ethereum wallets in order to spread the word.

After getting the token, one of the first things you might’ve done is Google what the coin is. Or you might’ve taken it a step further — asked someone else if they knew what the token was. Also, you could just choose to ignore it. Of course, in the last scenario, the airdrop failed its intention. But scenario 1 means that you have now learned about the coin, and scenario 2 is even better — you’ve just told your friends about the coin, too. In both of those scenarios, the airdrop did its job for a small price (well, potentially a larger price if it moons).

Eventually, airdrops became a method beyond marketing. As a method to pump coin value, coins would announce airdrops where coin holders would receive bonus coins proportional to the amount of total coins they hold. Coin investors that wanted to get the airdrop would have to buy the coins if they didn’t have any yet, or buy more if they wanted a larger proportion of the airdrop. That being said, I want to emphasize that this airdrop strategy won’t be examined further in this article, since my article is focused on how you can get coins for free, not on how you can get coins by buying coins.

Recently, with Facebook’s new advertising policy explicitly stating bans for ICOs, many ICOs have turned to airdrops as an alternative method for pay-per-click advertising. With many ICOs being consumer-focused products, they focus on one metric: viral growth through the network effect. In layman’s terms, they want to spread the word to you and hope that you spread the word to your minions, too. They address this by using a strong referral system method.

Participating in Free Airdrops

The Tools You’ll Most Likely Need

Here’s what you need to catch airdrops like a stud

1. An Ethereum Wallet:
   Not one that is on an exchange. It has to be a personal address that is ERC20 compatible because most of the tokens that are airdropped are ERC20 tokens, which are or were originally Ethereum-based ICOs. I suggest using MetaMask or MyEtherWallet to get started immediately, but in the long-term I always recommend getting a hardware wallet like the Ledger Nano S.
2. The Ethereum Wallet Must be ACTIVE.
   By active, I mean that you have to show at least some human use of it. Lots of airdrops have checks in place to make sure that you aren’t just randomly generating a bunch of addresses and signing them all up to unfairly obtain more coins. This means that if your wallet doesn’t show activity, it might not receive the airdrop. Sometimes, coins will be explicit in what they look for, including some type of balance in the account.
3. A Telegram Account :
   I’m sure there are amazing reasons why Telegram is the chatting tool of choice for many of these ICOs. The coins want to boost the audience count. Usually, these airdrop coins will also require you to sign up for their Telegram accounts. Until you receive the coin in your Ethereum wallet, do not leave the Telegram accounts or you risk disqualification for the airdrop.
4. A Twitter Account :
   Similar to the reasons behind the Telegram account, many of the airdrop coins will also require you to follow them on Twitter. Some of them will even ask you to retweet some tweet.
5. An email address.
   Sometimes airdrops will ask for your email, too. If you don’t feel comfortable with giving them your real email, just create a spam one. Remember the password, though; some of them actually ask you to confirm your email.

Obtaining and Withdrawing Tokens

Usually, it takes about 1–2 months after the end of the airdrop before you receive your tokens. This is primarily due to the fact that many airdrops occur before or during token sales, in conjunction to spread awareness. And tokens are not distributable until the end of a token sale anyway (I’ll write a separate piece on Token Sales, or ICOs).

To check your wallet info and see if the token has appeared in your wallet yet, just go to Etherscan (https://www.etherscan.io). Type in your ETH address into the search box.

Circled in Red is the area you want to look. If the token is available in your wallet already, it will show up in the token tracker dropdown. If you don’t have a token tracker appear on your result, then you don’t have any tokens in your wallet yet, and it also means you didn’t receive it. Once you actually obtain the tokens, you can withdraw them directly through a services like My Ether Wallet (MEW). All you have to do is access your wallet (through MetaMask, Ledger Nano, or some other way — direct private key pasting is not recommended) and select the token you want to withdraw.

