Airdrops of Cryptocurrencies – Current Platforms and How to Participate

In the modern cryptocurrency world, there are dozens of ways to earn: active methods such as trading, arbitrage, and launching your own NFT collections, as well as passive ones like mining, staking, and earning income from lending. All of these require initial investments, which makes the question of how to earn cryptocurrency without investments particularly relevant.

One such method is airdrops. In this article, you will learn what airdrops are, whether cryptocurrency giveaways are profitable in 2024, where to find the latest drops, and how to participate in them.

What Does Airdrop Mean?

A cryptocurrency airdrop is a free distribution of coins or tokens to users who meet pre-established conditions. Often, to receive free cryptocurrency, users must complete simple tasks on social media and more. Here are a few examples:

• Be subscribed to the project’s channels and join groups on platforms like Twitter, Telegram, Facebook, Discord, Instagram, and others;
• Repost certain posts;
• Hold a specific amount of certain coins in your wallet until the airdrop date;
• Subscribe to a newsletter;
• Refer other users who complete the required tasks to receive free tokens.

Why Do Companies Distribute Their Tokens for Free?

Companies use cryptocurrency airdrops as a marketing strategy to help promote their brand. Users receive a small amount of digital assets in exchange for spreading the word about the project on social media, thus attracting attention from other users. This way, both the users and the cryptocurrency projects benefit.

Types of Airdrops

There are various ways to receive free cryptocurrency. Some methods involve investments, but for holders, they offer an opportunity to earn additional income from investments. Let’s look at the main types of airdrops:

Standard Airdrops 

A classic airdrop that involves fulfilling specific requirements to receive tokens, such as subscribing to social media accounts and making at least one repost. Sometimes, completing one or a few tasks is enough, but some projects require all tasks to be completed.

The project team allocates a limited number of assets for distribution. Once the maximum number of participants is reached, the airdrop ends. The amount allocated for the airdrop is usually not very large. However, each participant is guaranteed to receive a reward.

Large-scale airdrops are much rarer but can bring significant profits. For example, the decentralized project Uniswap’s airdrop gave each participant 400 UNI tokens, which were worth around $1300 at the time.

Stakedrops

A type of airdrop intended for holders of specific coins or tokens. Usually, to receive cryptocurrency for free, you just need to hold your assets. However, sometimes you need to stake them or add them to a liquidity pool. For decentralized platforms, these airdrops help attract additional liquidity, while for projects issuing tokens, they serve as promotion.

The term “stakedrop” also has alternative names such as Fairdrop, Strong Holder Offering (SHO), and Wallet Holder Offering (WHO).

Hard Fork

A hard fork is a major network update that results in the blockchain splitting into two chains: the original chain, which operates under the old rules, and a new chain, which follows the new rules. As a result, two networks and two coins emerge.

Users who hold the original asset receive an equivalent number of new coins. Usually, the old network “dies,” but sometimes both blockchains continue to operate. In this case, both “sets” of assets have value and are traded on the market.

A prominent example of this phenomenon is the creation of Bitcoin Cash (BCH). This blockchain was launched due to disagreements over how to solve the network scalability problem. On August 1, 2017, BTC holders received an equivalent amount of BCH coins.

Retro Airdrops

Retro airdrops are conducted for users who have completed specific actions on a platform, such as holding cryptocurrency, adding assets to liquidity pools, making exchange transactions, and more.

Giveaways

This type of cryptocurrency distribution is often conducted through third-party platforms like Gleam.io. Instead of receiving guaranteed coins, participants earn points for completing tasks. The more tasks a user completes, the more points they collect, increasing their chances of winning.

The number of participants can vary, but the giveaway itself is usually time-limited. The advantage of such airdrops is that they focus on a small pool, and due to high demand, the value of the free coins may be high. However, there is a downside: the more participants there are, the lower the chances of receiving tokens.

An example of such a giveaway is the quest series by Yuga Labs. In September 2023, the company launched a series of weekly puzzles based on NFT Ordinals, with a reward of 0.12 BTC for the first correct answer. At the time of the project’s launch, this equated to about $3,100.

Learn & Earn

Companies also conduct airdrops tied to learning. To receive coins, you need to watch videos about cryptocurrency, pass a test successfully, and claim your reward. These airdrops can be found on platforms like Coinbase Earn and CoinMarketCap Earn. Keep in mind that rewards may not be available to all users, so it’s important to read the terms and conditions carefully.

