Do you own your bitcoins or do you just think you own them? So important are private keys !!!

If you do not have a private key for your Bitcoin Wallet, you do not have Bitcoins!

Many people have their bitcoins on exchanges or on pool wallets (shared wallets). This means that you have a claim on your coins, but not the full control. And whether an exchange meets this requirement is not always secure. Especially if an account is hacked. If an exchange closes, you will not get your coins anymore. Your private wallet can not close from any government, company or person as long as the wallet is on a decentralized block chain such as Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Only those who have their coins on a wallet that owns the private key are the sole owners and have full control over their coins. However, then one is alone responsible for the protection of the wallet.
This also applies to all other coins that are on the market.

In the case of Ethereum there are occasional Coin Airdrops. You get a sum X of a certain coin without logging in somewhere, having to pay something or being notified. But mostly only if you have Ethereum on a wallet for which you own a private key. Through Airdrops, companies are trying to make their ICO's better known.

However, one thing to keep in mind, especially if you want to keep your coins for a long time, is that some coins lose their value over time because, as in the case of Eos, the coins lose their Erc20 compatibility because Eos has its own blockchain has started and is therefore no longer dependent on Ethereum. Those who have not registered their wallet on the new Eos Blockchain have lost their capital. Some exchanges have done this for your clients, but not all.
Therefore, you should at least occasionally follow the crypto news, and do not think you buy coins and look in 5 years what they are worth or what has become of the company.