Don’t Get Scammed

With all the promises of free coins out there, it’s easy to lose track of everything and just start a clicking frenzy. Here are some tips to avoid getting scammed:

1. Never send any private keys.
   No one needs to have your private key in order to be able to check you wallet balance. They can do so very easily with tools like Etherscan.
2. Don’t send any money to any addresses.
   Remember this — airdrops are free. Whether it requires you to be holding a certain coin, or if it’ll just appear in your wallet, an airdrop will never ask you to send any amount of some coin to some type of address. If they ask for this, steer away immediately.
3. Check official sources.
   If a coin is actually doing an airdrop, it is likely they’ll have announced it on their official social media accounts, such as Twitter. Check there to make sure that the airdrop is official; otherwise, you might be subject to a scam with scammers trying to collect your data.

This is an example of a scam airdrop. The first red flag is the fact that the Twitter account is asking you for an amount. But these scammers have become pretty sophisticated. If you check the comments, you’ll see there are 8 responses to this. 7 of them are from fake Twitter accounts pretending to have participated and being “super stoked” about receiving their coins. The other one is from me, tweeting that it’s a scam to try to warn people.

If you look at the Twitter account, you might see that it has 3,000 followers (or maybe even more) but the tweet history is less than 24 hours long. Does that make sense? A coin that just supposedly raised 8m euros has only tweeted for 24 hours? If the story seems fishy, there is a disgusting, rotting corpse somewhere. Don’t believe it.

The image is a terrible Photoshop job with font that doesn’t match the rest of the announcement. This scam is a metropolis of red flags. A simple Reverse Google Image Search shows that the logo actually belongs to Thrive. As a best practice, always look for reasons why an Airdrop would be a scam. With that mindset, you are more likely to be able to sniff out the rotting fish from the sushi.

Resources to Help You Find Airdrops

There are many communities and newsletters available to help you with identifying airdrops as they come along. I definitely recommend signing up for them (they’re free), rather than trying to look for them yourself. That’s because there are many scammers out there, and they make themselves very present and legitimate-seeming. These resources that you subscribe to have (hopefully) already screened the airdrops.

Let Cosmic Trading help you find those awesome Airdrops

If you’re looking for one to join right now, take a look at Cosmic Trading. Members post airdrops in that channel that they’ve already verified are legitimate. Furthermore, the community is just a huge group of cryptocurrency traders and enthusiasts with experience levels ranging from years of trading and HODLing to people who just started yesterday.

Article Produced By
Kenny Li

A Blockchain and Fintech Enthusiast. Founder of Worthyt, Managing Partner at Empyrean Global Advisors. MIT Sloan Class of 2020.

https://hackernoon.com/wtf-is-an-airdrop-a-detailed-guide-to-free-cryptocurrency-e70e8777dd83

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

What are Airdrops and how can you take advantage of them?

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Defining the Difference Between Faucets and Airdrops

You may or may not have heard of these before, but there are things called faucets and airdrops. These are legitimate ways to get free coins, but there are definitely some things you need to know about each. In terms of faucets, services set up to give you tiny amounts of free coins. You can hit up these services periodically, subject to minimum withdrawal limits, because some coins have high fees. This doesn’t make sense if you’re trying to withdraw a super-tiny amount; the fees will eat up all of it.

One can access faucets at certain sites or mobile apps, as well. The reasons people set them up include:

• to promote a particular coin to get you interested in it
• to drive traffic to a site
• to get ad revenue from you, or other similar benefits

On the other hand, airdrops are a process in which you can receive free coins (most of the time) from a specific project or team that runs a different coin. They take a snapshot of the blockchain — for example, a snapshot of the Ethereum blockchain at a certain time — and then everyone who has Ethereum will get a certain amount of coins deposited automatically into their ERC20 wallet.

What Is an Airdrop?

It’s well known that people are getting free crypto airdrops in order to trade them and make money. If we think about the concept of an airdrop in the non-crypto context, we can easily understand how it works in the crypto context. In the non-crypto context, airdrops are used to deliver food and supplies in boxes to people you cannot reach in other ways. They are normally dropped from airplanes with attached parachutes so they reach people on the ground safely.

In the crypto context, airdrops are used to distribute crypto assets, such as coins and tokens, as widely as possible to encourage people to start using them. These assets can become valuable, causing many people to become interested in receiving airdrops and trading them. This may sound like people are getting free valuable coins, but that’s not a correct statement — not all of them are valuable. You may think the easiest thing to do is to get all the airdrops and hope that some of them become valuable. If this thought comes to mind, you may wish to consider an old marketing proverb. If you are not paying for a product, then you are the product.

