Around a Dozen Airdrops are Coming to EOS Holders

The coming months will be crucial for all cryptocurrencies.

So far, the markets are not looking all that impressive, with little to no improvements in sight. At the same time, there is some good news for EOS holders. Various airdrops are coming to holders in the next few weeks and months.

The EOS Airdrops are Coming

One of the unusual benefits of holding specific cryptocurrencies is how one can be entitled to an airdrop. This issuance of “free coins or tokens” usually affects the major cryptocurrencies. In the past, Bitcoin and Ethereum users have seen their fair share of such tokens appearing out of nowhere. It now seems EOS holders will go through a similar phase. Raising awareness for new blockchain projects requires a unique approach.

Rather than raising money through an ICO, these projects are giving away value. It is a conscious decision which benefits all parties involved. EOS holders receive these tokens for exciting projects, and the project creators issue tokens to themselves as well. Later on, some of those tokens are sold across exchanges for additional project funding. It is a tried and tested business model which usually works out pretty well.

As such, the EOS user base will see a fair few new tokens make their way to the ecosystem. The list is growing steadily, with the first airdrops to occur in the coming weeks. Chaince will be the first project to do so, with 900 million of the 2 billion tokens being airdropped on June 15th. Having an active “stake” in a new asset trading platform for EOS projects will certainly appeal to some users.

The Value of Aidropped Tokens

One thing worth taking note of is how these EOS airdrops work. Most projects issue 1 token per user in exchange for every EOS in their portfolio. For “whales”, this means a lot of free money will be heading their way in the coming weeks. All of these tokens will still need to achieve some form of monetary value on their own accord. That will not be easy, albeit some of these airdrops are seemingly in a rather advanced stage of development.

With nearly a dozen airdrops on the horizon for EOS users, an interesting future lies ahead. It further confirms developers are building new products and services on top of this ecosystem. More competition is a good thing in this regard. As of right now, most people tend to focus on the Ethereum blockchain for such purposes. Additionally, NEO is also gaining some traction in this regard.

The big question is whether or not these airdrops bring additional value to EOS. The projects they represent seemingly are on the right track to success. However, they are all in an unfinished state, and without initial excitement, their chances of success will diminish quickly. An interesting year lies ahead for EOS at this rate. Airdrops will continue to be a big part of the cryptocurrency ecosystem moving forward.

Article Produced By
JP Buntinx

https://www.newsbtc.com/2018/05/28/around-dozen-airdrops-coming-eos-holders/

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

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

Crypto Firms Turn to "Airdrops" to Boost Blockchain Projects

Nothing in life is free. Or is it?

A blockchain project called Dfinity last 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
fortune

A version of this article originally appeared in the The Ledger,

http://fortune.com/2018/06/04/blockchain-airdrops/

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

Questions:

• How do you airdrop “fairly” and equitably, especially when it is easy to game if you know how the distribution will be done in advance?
• How do you know who to airdrop to, and how much to airdrop to them?
• How do you airdrop to future users of the platform, not just investors or speculators?

Potential to sidestep regulation

There is an assumption that giving away tokens BEFORE a market price has been established for them may enable a project to avoid many regulatory requirements of token sales. It is unclear whether this is actually the case, given precedents set by the SEC related to stock “giveaways” (see 1999 Wilmer Hale analysis), yet it is a frequently cited reason for pursuing airdrops as a distribution mechanism. [Update: some teams like Harbor and TokenSoft are rolling out products that explicitly take the stance that some or all airdrops will not be exempt from regulatory requirements.]

Questions:

• How should issuers legally and financially account for airdrops? As a marketing expense? As a donation? Something else?
• How might regulatory agencies (e.g., SEC, OFAC) view and respond to airdrops, especially as they increase in frequency.

Airdrops as a marketing interface and onboarding experience

 

For many airdrop recipients, receiving tokens may be their first exposure to that project. Currently, airdrops are done without any direct way for users to learn more about the project other than searching Google or Etherscan for the token’s name. This is a poor onboarding experience and one which has much room for improvement in terms of design.

 

Questions:

• How do you communicate with the recipients of airdrops? Could airdrop transactions include an onboarding message and link to learn more in the Input Data field?
• How should an airdrop’s onboarding experience be designed to reduce friction and optimize adoption and usage?
• How might airdrops reimagine marketing and advertising?

