CryptoCurrency Airdrops:
Where Could The SEC Stand on Them?

We are all aware of the common practice in the cryptocurrency ecosystem called Airdrops.

These are essentially free giveaways of coins that are “airdropped” on a group of cryptocurrency enthusiasts. It is the quickest way to distribute your coins in the market short of doing an Initial Coin Offering (ICO). However, how do Airdrops fit into the current regulatory framework as laid out by the Securities and Exchange Commission? Could airdrops be a less burdensome way for the developers to fund their projects? We will take a look at the current regulatory environment and how cryptocurrency airdrops are likely to fit into that.

How Airdrops Work

The mechanics of an Airdrop is really pretty simple. A developer team will take a snapshot of an already established cryptocurrency chain. This will then give them an overview of the addresses that are currently on the chain. They will then release their free tokens to all of those holders. The developers of that token will “fork” their chain from the legacy chain and then build off of that technology. Some of the largest cryptocurrencies available right now are the result of these including Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

It is also really quite simple to initiate an airdrop. For example, you can head on over to Open Zeppelin and use one of their smart contract templates for the the Ethereum blockchain. You will then take a snapshot of the blockchain and you will distribute a certain number of the coins in some sort of a ratio to the ETH that they already hold. The developers will also hold onto a certain percentage of all available coins.

Why Airdrop Coins?

Apart from distributing your coins as widely as possible, there are other really important incentives for a project to airdrop coins. It is an easy way for the developer team to fund their project. Yes, they are not raising crypto or Fiat through an ICO or a seed round, but they are keeping a large stake in the coins that they have airdropped.

If the project keeps doing well and the public starts to take notice then the value of the tokens is likely to increase. Hence, the team funds will become valuable and they can then sell some of these tokens to fund the project in question. They are also a lot more cost effective than completing an ICO or trying to secure funding in a seed round. These methods of financing are now becoming incredibly expensive as investors are demanding much more than a simple whitepaper. Airdrops could also be less burdensome in terms of regulation.

Securities Regulations and Crypto

If a cryptocurrency asset is classified as a security then it falls under the jurisdiction of the SEC and hence will have to meet all the requirements. Whether it is classified as such depends on whether it passes the Howey Test. This is the rule of thumb that is used to determine whether an asset will be classified as a security. More particularly, an investment contract is

defined as:

A contract, transaction or scheme whereby a person invests his money in a common enterprise and is led to expect profits solely from the efforts of the promoter or a third party

Under this definition, it is quite clear that many of the ICOs today could be classified as such. In fact, there was even speculation that Ethereum may have been classified as a security when they did their ICO. Yet, how are the airdrops viewed by the SEC?

Airdrops And Securities

While they may be expecting a return on their investment, can they really be classified as investing in a “common enterprise”? Are these investors not just speculating on the price of an asset much like they will do when the purchase Forex, Commodities or even other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Moreover, can this really even be considered investing? Tokens are not like equity in a company or debt securities. Many of them are “utility tokens” meaning that they have an underlying use case. Hence, one can realistically claim that they are buying the token for a purpose other than speculation.

Those who are buying the tokens on an exchange are buying it from other people and not from the developers themselves. Hence, you cannot claim that the developers are the main recipients of the investors’ funds. All this means that it would be incredibly nonsensical for the SEC to claim that an airdrop is a security. This could be akin to them claiming a free giveaway of any good on the street can also be considered a security. Moreover, what will the SEC do to those coins that have already been airdropped and have no central authority? Who will they target in any sort of enforcement action when the network is decentralised?

Conclusion

Airdrops are a quick and easy way for developers to get their coins out into the ecosystem and start work on the project. The SEC has still not given their judgement on ICOs yet but many think that it is only a matter of time. Indeed, it seems that they are getting that much more active with their enforcement. There have been a number of ICOs that have received cease and desist letters in operation “crypto sweep”.

So, should airdrops be the preferred option? Not quite.

While they are less burdensome, an airdrop is much less effective of an fundraising method as an ICO or other methods of seed funding. The development team will still have to wait before there is any sort of market for their coins before they can sell some and use the proceeds. Building ground breaking technology is not cheap and these developers still have to put food on the table. In the end, it will have to come down to the needs, preferences and risk that the developers are willing to take.