What does this mean? It normally means that you end up giving your contact details (or more) to the people providing the airdrops. That may be something you are happy with; however, not all projects are legitimate. This means that you should protect yourself. You can do this by using different email addresses and passwords for any crypto-related accounts you set up. You should also use two-factor authentication on accounts, if possible. The last bit of security advice is you should never share your private key. If anybody ever asks you for this, do not trust them.

How to Participate in Airdrops?

To participate in the airdrops, you need a couple of different things.

1. An Ethereum-based wallet. Why Ethereum? Because most ICOs usually run ERC20 Ethereum tokens.
2. An active balance on MyEtherWallet.
3. Twitter, Facebook, and Telegram accounts so you can share ICO marketing info.

Who Can Take Part in an Airdrop?

Whoever distributes an airdrop gets to decide who can take part in the airdrop. Earlier approaches were based upon whether or not a person already owned some crypto assets, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and so on. As these assets have become more expensive and interest in crypto assets has increased, people have been using a number of alternative methods. One method involves requesting contact details such as email addresses, which point to BitcoinTalk, profile details, Twitter handles, Telegram, usernames, etc.

This forum (BitcoinTalk) gives people the opportunity to:

• ask the founders questions about the project
• determine whether the project is legitimate in order to maximize the number of airdrops in which you can participate

The most common method now is to reward airdrop applicants for retweeting certain tweets with irrelevant hashtags, or making posts on Facebook. This means that airdrop participants join the airdrop by performing promotional work. This also blurs the boundary between airdrops and bounties, which ranges from social media activity to language translations. Once these wallets are downloaded, people who want the airdrop are requested to submit their wallet addresses as evidence that they have downloaded the wallet. This enables the airdrop to be made. This method is often used by proof-of-stake coins to build stronger networks.

How Does an Airdrop Reach People?

An airdrop reaches an individual applying for the airdrop when it is sent to the individual’s address. It is possible for an individual to have many addresses. If you’ve downloaded a machine wallet, then the airdrop can be sent there. Depending on the support that the crypto asset has, you may be able to send your crypto assets to a mobile wallet, which will function like an app on your mobile phone. You may also be able to store the crypto asset on a hardware wallet, such as Treasurer or Ledger. There are a number of third-party web wallets available that can be used for receiving crypto assets. Many airdrops are for crypto assets built on the Ethereum platform, and these often require people to use MyEtherWallet or other similar wallets. If an airdrop application form asks you to share in wallet address, you should first set up a MyEtherWallet or other similar service in order to receive your airdrop.

Some airdrops use a proprietary approach, and have their own web wallets. Normally, such projects intend to build dedicated wallets, which can be accessed offline, too. Before that happens, they simply store them on their website so you can see the balance as you log into your account. Another place you may receive an airdrop is on an exchange where people trade crypto assets. This often happens when an airdrop is based upon existing crypto asset holdings, such as how much Bitcoin or Ethereum one owns. Airdropping new crypto assets directly to exchange addresses is relatively rare.

What Should You Do Once You Get Crypto-Assets?

Once you receive crypto assets, you may end up wondering what to do with them. Should you hold onto them for the long term, or should you sell them immediately? To decide, do your own research to gain an understanding of the long-term potential. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. The Crypto Freebies channel is not qualified to give investment advice, and therefore, you may want to consider getting professional advice.

If you do decide to sell them, you will need to be registered on the exchange where your crypto assets are traded, unless you decide to sell directly to someone, which can be risky if they are not known to you. There are a number of exchanges where crypto assets can be found. These exchanges are some of the smaller ones, where new crypto assets seek to list first before moving on to larger exchanges, such as Bittrex.

Conclusion

A coin airdrop is a double-win situation. On the one hand, you get free crypto tokens that could be worth something in the future. On the other hand, blockchain projects raise awareness for their crypto-projects during their ico airdrop.
In this way, companies are able to create a community around their coin. Indeed, if you give someone a coin, he/she will likely get involved, and will get some money out of it. This is a means of creating a customer database at a low price.

