What on Earth Is an Airdrop?
Free Money! That's What Helicopter Money Is, Money That Falls From the Sky. In the World of Crypto, They Call It an Airdrop.
Ric Edelman: Welcome back to The Truth About Your Future. You know, the world of crypto has created an entirely new vocabulary, and it's often very confusing for people to understand what is going on. One word: airdrop. What on earth is an airdrop? I'm not talking about the airdrop you use with your iPhone. When you send pictures from your phone to somebody else's phone, that's a different kind of airdrop. Doesn't it drive you crazy that everybody keeps using the same words for different things? Well, actually, you know exactly what it is. Helicopter money. Ok, that wasn't necessarily helpful now, was it? Okay, how about this? Open a bank account and get a free toaster. Now, that sounds familiar to you. Well, that's what helicopter money is. That's what an airdrop is. In other words, when you have a bank account and the bank enticed you to make a deposit by giving you a free toaster or remember way back when (you don't, you're too young. Go ask your parents or grandparents), you bought a box of soap, and inside was a glass. Yeah. Believe it or not, they used to have drinking glasses inside a box of dishwashing detergent. So it was a way for companies to entice consumers to use their products. Helicopter money. Just literally dropping money out of the sky. Free money.
Ric Edelman: Well, that's what these were. This was just free money as a way for you using this. Airline miles, right? If you use this credit card, we will give you points that you can use to get free airline tickets, that kind of thing. Free money! That's what helicopter money is, money that falls from the sky. In the world of crypto they call it an airdrop. You own some kind of digital token and merely because you own it, the organizers that are promoting that digital asset, send into your digital wallet - more tokens, more money in an effort to get you to use it. So they call it an airdrop in the world of crypto. Business more generally calls it helicopter money. And those of us old enough to remember, S&H Green Stamps will remember it as simply glasses inside a box of dishwashing detergent. So an airdrop, now you know what it is. And if you would like to learn more about airdrop, read my new book, The Truth About Crypto. It's available in paperback, e-book and audiobook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and your favorite bookseller.