Article Produced By
Editorial Team

https://www.coinbureau.com/analysis/cryptocurrency-airdrops-sec/

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

Why Waves is Best for Airdrops

Imagine you’re building a house.

You could transport the bricks in small batches in the boot of your car. Or you can hire a lorry for the purpose. Either will work, but only one was designed to do the job quickly and effectively. Which do you choose? Airdrops have become an important element of the crypto landscape and for good reason. By distributing small amounts of tokens to many different users for free, you instantly gain a very large potential userbase. These recipients will generally want to find out more about the project. They may become larger buyers in due course, as well as some of your first testers, end user, ​ and advocates for the business. All of this can be gained in return for allocating a small proportion of your token supply in advance, plus the cost of airdropping them to hundreds or thousands of blockchain addresses. All you have to do is distribute them. But that’s the thing. Distribution. And it’s not as easy as you might think.

Big airdrops, big headaches

Here’s the thing: you can conduct an airdrop on any blockchain — just as you can theoretically transport your building supplies with any mode of transport, whether that’s a car, lorry, bike or SegWay. There are just good reasons why you might not want to. There are a few factors to consider. Obviously,​ it needs to be a platform that supports custom tokens. No major problem there: even bitcoin supports assets (via the Omni protocol, for example). But then you’ve got to send them all out to different addresses, using whatever criteria you choose for recipients.

Naturally,​ you want your send process to be fast and as low-cost as possible. You don’t want to be competing for block space, and you don’t want to be paying high transaction fees. That makes something like bitcoin/Omni a non-starter — imagine having to pay many tens of thousands of dollars or more to get the job done. And if you’re sending thousands of transactions, you can forget it: they’re going to be stuck in mempool until you’re grey-haired. Ethereum’s a better option, and plenty of airdrops do occur on the platform. But fees are still comparatively high, and the network is not designed for large throughput (just ask the Crypto Kitties).

Then there are some of the other problems that can occur if you misuse a blockchain that’s not really built for the job. A few years ago there was an initiative to pay dividends to stakers on BitcoinDark (a privacy coin that was built on a proof-of-stake clone of bitcoin). The first time a large number of transactions was submitted via a script, the network forked. Oops.

Waves-NG

So this is where Waves comes in. You can conduct airdrops on any blockchain. A handful of them can cope with that reasonably well. But there’s only one that has specifically been designed to support the kinds of transaction volumes that a large airdrop requires. Waves’ consensus algorithm is Waves-NG, which is capable of processing an order of magnitude more transactions than most other blockchains — quickly and at low cost. Standard fees are 0.001 WAVES per transaction (around $0.005 right now) but it gets even cheaper thanks to the mass-pay function, which is purpose-built exactly for this reason.

That makes Waves an incredibly efficient and low-cost way of conducting huge airdrops. The proof? Waves processed over 330,000 transactions in a single day on 26 December 2017. 170,000 transactions were confirmed within just 20 minutes, and it is theoretically possible to process up to 10 million transactions per day. Job done in one go.

Article Produced By

The fastest blockchain platform with real-world solutions for storing or exchanging tokens, trading (DEX) or running business logic (Waves smart contracts).

https://blog.wavesplatform.com/why-waves-is-best-for-airdrops-cebc260232d4

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

What is a Cryptocurrency Airdrop by  Cryptocurrency Facts?

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

As you’ve delved into the world of cryptocurrency,

you may have come across the term “airdrop” a couple of times. No, this isn’t the file transferring feature that comes with Apple devices. In cryptocurrency, airdrops mean free money. Seriously.

What Is an Airdrop?

It seems that every day a company launches an Initial Coin Offering (ICO). It is much harder to stand out with how many are out there. Instead of ruthlessly promoting themselves all over the internet, the team behind the new ICO will look at the blockchain of an already established token and gather up every person who has that coin in their wallets. They will then distribute an amount of their token in proportion to the amount that you hold. A fork of an existing coin can also grant you an equal amount of the new coin, a recent example is when BitCoin Cash was created and all holders of Bitcoin received the same amount in Bitcoin Cash.

