What Is a Crypto Airdrop?

Airdrops involve crypto projects sending free tokens en masse to their communities in a bid to encourage adoption.
Crypto users that frequently interact with new and existing platforms will likely receive an airdrop at some stage. Airdrops involve blockchain-based projects and developers sending out free tokens to members of their communities as part of a broader marketing initiative.
The main idea is to send newly minted tokens to hundreds or thousands of different wallet addresses with the hope recipients will be more inclined to engage with the corresponding project – even if it’s only to learn how to cash out the free tokens into something else.

This concept is similar to finding a free discount card in your mailbox to encourage you to visit a new store in the area. However, a crypto airdrop isn't predominantly about making the recipient spend money but rather raising awareness for new projects and services.
In most cases, a crypto airdrop is issued to users in exchange for completing a certain task. These tasks often involve things such as:

• Following an account on social media.
• Sharing or retweeting one of their posts, including hashtags.
• Sending or receiving a transaction (using a particular crypto platform or wallet).
• Creating an account and signing up to receive updates.

There are also instances when a crypto airdrop may be issued to users without needing to do anything, as we will highlight below.
Why do crypto airdrops exist?
The primary reason for organizing a crypto airdrop is to promote a blockchain startup, project or service. By issuing tokens to users, the team can bootstrap its project and ensure a fair distribution of tokens among its community from day one. Moreover, recipients of these tokens are incentivized to increase awareness and help the project reach a broader audience once the token begins trading on an exchange. The more interest surrounding the token, the more likely it will rise in price.