Improve effectiveness of airdrops via better targeting

 

Airdrops to date have targeted all holders of an existing cryptocurrency (either BTC or ETH), but it may be more effective to target a subset of addresses based on their possession or use of other tokens. For example, when launching a token for machine learning experts, it might be more effective to target NMR holders, or more specifically those who have actively staked tokens in a Numerai competition. While the ethics are murky, targeting addresses that frequently interact with various gambling platforms may be a good way to seed adoption for a project like FunFair.

 

Questions:

• How do you ascertain the ‘identities’ or ‘profiles’ of address holders to make better decisions on which users to airdrop tokens to?
• What analyses can be performed to make better inferences for the purposes of targeting?

Incentives post-airdrop to use utility (or attach airdrop to usage)

 

Instead of giving out tokens and hoping recipients will engage, there could also be an incentive to use the tokens to earn the allocation (and/or a larger one). There was a lot of interest in this idea, which essentially amounts to an initial airdrop targeting a broad population with small amounts of a token, followed by a targeted airdrop with more tokens to those who actively engage with the platform after the initial airdrop. One framing of this is to think of the initial tokens as coupons, which could be “redeemed” for more value after a desired action is taken.

 

Questions:

• How do you create airdrops incentives and/or contingencies based on user actions?
• What is the range of post-airdrop incentive models that will exist?

 

Unintended consequences (e.g., tax liability) of airdrops

 

Airdropping tokens may create unwanted tax and legal liabilities for recipients (and issuers). There may be more unintended consequences, as airdrops are delivered to large exchanges, custodians, and margin traders. Modeling for how different actors in the network will respond as airdrops become more prevalent will be important to an airdrop’s design and its ability to deliver on its intent.

 

Questions:

• What is the cost basis and tax liability of an airdrop to its recipient? What if that recipient is an exchange, custodian, or margin trader?
• Will people value or feel differently about tokens that they get for free?

New airdrop models

As airdropping becomes more common, new models will emerge for different strategies. For example, Stellar has done multiple airdrops to bitcoin holders which required proactive proof of ownership, while OmiseGo did a passive airdrop to Ethereum addresses over a minimum threshold.

Experimental models surfaced:

• Hard spoons: Copying the balance/UTXO set from an existing blockchain network and using it as the basis for token distribution for a new protocol. Basically, you’re copying the economic distribution of tokens on one network and using that as the starting point for a completely separate protocol that is quite distinct from a technical standpoint.
• Continuous distribution models with “central bank” and monetary policy: Models where tokens are not entirely sold/allocated up front, but rather made available over time through an issuance scheme that is laid out in advance but not necessarily governed through a process like proof of work or proof of stake.
• Contingent airdrops: In which receiving tokens is dependent upon the user taking a desired action. See #5 above.

Airdrops for inter-protocol governance

Airdrops could be an effective tool for dealing with governance decisions that affect holders of multiple tokens. The simplest version is doing a protocol merger/acquisition, whereby holders of tokens for one protocol are granted tokens on another protocol as a way of combining the communities. This can be done via agreement of project leads and respective stakeholders of each project, but could also be done in a fashion akin to a hostile takeover, where incentives are given by one project for the holders of another project’s tokens to burn their tokens or sabotage the target protocol. See Andy Bromberg’s “What The First Token Hostile Takeover Could Look Like” for more details. Also discussed was the possibility of building “poison pill” terms into smart contracts to proactively counter such attacks.

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

ICOs Are Getting Compliant and Airdrops Will Have to Follow Suit

We’re approaching the halfway point of 2018 and so far over 340 ICOs have raised almost $9 billion between them. Even amidst concerns over regulation, scams, and hackers, those numbers are not to be sniffed at. In fact, while most people think of last year as the non-stop party for ICOs, 2017 saw just 210 of them raising under $4 billion in funds.

What gives? It seems that even with bearish market sentiment and the US SEC breathing fear into the hearts of blockchain startups, ICOs are still going strong. Of course, what happens after they raise the funds remains to be seen–as well as what direction legislation will take. So while many blockchain companies are still bullish on ICOs, others are finding themselves erring on the side of caution and evaluating their options. And as with everything surrounding this decidedly gray area, there’s some confusion as to what those options are.