Why Would A Company Give Me Free Tokens?

As mentioned, the market for ICOs is over-saturated beyond belief. Most people are more likely to roll their eyes when they see a new cryptocurrency rather than invest. That said, if the team behind that new currency gives out free tokens for attention, they are much more likely to get it. In marketing, first impressions are incredibly important. How could you not think highly of a company that pays you upon meeting?

If a company sends some of their token to your wallet and you notice it, it might prompt you to look into their project more and if you like what you see you might decide to invest in them. It’s free marketing for the token sale or coin launch really, it costs the company nothing to provide these tokens to you but could help them with brand recognition. Another reason companies give out free tokens, is to help decentralization of their currency. A recent example of this was Omise Go who airdropped large numbers of their tokens to Ethereum holders shortly after their successful ICO,

Stating :

At OmiseGO, we believe that tokens are most useful when they are as widely distributed as possible. In the case of a permissionless proof-of-stake (PoS) network, especially one running a very economically valuable decentralized exchange trading both cryptocurrency and real-world money, a wide distribution is also critically important for network security.

How Can I Learn About Future Airdrops?

Airdrops aren’t always a surprise. Some companies announce their intentions via press release, while others will “reward” you for joining their social following within a limited time frame. These teams are more selective as to who gets their free currency, rather than giving it out to the whole blockchain.

Various groups on Telegram or Facebook keep track of upcoming ICO’s and announce any relevant airdrops. Websites like airdropalert.com are always tracking new giveaways as well. Some companies will use an airdrop to promote their wallet or application, stating that the first 50,000 downloads will receive the respective currency. Other projects will even ask you to promote them on a forum or website in exchange for tokens. There are no “official” rules on how an airdrop should occur. Everyone does it their own way, and it’s up to you to decide if you want to get involved.

Staying Safe in the World of Airdrops

Sometimes you may see a currency that asks for your private key or to send them funds before they initiate the airdrop. Do not do this. No proper airdrop will ever need that information from you, let alone ask you for money in exchange. The cryptocurrency industry prides itself on being unregulated, don’t let it get the best of you as their are scammers who will hear about an upcoming airdrop and try to take advantage by creating fake “phishing” websites designed to take your cryptocurrency keys.

To be clear :

Never Give out Your Private Key for Airdrops

Of course, just because an airdrop is legit, that does not mean you’ll make money off of it. Most airdrops are done when a currency is at a low value in hopes that people will invest. The chances are high that these tokens will never raise enough be worth anything. You never can know for sure, so it’s always in your best interest to research any coins you receive before making a decision. Scope out a dev teams social media pages. Are they interacting with their fans and answering questions? They’re probably legit. If an airdrop is real, someone somewhere will have reported on it.

Do I Need a Specific Wallet?

The most popular blockchain for airdrops by far is Ethereum, and many of the tokens created with be ERC-20 tokens. The Waves platform also has a lot of airdrops of new tokens so to make sure you have the highest opportunity to receive free airdrops you should create wallets for both and hold some coins in there.

You’ll see most airdrops require an “ERC-20” compatible wallet, which means any wallet that supports the Ethereum blockchain that you own the private keys for. If you use an exchange to hold your tokens ( which we dont advise ) then you will need to withdraw them to a your own wallet to receive airdrops. You can also use a Hardware wallet such as the Trezor or Ledger which interacts with the MyEtherWallet website, this is the safest way to store your cryptocurrency as your private keys are never exposed to your own computer which means even if you are infected with a virus or malware, they are unable to steal your keys.

Conclusion

Before interacting with any new cryptocurrency, it is always essential that you do your research and believe in the vision behind the technology. Keep an eye out for scams and remember that a legitimate project has no reason to ask for your private information. Airdrops can be an exciting way to learn more about a project, and may even be your next big investment. Just make sure to be smart about your involvements, and always go the extra mile to keep your data safe. And we will repeat one last time …   ""Never Give out Your Private Key for Airdrops""

Article Produced By
Max Moeller

https://blockonomi.com/airdrops-guide/

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

All You Need to Know About Airdrops

Everybody likes free things, although we are usually suspicious of them.