Article Produced By
Applicature
A Blockchain development agency focusing on production ready solutions, smart contracts Technologies, Cryptocurrencies and Technical ICO support.

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Airdrops In Cryptocurrencies: Everything A Beginner Needs To Know

There are several ways of making money from cryptocurrencies

but not all are secure and legit ways. However, one genuine way of earning through cryptocurrencies is AIRDROPS. At CoinSutra, our endeavor is always to find out such safe ways for our audience, which we have done a number of times. We have also helped the community in claiming such Airdrops on more occasions than one. Some of you reading this concept of ‘Airdrops’ for the first time might ask what Airdrop is. And this is exactly our agenda today – to discuss everything about Airdrops. So in this analysis, we are broadly going to touch upon the following points:

• What Is A Crypto Airdrop?
• Why Free Crypto Airdrops?
• How To Stay Updated About Such Crypto Airdrops?
• How To Get Your Free Airdropped Crypto?
• Conclusion: Stay Updated & Stay Safe While Airdrops

What Is Airdrop in Crypto World?

An airdrop for a cryptocurrency is a procedure

of distributing new tokens/coins by awarding them in a certain proportion to existing holders of a particular blockchain currency, such as Bitcoin or Ethereum etc. In simple terms, if you HODL one type of coin, you are automatically eligible to claim other coins/tokens just because you were holding the parent coins/tokens on which airdrop is being done.

That is why this method of coin/token distribution is called airdrops signifying ‘free droppings’. Sometimes, there are different reasons and motivations for these airdrops such as forks, marketing, decentralization & distribution etc. There are other reasons too of which we will talk about later in the article.

Why Do Free Crypto Airdrops Occur?

There are several motivations for carrying out cryptocurrency airdrops, right from creating the hype and buzz to actually distributing the whole supply of coins/tokens. Some of the reasons for carrying out crypto airdrops are:

• Even Distribution Of Total Token Supply

One proper reason for airdrops is to evenly distribute the total token/coin supply so that there is less centralization in terms of bagHODLer holding a large sum with themselves. Omise gave away five percent of their OmiseGO cryptocurrency to holders of Ethereum in September 2017. In this case, OmiseGO took the advantage of already distributed Ethereum economy to distribute their tokens too.

• Rewarding Faithful Early Investors

Many cryptocurrencies want to reward its early supporters and investors who first bought their ICOs or tokens. What better way to reward them than by offering them some more new tokens – for free.

This also motivates early investors to hold their parent tokens for longer durations and overall I feel it is a good way of rewarding.

Just like this:

• Awareness About The New Crypto

Many times, just for spreading awareness, the airdrops are carried out for the HODLers of popular cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Walton etc.

• Marketing & Hype

This is the most common trend nowadays. Airdropping coins/tokens for the purpose of marketing and collecting leads for further business opportunity expansion.

You will also find projects running schemes such as:

1. (TEU) is airdropping 125.000 USD in TEU tokens to first 15,000 airdrop participants!
2. Get up to 60 REPU tokens free just by joining Telegram!
3. #ApolloDAE referral airdrop for Telegram users!
4. 50 SYN tokens free when you sign up!

So this a kind of airdrop cum bounties for doing minor tasks like signups, referrals or joining Telegram and following on Twitter etc.

• Hard Forks

Another popular way is to fork popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Monero and create a new coin, to be distributed to existing holders of these parent coins. CoinSutra has supported few airdrops that happened in the past through such forks, some of which were:

1. Bitcoin Cash
2. Bitcoin Gold
3. Bitcoin Diamond
4. Litecoin Cash

Now the million dollar question – How to know about such airdrops? Good question, considering it is one of the easiest ways to make money.

How To Stay Updated On Such Crypto Airdrops?

There are several ways to be updated, one of the most effective of which is to join an active crypto community that works in this area. CoinSutra is one such crypto-community. We have already, in the above-mentioned links, explained how we help our community members to make full use of such opportunities. There are some more services and websites through which you can get regular updates about airdrops. However, understand the fact that not all airdrops are worth participating in and can be sometimes fraudulent too. Nevertheless, here are few of those services:

• Crypto Airdrops
• AirdropAlert.com

You can also find airdrop announcements on Twitter page and Bitcoin forum page of a particular project that you might be following.