What Are Compliant ICOs?

A compliant ICO, or STO (Security Token Offering), is regulated by the SEC from the start. There are four major paths open to a US blockchain company that wants to hold a regulated offering and they each have their pros and cons. One of the alternatives, for example, is a using an existing securities exemption called a Reg A+. You can raise up to $50 million and open your offer to anyone over the age of 18. The catch? You need two years of audited financials and significant time and money.

A Reg CF is an easier and cheaper way of raising funds, but you’re significantly limited to how much you can raise (less than $2 million). Fintech Merchant Accounts helps blockchain companies to hold compliant ICOs. CEO Edward Corona says, “keep in mind that they [compliant ICOs] still do not provide business owners the freedom and control of an unregulated ICO.” Right. But then, of course, they also don’t provide business owners with the possibility of ending up behind bars.

Another major advantage of holding a compliant ICO is that you can solicit your deal and advertise it anywhere, making it far easier to raise awareness for your token sale. With Facebook, Twitter, Google and Bing all banning ICO adverts, taking the regulated route will allow you to use these channels for greater exposure. You’ll also ease the troubled minds of many would-be investors rattled by the recent bad press.

What Does This Mean for Airdrops?

Several ingenious ICO teams have taken to creative ways of marketing their projects by using airdrops. Effectively, distributing free tokens to interested parties and creating buzz for their sale. We’ve even seen some incredible physical airdrops, with tokens falling out of balloons.

In this herculean effort to circumvent securities laws, airdrops have gained momentum. Who doesn’t love free money, right? You can even sign up to be alerted to up-and-coming airdrops and revel in all the free cash. But if your Mom ever told you nothing in life comes for free, sorry to say she was right.

Websites alerting people to airdrops

Just as there’s no such thing as a free lunch, there’s no such thing as free stock. That’s not just Momma talking, that’s the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well. So, if you thought that airdrops were an excellent way of getting around the ad ban, or marketing your ICO, you should probably shelve that idea too.

Airdrops are not compliant either.

And they will likely be regarded as security transactions, which presents quite a problematic scenario. Darren Marble, CEO of CrowdfundX, a marketing firm for STOs, points out, “You can’t just send shares of stock to people. The problem with an airdrop is that it’s generally incongruent with US security laws.” So, that great marketing tactic for creating awareness and even escalating FOMO? Not such a good idea after all. “My general advice for STO issuers,” he continues, “I would put that airdrop concept on hold. I would advise anyone in the US not to do it. I get it, it’s a good marketing tactic, but there’s too much risk and uncertainty.”

This Isn’t Fun Anymore

Regulation seems to paint a gloomy picture. Just utter the word and it sends the crypto markets quivering. But the purpose of regulation seems to be two-fold. To give blockchain companies a legal framework from which to work, and to protect investors from ICO scams. According to Marble, blockchain companies shouldn’t get too downhearted. Even though it feels as if their wings are being clipped, there are still plenty of ways of getting funding. He says: “I don’t think real teams should be that concerned. If you have a real blockchain concept or team and you’ve got some skill or differentiation or an incredible vision, the fact that you can’t advertise on Twitter should not deter you or stop you from raising money.”

Hedge Fund Funds

So, you can’t (or don’t want to) hold an ICO, you can’t drop free stock into investors’ wallets and you can’t wow users on social media. But there are still other ways to raise money and they may sort the wheat from the chaff. “If you look at what’s happening in the space, there was obviously a huge rush of retail investors into the market in 2017 and now that’s largely subsided. The Google searches for Bitcoin have dramatically decreased. The conversation about Bitcoin at the dinner table was last Thanksgiving. Now there’s a rush of crypto hedge funds.”

We’re talking about small hedge funds that have anywhere between $5 million to $500 million to invest. And they’re waiting to hear about your project. “Innovative companies,” says Marble, “even if you’re a small team, you can go out and find a page that lists all these funds and then contact these people. The best deals in the space are being funded by a small group of passionate crypto hedge funds that aren’t necessarily impossible to reach.”

Closing Thoughts

The future of fundraising may look a lot different, but it doesn’t have to be gloomy. As ICOs and airdrops start to subside, so too, should the deluge of shitcoins and hollow white papers selling nothing but air.