This is because we have been used to thinking that free things serve as a bait to hook you on to something else. So, people would usually shy away from free things particularly free money. But in the cryptocurrency world, there is actually free money and it is referred to as ‘Airdrop’

What are Airdrops

Airdrops refers to a process whereby a  cryptocurrency enterprise distributes its  tokens to a user’s wallet, completely free of charge. Usually, airdrops are done by start-ups, although, established companies or platforms can do them as well. The airdropped coins usually are fairly low in value or used within the ecosystem of a particular platform, but they definitely have the potential to grow. Airdrops are like marketing campaigns organised by a cryptocurrency startup to raise awareness about their services or products. That way, they can generate more interest and exposure for their products. As information about the Airdrop and that particular token spreads among the community, raising the awareness, which in turn increases the trading volume of a particular coin when it gets listed on an exchange. There are basically two types of airdrops. The surprise ones and the ones that are announced prior to the time it is airdropped.

Airdrops are different from Initial Coin Offerings. While ICOs involve a private sale where investors purchase tokens in a private sale often followed by a public sale round where small investors purchase tokens. However, airdrops do not involve any purchasing and are just token giveaways.

How to get free coins

Now that we have established that airdrops are just giveaways, you need to know how to participate in one, in these simple steps. First, you sign up for an Airdrop by filling out a form. Next, you give out your wallet’s address for receiving coins, and free tokens land in your wallet at the speculated time. You can also sign up for online services that provide information about airdrops. These online services will send you an alert when there is an airdrop. Such as   Airdropalert.com or Airdropaddict.com. Also, there are telegram groups and twitter account of coins that announce new airdrops.

Beware of Airdrop Scams

There are many scammer out there ready to take advantage of every situation.  The cryptocurrency industry is not left out. It is still largely unregulated and still growing. For this reason, many scammers set up crypto projects for the purpose of scamming users out of their money. So one has to be very careful. Some airdrops are setup to hack into the wallets of unsuspecting users thereby stealing their private key. You should ensure that the airdrop is authentic before participating in it. You can also store your crypto in cold storage to prevent them from being stolen.

Article Produced By

Rebecca Asseh

I am a blockchain and cryptocurrency journalist fascinated with sharing the knowledge of this wonderful technology in the simplest language possible.

https://cryptotvplus.com/all-you-need-to-know-about-airdrops/

 

 

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

Nothing in life is free. Or is it?

A blockchain project called Dfinity this week announced it will give away $35 million worth of digital tokens. The recipients can wait to use the tokens on Dfinity’s network—which the company is touting as a “Cloud 3.0″—or, as many will do, they can slip them to speculators and cash out in real money.

Welcome to the age of “airdrops,” where entrepreneurs disperse crypto coins to prospective users for no cost. The tactic has come to be seen as the most viable way for blockchain projects to get off the ground. They’re like the Initial Coin Offerings that were all the rage last year but, instead of selling digital tokens, the project’s masterminds simply give them away. In addition to Dfinity, there are murmurs the journalism-on-a-blockchain project Civil and Everipedia, a would-be competitor to Wikipedia, will soon conduct airdrops of their own.

It’s not hard to see the strategy here. In the wake of the fraud-a-palooza that accompanied many of last year’s ICOs, regulators are set to pounce on any outfit that starts selling tokens to the good people of the Internet. That’s why just giving the tokens away feels like a safer strategy. While it doesn’t bring the same cash windfall, it creates an opportunity to sell reserve tokens on the secondary market. Of equal importance, airdrops offer a way for blockchain projects to distribute tokens far and wide, and build up the network effects that are essential for success.

A harder question is whether the airdrops are legal. The answer, according to attorneys familiar with securities law, can be summed up as “not really.” Under the first prong of the legal test for determining whether something is a security (and must be registered with the SEC), regulators will look at whether there has been an investment of money—a term that is much broader than just cash. “There’s a line of cases saying it’s not limited to money. It can be something of value, or goods or services. From the SEC’s perspective, the [token recipient] might be giving the issuer something of value by becoming part of network,” said Sam Waldon, an attorney with the firm Proskauer.

