ICO Airdrops: Time for a change?
The strategy of airdropping free coins/tokens to thousands of individuals is rooted in the belief that if you give enough people a free sample of pretty much anything, some may like it so much that they subsequently buy whatever you are selling. This was certainly true in the early days (not that long ago) of Blockchain projects raising capital through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO). Project sponsors would airdrop coins/tokens to early adopters and enthusiasts in the belief that creating a broad spectrum of diversified coin/token holders would give impetus to the project through additional marketing and project awareness, prompting airdrop recipients to research and invest in the ICO. In theory, a broad base of coin/token holders should also add stability to the market price once the coin/token is listed on an exchange.
Unfortunately, a quickly changing landscape for ICO’s has meant that most airdrops seen today have nothing to do with building real awareness for projects, but have more to do with projects trying to appear popular as they rush to complete an ICO before everyone loses interest. This has spawned a new cottage industry for YouTubers, Websites and Facebook groups to promote airdrops in hopes of attracting cryptocurrency enthusiasts to sign up for a “free” $5 to $10 worth of tokens, for which the referring party receives a $1 or $2 referral bonus. The only effort required to receive tokens is generally signing up to follow the project on Telegram, retweet a post or two on Twitter, then maybe follow on Facebook. After completing these so-called “Social Media Tasks” airdrop recipients can simply go on their merry way for a couple of months until after the ICO, at which time the “free” tokens get deposited into their wallet. So, does today’s airdrop process really create any value for the project? I think not!!! Serious investors are not going to be impressed with a project that has 50,000 Telegram followers, but has virtually no discussion of the project in a 2 month time-frame within the Telegram chat, other than the administrators posting messages that nobody reads!!! Rather than building a strong following, these ICO’s just end up with 50,000 token holders that want to “cash-in” on their freebie as soon as possible once the token is listed on an exchange. In summary, rather than adding stability to the market, the airdrop has morphed into a worthless exercise that actually creates volatility in the marketplace as everyone rushes to sell their tokens at the same time.
A strategy adjustment on the mechanics of airdropping tokens is now required for prospective ICO’s, and not surprisingly, a project focused on disrupting the digital advertising industry looks to be leading the way in this regard. Ternio has seized on the opportunity to leverage its Telegram channel to be a place where subscribers learn about the project and actively promote Ternio through other social media channels. This has been achieved by running an interestingly different kind of airdrop: Instead of distributing a handful of tokens to each Telegram subscriber, Ternio has chosen to run their airdrop in a lottery style format where 20 participants can each win 5,000 tokens in a daily drawing (valued at US$500 based on ICO price) if their unique “code” is drawn in the lottery. In addition, each subscriber can win 3 times during the airdrop for a total of 15,000 tokens. The only catch is that winning codes are posted in the Telegram channel, so subscribers need to visit regularly to claim their winnings. For a chance at US$1,500 in free tokens, this is a small price to pay for many followers of the project. Instant additional prizes are also available through a Treasure Hunt competition (again in the Telegram channel) with token prizes valued between US$20 and US$100 awarded multiple times a day. Rather predictably, the Telegram channel has become a genuinely active and entertaining chat room with a community that stretches around the world. While people wait for winning codes to be listed, or a treasure hunt to start, they enjoy regular updates about the Ternio project from the executive team and become more engaged and committed to the project. The secret of keeping people in the Telegram chat has been achieved by an excellent team of moderators that promote the chat as a place to have fun (posting gif’s is even allowed) and personal engagement from the Ternio executive team. The executive team, led by the charismatic CEO, Daniel Gouldman, regularly post in the chat and even make the occasional video appearance with project news — all great stuff that you don’t find in any White Paper. The result is that the vast majority of the community has become knowledgeable enough about the project, that they openly state their excitement about the project with intentions to purchase tokens in the ICO. Subscribers drop into the Telegram chat, much the same way as a neighbor drops in for coffee: they have a chat with everyone else, get their updates on the project and drift out again. It becomes a continuous revolving community door of friendly engagement, witty humor and occasionally hilarious gif showers!!! Time will obviously tell whether the community continues to support the project after the ICO which is scheduled to begin on June 1st. In the meantime, the Ternio airdrop offers an enlightening look into what can be accomplished with a little forethought into how to use a social media channel like Telegram to actually be an advantage to a project.
For anyone interested in learning more about the Ternio project, links are provided below:
Link to Ternio Airdrop: http://ternio.me/Terntokens
Link to Ternio White Paper: https://www.ternio.io/
