Introduction

It is a privilege for me to be able to participate in this homework task where we are learning about airdrop in cryptocurrency. And before I get down to discussing the first question I would like to define what Airdrop is.

What is Airdrop?

An airdrop is a distribution of a cryptocurrency token or coin, being given out mostly for free to a distributed number of wallet addresses.

An airdrop is usually a marketing strategy where new cryptocurrency coins or tokens are freely given out to users to create awareness and build communities quicker than usual, as well as help to set values for the token as receiving users are facilitated to begin engagements in transaction with their airdropped tokens.

Source

Airdrops are used as a way of gaining attention for the new tokens and for gaining new followers, consequently leading to larger user-base and wide distribution of the coins. The referral system creates an incentive to share the airdrop with as many people as possible. Many people hear about airdrops through individuals sharing their links on social media.

Qn1). What do you think about Airdrop in cryptocurrency?

Personally I find the airdrop strategy as something that is worth looking out for because airdrops help in the mass adoption for different tokens or coins there by creating demand and awareness for the different projects.

The investor finds its useful for investment and the user finds its adaptable as it is usually free. In my own thinking as a marketer I believe air drop is a promotional activity that can be used to create enthusiasm and drive traffic towards a certain token, just like any other advertisement means in the real world.

Another point to note about the airdrop is that it is very effective in attracting investors since it thoroughly explains the token's white paper and helps to project the new tokens to aspiring investors.
The aim is to generate publicity for an upcoming token sale. Most authentic airdrops are often the first phase of an extensive marketing campaign. They can be useful in magnetizing the initial buzz around a project.

Qn2). How can we know about an Airdrop event so that we can participate?

Not long ago, you had to be a constant user of crypto sites in order to learn about new airdrops. Of recent, airdrops are much easier to find and this is mainly due to the emergence of dedicated airdrop websites and social media channels that track airdrops and post them daily as well as on different exchanges.

Airdrop events will always be related to new projects and so to know about an ear drop event we should look out for projects that are new on the market. Therefore we can know about an Airdrop event by searching it out on the coinmarketcap so we can participate in them.

At the coin market cup you will find airdrops that are ongoing, ended, upcoming, exclusive and participated. It's good to note however, that getting the event on the coinmarketcap is better since the project is listed on the website after following rules set. Fraud is therefore very much in check.

Other websites where one can find airdrops include;

• airdrop.io
• airdropalert.com
• airdropking.io

Where and how to find Airdrops.

• Step 1
  Go to https://coinmarketcap.com/

• Step 2
  Find On going, Upcoming or ended Airdrop from the calenders tab.

• Step 3
  Find Airdrop of your choice after going through the details about the project, rules and regulations and it's whitepaper. The white paper is a detailed information source containing all the project work.

Qn3). Where are Airdrop events often held?

If a crypto currency project wants to offer an airdrop, they use the social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, discord, Instagram etc. The project will also use different websites including its own as well as on different exchange platforms.

To find the event where the airdrop event is being held, we can follow the project page or Channels as well as users who are well known for dealing in cryptocurrency or sharing airdrop events. When we follow, we are always upto date with the Airdrop events.

To add to the above airdrops can also be carried out on different exchanges as these are guaranteed to be more legit than the air drops and social media which may turn out to be fraudulent.

Qn4). Are all Airdrop events free from scams? Otherwise, how can we avoid the scam?

As we try to identify the different airdrop events and where they are held, It is very vital and of utmost importance that we avoid scums. The fact that the events from social media are shared from independent sources or individuals who may lack authentic information puts the risk of scam as people independently share their own opinions on the social media platforms or pages.

Scam is something that is more often reflected with the use of social media and other untrusted sources.

Something to consider when beginning to venture into the world of airdrops is to be on the lookout. Below, I describe the most common airdrop scams and how you can avoid them.

• Dump Airdrops
  Not all airdrops are focused on building the crypto community. In some instances, such as what I will call dump airdrop, the target goal for scammers is to create short-term buzz about a token so that people will be excited to buy it when it hits the exchanges. As soon as it does, they will quickly sell (dump) all their tokens for a clean profit, after which they disappear and the project goes blick. The goal is to drive traffic to the project token so that the developers later dump the tokens not having any plans to further develop or push the project.

Source

An good example of a dump airdrop was EDOGE in the year 2017. The EDOGE developers were allegedly trying to breathe new life into Dogecoin by creating a new version of it on the Ethereum blockchain. 5 million EDOGE were given out for the Airdrop. They were successful in creating a buzz and redirecting traffic but when the token hit exchanges, airdrop recipients had no access to their tokens. As hundreds of millions of EDOGE were being dumped on many exchanges, the project developers were busy selling off all the tokens they had held back. Before long, the value of EDOGE was worthless since the project was 'left for the dogs' with all social media accounts dead.

• Private Key Scams
  Private key scams are airdrops that are designed to trick you into giving out the private key to your wallet. A legit airdrop asks participants ONLY for their wallet’s public key. On the other hand, a scam airdrop asks for the private key. Those who are excited for free tokens may make the mistake of giving out their private keys, only to fall victim to such scams.

• Information Tolling
  This scam deals with with collecting personal information, either to sell to third parties and/or to use for future phishing attempts. These scams claim to be giving away tokens but the projects are completely non existent. Alot of phishing emails are sent to entice victims to buy the tokens after the collected information is put to use.

Such scammers rarely have no White Paper or proper websites to follow up with. They are totally fake and operate as trucking bugs to manipulate users.