And according to Blake Estes of Alston & Bird, the SEC has frowned in the past on companies’ attempts to juice investor interest through giveaways. In 1999, for instance, the agency cracked down on firms offering “free stock” as a way to attract investors to Internet ventures. The SEC itself hasn’t specifically addressed airdrops but, based on recent comments from the agency’s Chairman Jay Clayton, any U.S. venture dabbling in tokens had better tread carefully. All of this puts blockchain projects in a bind: If they can’t sell or even give away their tokens, how can they get any traction? In the case of Dfinity, the company found a workaround by firmly excluding U.S. citizens from its airdrop.

But excluding Americans may not be a viable option for the likes of Civil, whose blockchain journalism project is focused squarely on U.S. towns and cities. The project now faces a dilemma: Tokens are essential to its success and, for now, the group has no easy way to distribute those tokens to its target audience. The upshot is the SEC’s recent crackdown is helping to shield gullible investors from token scams, but it could also hurt U.S. blockchain innovation if legitimate projects have no way of getting off the ground. Here’s hoping the agency’s gnomes are hard at work creating a safe harbor of sorts that will let U.S. companies and consumers join the age of airdrops. Or else that precious cargo will only end up in foreign hands.

Article Produced By
Robert Hackett
Jeff John Roberts
Jen Wieczner

http://fortune.com/2018/06/01/crypto-free-money-airdrops/

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

As the general public’s interest in cryptocurrency has waned

since the beginning of 2018, there’s been a considerable amount of work put into blockchain technology across the board. New coins are being released into a bear market while the most enthusiastic “cryptoheads” are scouring the web for new blockchain projects and explosive ROIs. An increasingly popular method for marketing new cryptocurrencies is what’s known as an airdrop. While it’s a great way for investors to make “free” money, not all airdrops are created equally. We’ve pulled a few out of the fog offering the best reward-to-effort ratios. It’s worth noting the projects listed below were not evaluated as long-term holds. If you’re looking for ways to get into the consolidating crypto-sphere without sacrificing chunks of your paycheck, then airdrops are your friend.

                                                       FXPay (FXP)

                                                                      What is FXPay?

FXPay is setting out to upgrade current Forex systems with blockchain technology, creating cheaper and faster transactions for banks, liquidity providers, brokers, and traders. For those who don’t know, Forex is shorthand term for the Foreign Exchange, which is a marketplace for trading international currencies. It’s similar to cryptocurrency in the sense that it’s electronically decentralized and deals directly with trading currencies. The Forex market is massive, seeing US$5.4 trillion in daily transactions. In comparison, the crypto market sees less than US$5 billion each day. When such a massive industry is forced to deal with a variety of international institutions and individual traders, there’s bound to be inadequacies built into the process.

There are 3 main issues outlined in the FXPay whitepaper that the Forex market currently faces. First on the list is “the fees incurred by the trader, broker, and liquidity provider when withdrawing and depositing funds.” Second, there’s a lack of consistency regarding said fees, and it stems from a “lack of standardization” in the Forex space overall. Lastly, the process of exchanging currencies is complex and can last multiple days in this space. By introducing blockchain technology to the Forex market, FXPay will offer traders and brokers low, stable fees with near-instant transaction times. This in-turn will increase profit margins and decrease costs, causing more money to enter the market with a lower barrier to entry.

How to Participate

To participate, you’ll need to create an account with Telegram. Next, you’ll complete the entire process by interacting with the FXPay Telegram Bot. The bot is easy to work with and you can check your balance as you go. The tasks are listed within the interactive chat and you can always get human help in the community channel.

Completing the entire task list means you’ll earn 31 FXP, which has an estimated value of $50. FXP is an ERC-20 token, so make sure your ETH wallet is ERC-20 compatible. After entering your ETH address in the Telegram bot, you’ll want to add the FXP token to your wallet. For that, you’ll need the following information:

                                                                   BigBang Token (BBT)

                                                              What is BigBang Token?

BigBang Token is the utility token that will be used for the loyalty program in the Bing Bang Platform. BingBang has created an entire ecosystem in the online casino and eSports industry, which is estimated to reach a volume of almost US$52 billion by the end of 2018. Since the advent of internet gaming, the market has seen tremendous growth while sustaining its fair share of growing pains.