How To Get Your Free Airdropped Crypto?

Claiming your airdropped free crypto coin/tokens can differ from project to project.

For example…

For the airdrop forked coins, you either need to be in control of your private keys or should know how to sign your public address with your private keys. That is we always suggest you to always store your cryptocurrencies in the following types of wallets where you are in control of your private keys:

• Ledger Nano S (Hardware Wallet)
• Trezor (Hardware Wallet)
• Exodus (Desktop Wallet)
• MyEtherWallet  (Web Wallet) etc..

Sometimes you just need to do the following things to get/claim your airdropped tokens/coins:

• Sign-up
• Retweet
• Refer a friend
• Join Telegram
• Or complete other social media tasks

Conclusion: Stay Updated & Stay Safe

With the popularity index of cryptocurrencies rising every day, the scams surrounding it are growing too. That is why if you find scams around cryptocurrency airdrops, don’t get surprised or fall for it. The only workaround to do away with them is educating yourself on the subject of airdrops, or as a matter of fact, on cryptocurrencies.

But I will tell you how scams around airdrops happen.

A scammy project with airdrop plans will ask you for your private keys to be entered at places and sometimes even fool you so that you enter your seed words in a malicious software. You will usually see such types of tactics in hacked slack channels, Telegram channels or tweaked Twitter accounts that will try to imposter the original account in some way.

Here is an example of a scammy twitter account and scammy airdrop tweet:

Are you ready for Guardian Masternodes? If not, we're running a limited airdrop of $WTC tokens to get you there.In the interest of your safety, I would suggest you do the due-diligence by going an extra mile while examining such airdrops.

Article Produced By

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

What Is AirDrop? How Does It Work?

AirDrop is a feature that lets Macs and iOS devices share files wirelessly with a minimum of fuss.

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

What Are ICO Air Drops and Where to Find Them

A recent phenomenon in the cryptocurrency economy

has been the incidences and instances of cryptocurrency token airdrops. This has been particularly pronounced with Initial Coin Offering (ICO) projects. Airdrop events have become such a ‘craze’ that people have turned up in their numbers on the internet seeking how to make some free tokens from airdrops.

What is an Air drop?

Air drop is just another way of distributing cryptocurrency tokens to help with the process of adoption for the particular token. Some ICO projects choose to give out their tokens practically for free to members of their community as a means of encouraging the token’s adoption and usage with the hope that in the process, there will be increased demand for the token which will in turn help to drive up its value. Usually after the main crowd sale events, a small percentage of the total tokens are set aside for air drops.

In as much as these air drops seem to be free, beneficiaries tend to be community members of the ICO project who have made efforts towards the development and growth of the community. Air drop beneficiary efforts are usually gauged by the consistency and quality of their contribution to topics that relate to the project. The duration of community membership is also a parameter often used – older members of an ICO project’s telegram, Slack, Discord or other communal social media platforms tend to be candidates for free tokens by way of airdrops as compared to newer community members.

Changes in the ICO Game

Just like the blockchain technology that runs it, ICOs keep changing by way of operations and execution. As the months go by, a lot of dynamism and improvements are introduced. A lot of these innovations in the ICO space are attributable to the Ethereum blockchain which is the leading blockchain by way of ICO token development. Majority of the token airdrop have been linked to ERC20 tokens. The flexibility and freedom that the Ethereum network gives entrepreneurs and developers has been a catalyst in the dynamism being experienced with the way ICOs are run and this same dynamism has inspired the recent airdrop events we are currently witnessing in the blockchain and ICO space.

Article Produced By
Emmanuel Darko

https://icowatchlist.com/blog/ico-air-drops-find/

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

Everything You Need to Know About Airdrops, Hard Forks, & ICOs

Basic Returns vs. Premium Returns

Although investing in cryptocurrency looks complicated to the untrained eye, it is astoundingly simple.
Too simple, in fact.

Here’s a real life example.