• Bait and Switch
  This scam lies in tricking you into signing up for other stuff so that someone else eventually gets credit for which they are paid after referring you. Sometimes the referrals may be for other airdrops.

Another version of this scam asks you to sign up to a specific crypto exchange and at the end of the day, you find yourself signing up for a completely different crypto token without knowing how it happened. The airdrop is used as 'bait' and as soon as it gets hold, victims are re- directed to another.

How to avoid Scams

As noted earlier on, social media is very liable to scam and therefore websites would be a better option when you're looking to avoid scam. These are some of the ways that we can avoid scum.

• White paper
  We should be very careful to avoid scammers as we choose the address project. We can do this By taking time to identify the details of the project that entail it's purpose, it's technology and feasibility. such details can help us make decisions that are safe from scam.

• Rules and regulations
  As we such for alligators air drop we should also check the rules and regulations of the project By knowing the rules and regulations we can to some extent discover the percentage of the authenticity of the cryptocurrency.

• Developer's Website
  When you look at the developers panel of the project for instance on their website, many questions can be answered concerning project authenticity. As you check the developers panel, it's assuring to behold experience of the project, the truck records in developing the project and also the time spent in circulation or processing (when it was created and how long it's been going on and also how quick it is developing).

It can be hard to spot a dump airdrop but a good approach is to spend a bit of time with the project’s website and whitepaper. Typically, those behind a dump airdrop will not put much time into either and the superficiality will stand out.

• Private Key Safety
  Avoiding this scam is pretty easy. Do not give out your private key for any reason.Should it come to a point where you are asked for a private key on any platform be it on a website, or through messaging and email, do not give it out. It is important to note that no legit airdrop asks for a private key. There is no reason a private key is needed for an airdrop. The only reason that makes sense probably would be that someone wants to rob whatever is in your wallet.

Qn5). Have you ever participated in a cryptocurrency Airdrop event? If so, then explain. Meanwhile, if you have never participated but have heard of the Airdrop event, then explain it. (Show proof with screenshot)

No, I have never participated in a cryptocurrency Airdrop event. However, i have heard of the the KCCPad. This is ongoing by the time of writing this article.

Over 309,051 users have participated and from this, 2000 participants have won airdrops. The total of Airdrop amount to date is 4.2M KCCPad and it ends on 18th July 2021, just a few hours from now having been launched with $25,000 TGE Market Cap.

According to the statistics, the airdrop seems to have been successful in luring a huge audience to it's project as the number of participants is high compared to other airdrops on coinmarketcap.

Qn6). Give and explain an example of an Airdrop event that has passed and the airdrop was successful. Then give one more example that has been proven to be a fraud. (It is not allowed to take the example that has been taken in question number 5).

An example of an airdrop that has been successful is ETHPad.

ETHPad airdrop saw a number of 273,278 participants, from which over 2,000 were winners having started on 5th July 2021 and ending on 15th July 2021.

A total of 4.2M ETHPad was the airdrop amount.

A fraud Airdrop

I will get the example of the fraud Airdrop from the example I gave above using EDOGE.

As I described in the example, EDOGE is one of the frauds that were trusted in the Cryptocurrency world. However, this is what happened;

A fellow called Alex Green joined Dogecoin. He set up a cryptocurrency exchange in the United Kingdom called Moolah, to handle dogecoins as well as other cryptocurrencies. Most /r/dogecoin users tipped single dogecoins, worth a fraction of a penny—but Green gave tips of thousands of dollars. Green started selling shares in Moolah on /r/dogecoin. He threatened to sue the original Dogecoin founders for harassment, for questioning his use of /r/dogecoin in this way.

Moolah shut down in October 2014, and Green disappeared with the money. It came out that he was actually serial scammer Ryan Kennedy, who had a long history of creating scam start-ups that raised funds and vanished. As well as a serial scammer, Kennedy turned out to be a serial rapist; he was convicted in May 2016 of three counts of rape, and jailed for 11 years.

Even though the project recovered, the founding developers were laid off and new measures taken. Today the token of Doge coin is very competitive and flourishing.

Qn7). Look for an example of ongoing Airdrop events, make an analysis that proves that the Airdrop of your choice is good. (Screenshot required).

For this illustration, I will use KCCPad airdrop. With a day still on going, it's my right choice to make proper analysis that it's a good airdrop.

• Shop I
  Look for KCCPad on the coinmarketcap.

• Shot 2
  According to the info on the coin market app, KCCPad Has got the highest number of participants amounting to
  309,051 with 2,000 winners. A total of
  4.2M KCCPad was the airdrop amount.

I go on to find out details about the project and according to the information on their website, they have a YouTube channel that has more than a thousand subscribers and many good quality videos. They also have a presence on Twitter and on Facebook.

• Shot 4
  I have gone through it's launchpad and telegram address and the project is potentially legitimate.

All Images Source

Qn8). Explain the steps to participate in the Airdrop of your choice. (Screenshot required).

After looking at why KCCPad is a good option for an airdrop I will participate in this air drop and these are steps as showed below.

• Step 1
  

• Step 2
  

• Step 3
  

• Step 4
  

Conclusion

It's obvious that airdrops are initially for the good, however scammers have penetrated everywhere and as taught by professor, it is recommended that we take a keen look at the project behind an airdrop to see if it has any chance of succeeding. If the project looks genuinely hopeless, Its better left to pass, no matter how many tokens are being given away. Thank you professor @wahyunahrul, I submit

cc @steemcurator02
cc @reminiscence01