The online gambling industry is currently facing limited transparency and regulation. This leaves little insight into gamer’s behaviour, which stifles the encouragement of positive standards and reported abuse. Since companies are often forced to outsource necessary infrastructure to countries with more lenient gambling laws, the result is a scattered and stigmatized industry operating in and out of a so-called “grey marketplace.”

By introducing a decentralized, public ledger to the space, there would be an instant increase in trust and transparency between actors. This increase in trust would naturally allow the system to self-regulate under the light of open public inspection. Since the current industry is spread out amongst different operators, insight is limited. With a decentralized platform allowing an array of operators, gamers could trust their loyalty points will transfer between different games. It’s akin to a franchise casino company offering a variety of games and locations while using the same chips.

How to Participate

Participating in the BigBang Token airdrop is fairly straightforward. There’s a list of social media accounts they’ll ask you to follow or like. It differs from the other airdrops in this article because all tasks are required to receive your tokens. It’s an all-or-nothing event. After completing 6 social media-related tasks, participants will be required to fill out a form with their account names and ETH address. This is an ERC-20 token so make sure your ETH wallet is compatible. After completing the tasks, you’ll have made a quick $75 worth of BBT.

                                                      HireVibes (HVT)

                                                                      What is HireVibes?

HireVibes is what happens when you put headhunters on the blockchain. The company plans to build a dapp that serves as an alternative to the traditional recruitment agency business model. Instead of relying on specialized recruitment agencies, HireVibes will create communities that empower crowdsourcing employment. The idea is that a crowd of people with an incentivized recruitment platform is more effective than whatever an individual recruiter can offer.

The HireVibes dapp allows businesses to pay their employees with cryptocurrency while saving money throughout their hiring process. In the case of a successful hire, employers are charged 7.5% of the job’s pay. Jobseekers are incentivized to find a job with the dapp because after being hired successfully, they’ll receive a 5% bonus in HireVibe Tokens (HVT) on top of their pay. Of the 5% HVT bonus, 1% is reserved as a donation amount to be allocated toward projects of the new hires’ choice.

What’s cool about the HireVibes process is that the 5% awarded to new hires is redistributed from the 7.5% charged to employers after a certain period of time (depending on the type of hire). If the jobseeker applies directly for the job and succeeds, they’ll see a 4% bonus in HVT with 1% being devoted to their donation fund. If the jobseeker is referred to the job by a recruiter in the crowd, 2% goes to the jobseeker, 2% goes to the recruiter, and 1% is devoted to the donation fund.

How to Participate

HireVibes was included in this article in order to address the interesting realm that is EOS airdrops. The dapp will be released using EOS.IO blockchain software and it’s not alone. The process for participating in EOS airdrops is unlike the two airdrops mentioned above. If you’re looking to get involved, you’ll need to have a minimum amount of EOS (usually 100 tokens) stored in a registered wallet. The more EOS you hold, the more HVT you’ll receive. The exact ratio hasn’t been announced and neither has the snapshot date. With a total token supply of 350 million, 71.4% (250 million) will be distributed via airdrop. To stay up to date on HireVibes, check out their website and stay tuned for new articles dropped on their Steemit page.

Article Produced By
Matt Laxen

Matt is a copywriter and community manager working full-time in the cryptocurrency space, fascinated by the implications blockchain technology holds for individuals worldwide. When he's not writing in coffee shops overseas, he's probably making music, snowboarding, lifting weights, or on his way to the lake.

https://www.investinblockchain.com/crypto-airdrops-q3-2018/

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

Airdrops Explained

After their explosion in popularity and press in 2017,

most people know at least a little bit about cryptocurrencies and blockchain. However, there are many terms and phrases within the industry that many might not understand to the fullest extent. One of these terms is “airdrop”, which is one of the hottest things in the crypto industry. If you don’t quite understand what an airdrop is or why they’re important, don’t worry. This article will take an in-depth look at airdrops and explain all you need to know to understand them.

What is an Airdrop?