One of my friends bought $1,000.00 of Ethereum (ETH) at the start of 2017. When he wanted to calculate his earnings for that year, he looked at how much prices had changed over the course of 12 months. A quick bit of arithmetic showed he had made $91,620 in profit. This is a jaw-dropping return by any standard, but here’s the kicker — he actually underestimated his own returns.

You see, cryptocurrencies have hidden properties — airdrops, hard forks, ICOs — that may boost their long-term value. Last September, Ethereum had an air drop that could have added upto $77,890 to my friend’s earnings. But his simple view of investing in cryptocurrency ignored these hidden riches.

Even so, my friend was lucky. Despite his ignorance about airdrops and hard forks, he still walked away with his pockets full. But imagine if the situation were slightly different. Imagine that Ethereum prices had stagnated rather than skyrocketed. Would my friend still have invested? Probably not. He would have thought it wasn’t worth his time, and as a consequence he would have lost out on a small fortune.

Why Does No One Talk About Airdrops?

Initial coin offerings and hard forks are well known. In 2017, there was a minor ICO craze after investors first discovered them, and hard forks slipped into the ether when Bitcoin Cash split from Bitcoin. Very few people understand them, of course, but at least you can articles about them in financial media. Airdrops, by contrast, are virtually unknown. Why?

That’s a hard question to answer.

One explanation is that cryptocurrencies are relatively young. Investors have not had enough time to study their eccentricities, nor have analysts had much time to communicate their technical aspects in normal language. Another is the business of news. Mainstream outlets are incentivized by Google and Facebook to publish clickbait rather than nerdy stories about airdrops. But it hardly matters. Regardless of why investors are ignorant of these subtleties, it’s important for them to understand these features. Can you imagine widespread ignorance about share buybacks or dividends? It’s inconceivable! With that in mind, let’s jump into the details.

What are airdrops, hard forks, and ICOs?

For the benefit of those who are unfamiliar with these terms, I’ve included a list of working definitions below. Underneath each definition is what I’d consider an equivalent event in the stock market. Hopefully, that will illuminate how these forces affect cryptocurrency returns.

AIRDROPS
Airdrops are essentially free handouts of cryptocurrency. They occur when a blockchain startup is looking to gin up attention their new token. When one public company buys another, investors can either receive a payout or equivalent shares of the buyer’s stock. Theoretically the merger is supposed to create extra value, thus increasing the value of the stock. Likewise, the idea that airdropped tokens have value rests on the assumption that you can sell them to willing buyers.

HARD FORKS
Hard forks occur when a blockchain splits in two. These forks often result in airdropped tokens, although it’s important to distinguish between the two terms. Why? Well, because hard forks suggest internal conflict among the blockchain’s developers. Two factions that cannot agree eventually lead to one group splintering off from the other, thus creating a second cryptocurrency.

This comparison is a bit of a stretch, but the Bitcoin/Bitcoin Cash fork resulted in investors getting another $200.00 airdropped into their wallets. In a way, this is like a company deciding to return cash to shareholders. Sure, investors get a sudden infusion of new money, but it’s a bittersweet because it means that company is not investing in research, development, or acquisitions. It isn’t growing, in other words.

INITIAL COIN OFFERINGS

Initial coin offerings (ICOs) offer startups an alternative way to raise money. Rather than begging venture capitalists for table scraps or going public via an initial public offering, startups can simply issue their own cryptocurrency. This offers tremendous upside to the startup, since they forfeit no equity in the company. However, they need to ensure the token offers some value or else investors and regulators can take legal action.

In the first quarter of 2018, the music streaming service known as Spotify filed for a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange. This means that Spotify will circumvent the normal process going public, such as wooing institutional investors and paying investment bankers outrageous fees. It is a bold move that removes the middlemen of finance, much like an ICO.

Let’s Talk About Risks and Rewards

In terms of outcomes, the upside potential of airdrops, hard forks, and ICOs is well established.
Consider the following examples.

Stellar Lumens (XLM) airdrops 16 billion tokens.