An example of such a Learn & Earn airdrop, combined with a productive use of time, is the Let Me Speak project. In this app, developers offer English language lessons, paying cryptocurrency for successfully completing tasks.

Bounty

Bounty is a more advanced form of cryptocurrency giveaway. Bounty hunters (as participants are called) are offered more complex tasks, such as creating and publishing blog content, inviting new users, etc. These tasks are better suited for experienced bloggers and content creators. The requirements for bounty hunters’ accounts are typically higher, such as having at least 1,000 followers on social media. However, the rewards are also higher.

Current bounty programs can be found on specialized platforms such as Bounty0x and The Bounties Network.

Free Cryptocurrency Airdrops: Pros and Cons

One of the advantages of cryptocurrency Airdrops is that you can receive digital assets without needing any investment. In the worst case, you risk wasting your time. To assess the feasibility of your actions, let’s look at the pros and cons of airdrops.

Pros:

• Opportunity to receive cryptocurrency for free.
• No financial risk (unless you send your assets to scammers).
• Potential to acquire cryptocurrency at an early stage, which could be worth a fortune in the future.
• Airdrop (coin distribution) does not require much effort or complex actions.

Cons:

• You might waste your time if the airdrop turns out to be of little value.
• There is a risk of scam. In the best case, tokens might not be credited, and in the worst case, scammers might steal your assets.
• Developers may abandon the project, and the tokens could become worthless, especially important for ICO participants.
• In some cases, the value of the tokens you receive may be lower than the network transaction fees.
• If you participate in airdrops regularly, your social media may end up looking like SPAM.

Top Platforms and Where to Find Cryptocurrency Airdrops

On specialized platforms, you can track up-to-date information about new airdrops and receive notifications about their launch. Here are some of the most popular platforms to help you find out how to earn cryptocurrency for free.

Incrypted Airdrops

Incrypted Airdrops is a crypto media platform that specializes not only in cryptocurrency news and quality analytics related to exchanges, wallets, blockchains, and digital assets, but also has one of the largest collections of current airdrops. For convenience, all activities are divided by months and types of effort required: testnets, content, NFTs, bug bounties, trading, ambassadors, retro airdrops, quizzes, tasks, and much more. If you’re worried about missing out on the hottest and most current airdrops, it’s time to subscribe to the Incrypted Airdrops Telegram channel. They say that if you subscribe, you’ll definitely get a lot of free tokens.

BitcoinTalk Forum

BitcoinTalk is one of the oldest and largest forums dedicated to cryptocurrencies. It has a dedicated section for airdrops and bounties, where teams and users post announcements about giveaways. BitcoinTalk is a must-have platform for any project. New airdrop announcements often appear here first.

Users also discuss projects and can communicate with their representatives. If there’s any suspicion of fraud, the information is likely to spread quickly, as experienced members actively identify scams and warn newcomers about potentially worthless projects. There’s also a section for scam reports.

Some users earn by “boosting” their accounts on BitcoinTalk. Sometimes projects offer exclusive airdrop and bounty conditions for profiles with high reputations.

Note: The official forum domain is bitcointalk.org. The domain bitcointalk.com belongs to another resource and has no relation to the original forum.

CoinMarketCap

CoinMarketCap is the largest service for monitoring cryptocurrency prices, market capitalization, and other essential data. In 2021, CoinMarketCap launched its Airdrop service. The advantage of airdrops published on CoinMarketCap is that they are selected by the service’s team. However, due to limited participation, the chances of becoming one of the winners are low. But if you win, you might receive more tokens than in a standard airdrop.

To participate in airdrops, you need to register on the CMC website and follow the service’s social media accounts. You can track new cryptocurrency giveaways on their Airdrop page.

AirdropAlert

AirdropAlert is one of the most popular platforms specializing in airdrops. This service only publishes airdrops from projects that, according to the team, have a chance of success. You can subscribe to the AirdropAlert newsletter to receive timely notifications about active cryptocurrency airdrops for 2024.

Airdrops.io

Airdrops.io offers a larger number of airdrops compared to AirdropAlert, but organizes them into categories. For example, you can find “hot” airdrops, distributions for holders (stake-drops and fair-drops), or upcoming airdrops for 2024.

Other similar platforms include 99airdrops and Coin Airdrops.

DappRadar

DappRadar is one of the most popular services for monitoring DeFi projects and also conducts airdrops of cryptocurrency from partner projects. To participate, you just need to register on the website and connect your wallet. DappRadar supports WalletConnect, which can be used with Trustee Wallet.

