Non-Fungible Tokens, or NFTs, rose to prominence due to their high price tag and how much money people were willing to pay for them. Who wouldn’t be astounded that someone paid close to $1.5 million for the first-ever NFT, which looked more or less like a simple GIF to most people?
Perhaps a more popular case was Jack Dorsey’s first-ever tweet, which sold for close to $3 million. Those are some staggeringly high figures, and some people do not understand what the rave is about, especially when you consider that these two examples are some way off the top 10 most expensive NFTs ever sold.
Coingecko, a cryptocurrency data aggregation and tracking website, conducted research this year to analyze NFT-related google search terms and found the question “What is an NFT?” to be the most searched on google. The research revealed that users searched the question close to a million times a month – 948,000 to be precise, which is a lot for something that has been around for some years.
The next most asked question about NFTs is based on how to create one and where to buy and sell one. This is where NFT airdrops come in. So if you want a brief introduction to what NFTs are and, by extension, what NFT airdrops are, the types, and a lot more, keep reading because we have you covered.
What are NFTs?
NFT stands for Non-fungible Token. They are unique identifiers on the blockchain used as digital representations of assets which could be a piece of art, music, videos, or even real-life assets, like diamonds. The word fungible means replaceable by an identical item; this means that a fungible asset is not intrinsically unique. In other words, it can be interchanged with other individual assets of the same type. For example, a $50 bill can be replaced by five $10 bills, and every ounce of gold is equivalent to every other ounce of gold. A non-fungible asset simply refers to an asset that is one of a kind.
One of the best ways to understand the buying and selling of NFTs is to look at something that has been around for much longer – art auctions. For those who might not know about this, it is an event where original pieces of art are displayed, several buyers auction, and the highest bidder gets to take the art home alongside bragging rights.
NFTs are similar to this, except that the assets are digital and are more about the prestige of ownership of something unique and original, even if several counterfeit versions exist worldwide. These can range from something less abstract, like music, to abstract things, like a moment. An excellent example of how moments can be sold as NFTs is what the NBA does by selling short clips of moments on the basketball court in a project called the NBA top shot. That being said, we can then discuss what NFT airdrops are.
What is an NFT airdrop?
A non-fungible token (NFT) airdrop is a marketing campaign in which eager new users or ardent project supporters receive free digital assets or NFTs in their wallets. More often than not, this is usually used as a marketing strategy by the developers or owners of a project to gain new followers, increase visibility, generate hype, and promote and share their projects by taking advantage of the NFT space, which is getting increasingly crowded.
Typically, a company’s website and social media channels advertise airdrops. You might be required to carry out a certain action to be eligible for an airdrop. The task could be tagging your friends on social media in the project’s post, engaging with the community, or doing something creative that can be used to generate buzz and attract some much-needed attention.
The NFTs would then be delivered into the wallets of the individuals who come out on top in such situations as a reward. It is more or less a giveaway tactic taking advantage of the basic business strategy that people always want to get something of value for free. Giving out tokens at no cost is the simplest way to promote an NFT and secure social media publicity.
Although NFT airdrops are most commonly used for promotional purposes, they are only some of them. The airdrops are also sometimes given as gifts to current token owners and may even be an extended version of the NFT they initially bought.
The Ontology (ONT) airdrop, which occurred in January 2018, is one instance of a simple and enormously successful airdrop. 1000 ONT tokens, which were then worthless, were given to everyone who subscribed to Ontology’s newsletter. However, one ONT token was valued at about $11 in March 2018, just three months later. This implies that anybody who took part in the airdrop had the opportunity to sell the tokens for a profit of $11,000. That’s a fantastic business in exchange for your mail, isn’t it?
What are the different types of NFT airdrops?
Standard Airdrop
These airdrops are referred to as “general admissions.” It is the easiest of all the airdrops and is also the most common. You have the opportunity to receive an airdrop by just indicating your interest in obtaining one. Simply filling out the appropriate information or finishing the promotional tasks (like sharing a post or subscribing to a newsletter) and entering your crypto wallet address to get the airdrop qualifies you to apply.
A standard airdrop is a fantastic method to involve more people and create a strong community without putting too much of a strain on the users or requiring any financial outlay. That is why newbies and startups mostly use it.
It is imperative to note that standard airdrops may be time-dependent, which means that completing the task and dropping required information can be done within a short time frame, after which the airdrops become unavailable.
Bounty Airdrop
Bounty airdrops are more similar to standard airdrops in how they are implemented; participants are required to fulfill tasks. They need more promotional work from the participants, often on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media platform.
The primary end goal of this type of airdrop is to create awareness and generate buzz. To make these more competitive and productive, a point-based system can be used to grade participants, making them more competitive and beneficial to the vendor. Those with the highest points can then get an NFT airdrop.
Holder Airdrop
Only existing token holders are eligible for these Holder NFT airdrops, intended to provide value or thank them for supporting the community. All holders present on a specific date will typically be noted since everything is documented on the blockchain. Consequently, project developers can see who is holding their NFT and issue the airdrop to that person rather than a former holder because they can see who is currently holding their NFT.