If you had been holding Bitcoin on June 26, 2017, you were eligible to claim free money that Stellar Lumens would airdrop into your account. The good folks at Stellar say that “Bitcoin acted as a profound inspiration” when they were creating their cryptocurrency, and that’s why they want to share the love. Whatever their reason, the important takeaway is that XLM coins appreciated by more than 1,000% from then to the end of 2017. (Sidenote: Bitcoin holders could only claim the same percentage of the airdrop that they owned of the total Bitcoin supply. So, if they owned 0.002% of all Bitcoins in existence, they could only claim 0.002% of the air drop.)

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) forks off Bitcoin (BTC).

In August 2017, a group of dissident developers broke off from the Bitcoin community, splitting the blockchain in two. This hard fork resulted in every Bitcoin holder getting Bitcoin Cash tokens at a rate of 1-to-1. At the time, the price of one Bitcoin was $2,750. By comparison, BCH traded at approximately $200.00, although it would later skyrocket by more than 2,000%. Anyone holding Bitcoin at the time of the hard fork would have received this unexpected boon.

Golem (GNT) becomes a golden goose.

One of the earliest high-profile ICOs was held by Golem on November 10, 2016. This startup gives everyone access to immense processing power by connecting them to a network of computers around the world. The only catch is you pay for those resources by way of GNT tokens. What this does is effectively put the idle computing power of the world to good use. Investors thought this was a solid business plan, so they went long on GNT. Those that did would have made more than 3,000% returns by the time this article went to press.

So what are the risks?

One,
regulators will decide these are financial products which need to be overseen and taxed.
Two,
someone is scamming you.

Both risks are pretty serious.

China and South Korea have banned ICOs already, proving that regulators are capable of coming down hard on the industry. The European Union, meanwhile, demands that ICOs meet anti-money laundering and anti-fraud compliance regulations. Canada deems them securities. The U.S. is similarly tough, and many other places have not yet established rules, but are in the process of doing so. With all this regulation coming down the pipeline, it’s easy to forget why regulators are worried. Namely, that cryptocurrency scams are dime a dozen.

From pump and dump scams to price manipulation, the industry is overpopulated by bad-faith actors looking to take prey on retail investors. So even while the upcoming regulation is burdensome, it is necessary for the industry to succeed.

Verdict: Big Cryptos Are Often The Best

Some readers might rush off to invest in small, unknown ICOs after reading this report. That would mean I failed to communicate the dangers of ICOs or that they did not grasp the significance of airdrops. The same goes for hard forks. Building an investment strategy around these features is a high risk, high reward approach. But airdrops, on the other hand, are a relatively risk-free way to line your pockets. That said, the million dollar question remains: Which cryptocurrencies are best for airdrops? My advice is to go Big. Airdrops benefit larger cryptos, such as Ethereum and Bitcoin. Not the no-name cryptos with $100,000 in market cap. Here’s why.

The purpose of an airdrop is to gain attention by leveraging the liquidity of a popular cryptocurrency. OmiseGO and did not search through the bargain bin for its airdrop destination — it chose Ethereum, in the same way that Stellar Lumens chose Bitcoin. I want you to remember this, because cryptocurrencies are built on shifting sands. Some of the crypto — most of them in fact — might not be around in a few years. The ones that will, however, could be worth a fortune.

Article Produced By

G. S. Iyer
Senior Tech Editor @ Lombardi Publishing. Columnist @ Profit Confidential.

https://medium.com/@iyer_gs/airdrops-hardforks-icos-63e1efaf16a7

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden

What Is EON? Why Is It So Popular Among EOS Investors?

With EOS mainnet launch, airdrops to EOS users are increasing rapidly.

Among these airdrops, EON is the most valuable one. Many EOS investors refer to it as “the most expensive crypto candy in history”.

This article will discuss what is EON and why it is so popular.

The most revolutionary technology:
up to 100,000 TPS solving the biggest problem of EOS

According to its website (https://eon.org/), EON is an intelligent high-speed blockchain operating system. By intelligently allocating the entire network computing power to synchronize the node load with the cloud network in real time, it can make the average TPS of the entire network reach more than 100,000. All network requests can also be completed almost simultaneously. This fundamentally solves the problem of a mere 4000 TPS caused by numerous network requests generated in a single EOS transaction.