Trustee Wallet is a cryptocurrency wallet that supports hundreds of coins and tokens, allowing you to store all your airdrop tokens in one secure place. The quick connection feature to decentralized services speeds up the process.

How to Participate in Cryptocurrency Airdrops

Generally, anyone can participate in airdrops unless there are restrictions for residents of certain countries or KYC (Know Your Customer) verification requirements.

How Airdrops Work

The project team determines the type of airdrop and the conditions to participate. There are mandatory actions to take and optional ones that allow you to receive more cryptocurrency. The project’s website or the airdrop platform will typically provide a step-by-step guide on how to claim the tokens.

Steps to Receive Tokens

To participate in airdrops and claim free tokens, follow these steps:

Create a Wallet

You will need a cryptocurrency wallet. It’s recommended to use multi-currency mobile wallets that allow you to store all tokens in one app without creating multiple wallets. Most airdrops distribute ERC-20 (Ethereum) and BEP-20 (Binance Smart Chain) tokens. Trustee Wallet supports these formats and many others, allowing you to participate in most airdrops.

Create Social Media Accounts

You’ll need active social media pages with real followers. It’s recommended to create separate accounts for airdrops instead of using personal ones, especially if you don’t want to advertise your activity. The more followers you have, the higher your chances of success in airdrops.

Register and Participate in the Airdrop

Each project will have different participation requirements. Some may only ask you to follow them on Twitter and Telegram, while others may require additional actions like retweets, posting, chatting in forums, etc.

Wait for Token Distribution

Typically, the token distribution date is announced in advance or right after the airdrop ends. Be sure to monitor project updates. Be aware that there may be additional conditions to receive the tokens, such as visiting the project’s website by a certain date to claim them.

How to Earn Tokens from Airdrops

Before participating in airdrops, it’s important to analyze the potential projects. Research the creators, their past work, development plans, and the goals behind the project. This will allow you to choose promising airdrops rather than wasting time on every project that promises tokens.

This is crucial because it will help you filter out assets that are unlikely to ever be traded on exchanges. In some cases, this also applies to hyped projects like Pi Network, which attracted a lot of media attention for its unique mobile mining concept but ultimately stagnated and the token is still only traded on one large exchange.

How Much Can You Earn?

Earnings from cryptocurrency airdrops can be significant if you actively participate and choose promising projects.

However, there are risks. You might make thousands of dollars from a single airdrop, like the Uniswap airdrop, but other projects may yield nothing.

If you invite referrals, you can increase your earnings several times over. The same goes for holding tokens: if you don’t sell immediately but hold them over time, you can multiply the value of your tokens many times.

Airdrops in 2024 remain relevant. New projects are not only distributing tokens but also NFTs and even “land plots” in metaverses. Big projects, like Yuga Labs, are launching weekly prize draws with rewards exceeding $3,000 per winner, collaborating with exchanges even before launching.

How Not to Fall Victim to Scammers

Unfortunately, airdrops are often used by scammers, so it’s important to stay vigilant and secure. Here are some simple tips to minimize risks:

• Carefully verify the project:

The more interesting a project is, the more it will be discussed by users on social media, forums, and in the media. If there is a lack of activity or feedback, proceed with caution.

• Check the team’s activity:

If team members ignore user concerns, delete comments, or respond sharply, this is a red flag.

• Avoid projects asking for deposits:

Airdrops should be free. Users should never pay to receive tokens, even for transaction fees. While some financial costs may arise, for instance, when swapping tokens on exchanges or adding assets to liquidity pools, be cautious, as scammers often ask for such payments.

• Don’t use the same wallet for airdrops:

Avoid using the wallet where you store your main assets for airdrops. If your wallet is compromised or you connect it to a fraudulent platform, your funds could be stolen.

• Watch out for fake token distributions:

Scammers may send fake tokens to your wallet and then ask you to connect it to their site to “unlock” the tokens by paying a fee. During this process, you could accidentally authorize malicious apps to spend your funds.

• Beware of Google Forms asking for your seed phrase:

Never enter your seed phrase in any form or website. If asked for this information, it’s a scam, and you will lose your funds instantly.

Conclusion

In this article, you’ve learned what Airdrops are in the cryptocurrency world, how to find and select new projects, and what steps you need to take to participate in your first airdrop.

Airdrops allow you to receive free cryptocurrency by completing pre-set or random conditions. While many airdrops may not result in significant earnings, a few can lead to substantial rewards if the project develops successfully. Always be cautious and follow safety rules, or you risk losing not only your time but also your assets to scammers.