Exclusive Airdrop
Exclusive airdrops are also called “VIP” airdrops. The most devoted community members or those who have made significant contributions to the NFT project are among those who receive these uncommon NFT airdrops. It is usually reserved for those with a track record of loyalty to the project.
One may qualify for an exclusive airdrop by buying physical goods, attending an event, interacting with the community, or working on a project.
Raffle Airdrop
Raffle Airdrop is used when the number of individuals taking an interest in an airdrop surpasses the number of available tokens; only the randomly chosen wallets will get the airdrop, and a raffle draw determines them.
You can obtain a raffle spot by holding an NFT, doing tasks for points, or showing interest. The NFT project will typically specify how many raffle slots are available and the requirements for participation. As a result, FOMO (fear of missing out) is encouraged, which raises buzz.
Community Airdrops
Community airdrops are only available to active social media users. Users frequently need to share content and promote it on various media channels such as Facebook and Twitter to get free NFTs.
Why are NFT Airdrops Important?
NFT Airdrops are essential to the NFT and Web3 community’s sustainability, and it does this essentially as a brand marketing tool. Whether new or old, brands stand a good chance of growing in leaps and bounds if they can leverage these airdrops strategically. Naturally, a person is more likely to talk about something they got for free, which can only be suitable for the brand.
A new brand can take advantage of the bounty, standard, or even raffle airdrops to build publicity and establish a solid social media presence, giving them access to a broader range of audience. An already existing brand can also do something similar while rebranding or just to widen the reach of its brand. There are also cases where brands yet to launch fully use NFT airdrops to create a buzz, using their official launch date as a deadline for completing tasks and establishing presence and buzz even before they launch.
Additionally, compared to conventional marketing strategies, airdrops enable people and businesses to forge new connections and strengthen existing ones. In other words, the presence of an NFT airdrop makes something that most brands would love to have on their side – community. When a brand launches and they have a few standard airdrops or they spice things up with a point-based bounty airdrop or even a raffle airdrop, they are likely to have a lot of people checking them out; if they are strategic enough, those people can tie down to become their community.
Whether with excellent marketing skills or even the promise of community airdrops and if they can get people to commit, they might even have a few people willing to become VIPs and then have exclusive or holder airdrops for that set of persons. This means that the brand would have a community and consequently can advance while the community also stands a chance to get free NFTs, a win-win situation.
How to Find NFT airdrops
Through various NFT media, you can get information on NFT airdrops. Some NFT projects use this to promote their impending airdrops. These campaigns frequently occur because NFT airdrops are one of the market’s most widely used advertising strategies.
Additionally, as your favorite NFT projects will likely release their airdrops through their official channels, you should follow or subscribe to them on social media. This includes checking the official website of a project, their Twitter handle, Instagram, or even through the mail. Also, if you belong to one, you can ask the community for updates. Alternatively, you may subscribe to NFT influencers that focus on airdrop rumors.
How to avoid NFT airdrops scams
While NFT airdrops were made with good intentions for the NFT communities, some illicit actors also use them to scam people within the NFT space. Rather than give you a free NFT, they take from you. Thus, it is crucial that you learn how you can participate in NFT airdrops safely.
NFT scams are as sophisticated as the technology itself, but there are safety measures users can take to keep safe. Let’s go through them.
Paying to access the airdrop
The easiest way to identify an NFT airdrop scam is when you are asked to pay to access the airdrop. Remember, as explained earlier, NFT airdrops are purely for promotional purposes. This means the projects behind the airdrop do it to increase their user base or presence. In simple terms, even though users get free NFTs, the projects stand to gain more.
When next you come across an NFT airdrop that requires payment, that could be your cue not to participate.
DYOR (Do Your Own Research)
DYOR is the golden rule of the cryptoverse. You must have heard it repeatedly if you are new to NFTs or cryptocurrencies. Why? Because once something goes wrong, it could be nearly impossible to correct the mistake. For instance, if you mistakenly send money to a wallet, there is no way to get that money back or even know who owns the wallet.
In the context of NFT airdrops, you should research the project behind the airdrop before participating. It is easy to get carried away by the excitement of getting a free NFT or even flipping it for profit. This excitement is what the scam projects use to entice unsuspecting users.
An easy way to do this is by joining vast NFT airdrop communities. When you join, you can ask questions about the projects and whether they can be trusted. Also, a project that has a history of previous successful airdrops is likely legit. That is something you should look out for too.
Safeguard your wallet
Safeguarding your wallet is the most important thing to do. The end goal of this crypto scam is to have access to your wallet and steal your assets. And if there is one thing about the cryptoverse, it is how easily users can transfer assets.
If you are new to airdrops, it is advised that you have a secondary wallet that you use for the airdrops. That way, even if your wallet is hacked, it won’t result in the loss of any digital asset. As they say, it is better to be safe than sorry.