TPS (transaction per second) is the number of transactions system processes per second. It is the core performance of a public chain and the basis for determining other functions and visions of the public chain. EON’s realization of 100,000 TPS undoubtedly addresses the biggest pain point. As the number of global nodes increases in the future, EON's TPS will eventually reach more than 1 million.

Currently many blockchain projects are in the conceptual phase and haven’t been commercially implemented. As the world's leading blockchain project, EON has begun to be put into practice. On the basis of EOS, EON integrates distributed computing with traditional technologies such as network storage, virtualization, load balancing, and hot standby redundancy to upgrade the existing EOS network. It not only inherits the advantages of EOS, but also achieves an evolution of EOS ecology. EON is the next-generation high-speed blockchain system that has fundamentally solved the biggest pain point of EOS.

The latest development: EON Editor

With the world's leading R&D team, EON is committed to changing the current blockchain value ecology and redefining the blockchain value standard from its inception. On 2nd June, EON launched the world’s first cloud-based smart contract editor EON Editor (editor.eon.org), which is eagerly anticipated by the global blockchain enthusiasts.

EON Editor provides developers with a more secure and reliable development environment by integrating development environment in the cloud. Cloud-based development environment means that developers can connect to the network from anywhere to complete projects, easily define resources, debug, and quickly share the development environment. Developers only need a computer connected to Internet to access the web browser instead of installing files or configuring development computers. They can use EON Editor to easily complete the development, debugging, and compiling of smart contracts in the cloud.

Roughly speaking, EON Editor has four core advantages: First, developers do not need to configure the development environment, but can complete smart contract development on the browser. Second, real-time collaborative writing code and shared development environment achieves telecommuting. Third, it lowers the threshold for the development of smart contracts so that new projects can be quickly built. Fourth, developers can easily implement DApps based on EON super ecology.

The launch of EON Editor will greatly increase the efficiency of developers, fundamentally promote the development of the entire blockchain industry, and redefine the standard of blockchain value. Blockchain technology has many advantages, but novice users face many difficulties to develop their own blockchain products. This has been changed by EON Editor. It is the realization of the genius design of EON project "EON=EOS+NETWORK" and will definitely redefine the blockchain development standard.

Strong team

EON announced its partnership with the world’s top blockchain information security team on 5th June. They are committed to enhancing the overall safety, privacy, and usability of the blockchain ecosystem by publishing industry trend reports, real-time monitoring of ecological security risks, responsible exposure of vulnerabilities, and providing relevant security solutions and services to help communities defend against emerging security threats.

Another team working with the EON project is Armors Labs. As the world's top blockchain security laboratory, Armors aims to focus on the blockchain security cloud ecosystem. Their team members mainly come from Apple, Google and other world's top Internet companies. At the beginning of this month, EON team revealed that they had received investment from INBlockchain Capital founded by Li Xiaolai, Consensus Labs，CollinStar, Horman Capital, as well as OldDriver and Zenix from South Korea. These investors are influential in blockchain industry and have already invested in a large number of popular projects.

The potential of EON

We all know that as one of the most famous blockchain projects, EOS has far more investors than others. EON can directly reach EOS users by its airdrop to them. Increasing the liquidity of EON and getting listed on exchanges has always been a concern for the project team. EON has already been listed on Coinoah and Coinw, where its prices have been steadily rising as of press time. Its price hit a peak of $1.56, which fully demonstrates the wide recognition of EON’s value. At the same time, EON is promised to list on more global mainstream cryptocurrency exchanges in 2018. To sum up, driven by the strength of capital and its increasing influence, EON's price is reasonable to rise by three to five times in 2018. If listed on large exchanges, it is very likely to jump sharply.

Of course, the price may be affected by positive news in the short term. However, in the long run, it must reflect the practical value of the project. Now it is the moment when EON siphons other public chains, and its price is ushering in a solid support. As the next generation of blockchains, EON is very likely to lead the development of global public chains in 2018 and create a new era. The future of EON is coming. You might have missed buying pizza with BTC, ETH's crowdfunding or the early EOS… But don't miss out on EON!

Article Produced By
EON.INC

http://eon.org/
pr@eon.org
https://cointelegraph.com/press-releases/what-is-eon-why-is-it-so-popular-among-eos-investors

David https://markethive.com/david-ogden