Before getting into the details of airdrops and why they take place, we need to first introduce you to the concept and idea. In the simplest form, an airdrop is free coins for certain individuals. They are essentially the process when a cryptocurrency enterprise distributes tokens to a user’s wallet, completely free of charge. Airdrops are commonly done by start-ups, but established companies or platforms can do them as well. The coins that are airdropped often are fairly low in value (at least initially), or are just used within the ecosystem of a platform, but definitely have the potential to grow. Plus, who is going to say no to free coins?

A recent example of an airdrop is the CLO (Calisto) airdrop for ETC (Ethereum Classic) owners. The airdrop took place at the 5,500,000^th block of the ETC blockchain, which occurred about a month ago on March 5^th 2018. This airdrop meant that each holder of ETC at the time the 5,500,000^th block was processed, received an equal amount of CLO, for free. So if you had 15 ETC at the snapshot of the 5,500,000^th block, you will automatically receive 15 CLO into your wallet, without any cost to you. In addition to this, some companies will airdrop their own tokens, while others will airdrop the token to holders of a more popular coin or token, to generate more buzz and get some eyes on their platform.

Types of Airdrops

In general, there are a few different kinds of airdrops and how they can come about. They can arise from forks, ICO purchases, or just random freebies from a company. Arguably the most well-known example of an airdrop is when Bitcoin Cash (BTC), the hard fork of Bitcoin, gave current Bitcoin holders the equal amount of Bitcoin Cash. So if you had one Bitcoin, you got one Bitcoin Cash for free. Currently, each BTC is trading at over $700 (but has reached much higher in the past), which is a pretty good deal to have gotten for free.

When it comes to finding out about different types of airdrops, a company will either announce it beforehand to generate buzz, or they will simply airdrop the coins as a surprise without any warning. If you are curious about upcoming airdrops and how to become involved, a good resource to follow is AirdropAlert. This website gives you times an information for past, previous and future airdrops and is a great and handy tool for keeping track of them. Of course, as we mentioned, sometimes airdrops will be done without warning, so not every airdrop that occurs will appear on the site.

Why Would Companies do an Airdrop?

You might be wondering why a company would simply give away tokens for free. Well, the decision is made for a number of different reasons. The first one related to marketing. An airdrop can be a way for a company or platform to spread awareness to interested investors and enthusiasts, without having to spend a lot of money on marketing.  There are so many cryptocurrencies in the space, so getting noticed and more awareness is always a positive.

And what better way to get people talking or interested in your platform than offering them something for free? It is a pretty sweet deal for investors as you don’t really have to do anything normally, other than hold a certain type of coin, to reap the rewards and benefits. It is a win-win for the cryptocurrency themselves (as airdrops often lead to a rise in coin prices and an increase in exposure) and for consumers (free coins are always a good thing).

Another reason for an airdrop is to reward loyal customers. Companies who have a large and active community, or who have been doing pretty well, might decide to reward their customers, users and token holders. This will not only excite the users, but also might lead them to continue using the platform and participating in the ecosystem. One last common reason for airdrops is for lead generation. Generating leads and gathering useful information is very important for marketing. In exchange for airdropping free coins, a company or platform might ask users to complete online forms that contain valuable information for targeted marketing purposes.

How to Participate in Airdrops

Participating in Airdrops is as simple as holding a certain token or coin in an Ethereum or Bitcoin wallet (depending on what the specific airdrop requires). Any wallet should do, though some might require a specific wallet such as a non-exchange ERC-20 compatible wallet. The wallet also needs to be active to ensure it is owned by a human and not one of 1000 randomly generated wallets with the sole purpose of getting more of the airdropped token.

Also, while airdrops are free coins, you still need to do your research and remain vigilant to ensure you don’t get scammed. This means you should never send any private keys, never send any money, and check official sources to make sure that the airdrop is legitimate and real. Safety is the most important thing, so ensure you are comfortable with any company or platform before investing in or using them. In conclusion, hopefully, this article has helped you understand everything about airdrops such as why they occur, why companies are okay with doing them, how to participate and more!

Article Produced By

Kale Havervold

https://www.allcrypto.com/guides/airdrops-explained/

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

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