You may hear people excitedly talking about "airdrops" in crypto-related chats or on social media, but what exactly is an airdrop?
An airdrop is when a project sends a certain amount of cryptocurrency for free to people who meet certain conditions. This definition may sound vague, but that's because airdrops have multiple uses. It's easier to understand by example.
Token airdrop: Let's say a decentralized exchange (DEX) decides to create a local token. To reward existing users, the project sends half of the total token supply to the user's wallet, an amount based on the user's trading volume on the platform. The token acts as a kind of moat, helping to retain users from competitors.
NFT airdrop: An NFT project may want to generate interest in their current NFT sales by promising to airdrop future NFT to existing NFT holders. This causes their current NFT sales to sell out and keeps the community anticipating and engaged for the next NFT airdrop.
As we have seen, crypto airdrops are not all the same. In addition to regular airdrops, which simply transfer cryptocurrencies into multiple wallets, there are other types. Common examples include bounty drops, exclusive drops, and holder drops.
The bounty drops require users to complete certain tasks, such as sharing a post about the project on Twitter, joining the project's official Telegram, or creating a post on Instagram and tagging several friends. To claim the bounty airdrop, users fill out a form with wallet address information and provide proof of completion.
Exclusive airdrops are limited to sending cryptocurrencies to selected wallets only. Generally, the recipient has been exposed to the project, either as an active community member or as an early supporter of the project.
In September 2020, decentralized trading platform (DEX) Uniswap airdropped 400 UNI to all wallets that had interacted with the platform protocol before a specific date. Users who hold governance tokens will have the right to vote on future decisions related to the development of the project.
Holders airdrop free tokens to people who hold a certain amount of digital currency in their wallets. The project team usually takes a snapshot of a user's cryptocurrency holdings at a specific date and time. If the wallet balance reaches the minimum requirement, the recipient will receive free tokens based on the amount held at the time of the snapshot.
Many new projects are airdropping tokens to Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), or Binance Smart Chain (BSC) wallet holders because they have the largest communities in the space. For example, Stellar Lumens (XLM) airdropped 3 billion XLM to bitcoin holders in 2016, an airdrop that was exclusive to users of the Bitcoin network.
In order to guarantee the security of transactions and prevent airdrop scams, the top platforms based on cryptocurrencies and blockchains do not allow investors to create multiple accounts, and usually have strict requirements for the authenticity of accounts. However, there are many airdrop players who use powerful anti-detect browsers to circumvent the platform's detection of accounts, so as to achieve more profit.
Anti-detect browsers are a class of specially designed browsers, usually using the Chrome kernel or Firefox kernel, designed to reduce the tracking and identification of fingerprint technology. They use a series of privacy protection features and technologies to prevent identifying the user's device. Airdrop players can use the anti-detect browser to customize their IP address, operating system, browser type and version, time zone, and language. By simulating the digital fingerprint of the device, it is possible to create multiple virtual devices on a single IP address, increasing the chance of getting an airdrop.