As we saw in the video in which we explained what altcoins are, Cryptocurrencies are not limited only to Bitcoin but there are many, in fact, more than 5,000. And to further complicate the task of staying up to date, new cryptocurrencies are constantly being born.
An airdrop is a gift in the form of cryptocurrencies in exchange for registering on certain platforms, using exchanges, etc …
This, in addition to creating enormous diversity, also creates great competition among groups launching their cryptocurrencies. What would make a person choose one cryptocurrency over another when both have just come out, their project is in its infancy and its price is laughable? Airdrops are a good solution to this question.
An airdrop is, basically, a publicity stunt with which a group that has just launched a cryptocurrency wants to seduce potential users. It is not, neither more nor less, that free cryptocurrencies.
Free in the strict sense of the word, since an airdrop implies that users who receive it do not pay money for cryptocurrencies. Still, the beneficiaries of an airdrop usually have to do something: use a service, register on a platform, etc …
For example, one of the most famous airdrops in recent months has been Uniswap. Uniswap is a decentralized exchange that I will talk about in the next video that can be used by linking a digital wallet. People who linked a wallet to Uniswap during the past year and who used the service received 400 UNIs; currency that is rising unstoppably and that we discussed in the video about the most promising cryptocurrencies.
Quickly, the UNI reached four dollars and many users thought that, having reached a certain price, everyone would sell and the price would plummet. This caused many to sell … but the price did not plummet.
As the UNI rose and rose, the PS5 meme was born on the Internet forums, and users who had kept their UNIs asked those who had sold if they were enjoying their $ 4,000 PlayStation 5, as many sold when their 400 UNI had a value equivalent to that of the game console, which had just been launched on the market.
Not all airdrops will follow the pattern of the gift that Uniswap made to its users and many will not exceed a few cents in value. In fact, you have to be careful, as some are a mere scam. In the summer of 2020, it was rumored that John McAfee, the creator of the eponymous antivirus, was going to launch a cryptocurrency called GHOST and launch with an airdrop.
To be a recipient of the gift, the only requirement was to buy a crypto called ESH and link a portfolio that had this crypto with a certain exchange. The server writing these lines never received their airdrop and was left with a nice bag of ESH with no value at all.
But if done carefully and not putting our finances at risk, the moral is clear: if we can receive an airdrop, it is always better to have it than not.
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