Article Produced By

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

This was a big week for cryptocurrency in DC.

On Tuesday, members of Congress and over 50 representatives from the crypto industry convened at the Library of Congress for a roundtable entitled “Legislating Certainty for Cryptocurrencies.” The event was organized by Rep. Warren Davidson and also attended by Reps. Tom Emmer, Ted Budd, and Darren Soto. Coin Center executive director Jerry Brito moderated the event, and entrepreneurs voiced their concerns about the lack of clarity around when exactly a cryptocurrency token is or is not a security.

Following the roundtable, 14 members of Congress, led by Rep. Budd, sent a letter to SEC Chairman Jay Clayton echoing the concerns of cryptocurrency innovators and asking for more clarity around the regulatory treatment of these networks. In another event in Congress on Wednesday, in conjunction with the the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, Coin Center put on a briefing about the tools law enforcement has to track illicit use of cryptocurrencies. Blockchain forensics company Elliptic presented how their product works with real-world examples of illicit funds being traced by law enforcement. Reps. Emmer and Schweikert also gave remarks highlighting the importance of getting the regulatory approach to these technologies right and preserving a fertile climate for innovators in America.

Article Produced By

Peter Van Valkenburgh

https://coincenter.org/link/a-token-airdrop-may-not-spare-you-from-securities-regulation

 

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

What is an airdrop?

An airdrop is simpy a marketing tool that many companies are using to drum up press for new blockchain projects. The concept is simple: You help a company with some of their initial marketing efforts by following them on social media, and they reward you with free tokens once the project launches. In many ways, airdrops represent free money. Using Quarry, you can apply for most airdrops in just a few minutes, and the rewards can range from a few dollars in value all the way up to hundreds in rare cases.

What do I need?

The first thing you need is an ERC20-compatible ETH wallet. If you’re using Quarry, don’t sweat it, because this has already been made for you. Airdrops will ask for your public address (not your private key!) in order to send you the tokens.

Beyond that, the majority of airdrops require:

• an email address
• a Telegram account
• a Twitter account
• a Facebook account

Rarely, a small number of airdrops may optionally require:

• a Reddit account
• a Medium account
• a Discord account
• a LinkedIn account
• an Instagram account
• a Steemit account
• a Bitcointalk forum account
• an Altcoinstalks forum account
• a VK account
• an AngelList account

If possible, you might want to consider using alternate social media accounts, instead of your personal pages. This will avoid cluttering your feed with too much token-related news, but it’s up to you. In Quarry, we even highlight on the airdrop page what accounts you will need ahead of time, so that there are no suprises on the page. Note that you never have to give any information that you aren’t comfortable sharing.

Are Airdrops Scams?

No. It’s a very fair trade. For one, having a lot of people following and reposting a project’s content on social media helps a company with brand awareness, much like advertising. Ideally, by the time the project launches, there are already thousands of people aware of the concept and excited to see it in action. Additionally, distributing airdrop tokens to participants actually helps the economics of the token on public exchanges, since the tokens are not concentrated in just a few locations.

In the past, a small number of scammers have pretended to run airdrops in order to steal information from unsuspecting partipants. One of the advantages of using Quarry is that we screen all airdrops before they enter the app to ensure that they are legitimate. However, just in case, please be vigilant. No airdrop should ever ask for:

• your wallet’s private key (note: your public address is fine to share)
• any kind of password
• any amount of money

As long as you don’t hand out this information, you have nothing to fear.

When do airdrops pay out?

In general, an airdrop will pay out several weeks after completion. In some cases, it could take a few months. If you completed an airdrop and don’t see the coins yet, don’t panic! Most likely, the airdrop will distribute when the token crowdsale is complete.

What do I do when the tokens are paid out?

That’s up to you. Because projects doing airdrops are in very early stages of development, it is possible that the tokens will increase in value over time (remember when Bitcoins cost $5 each?), so it might be worth it to hold onto them for a while. However, if you would prefer to sell them once they hit the market, there are many token exchanges available online and on the Quarry “Discover” menu.

Article Produced By
Token Block Friends

We’re Token Block Friends, your buddies in the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain applications.

https://tokenblockfriends.com/all-about-airdrops/

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