COMFORT AKINRETI writes about the recent trend in cryptocurrency space whereby thousands of Nigerians sought to earn money from airdrops by tapping their phones.
TAP, tap!” You may have heard this coinage recently. It is used to describe a trending practice you may have witnessed whereby people are constantly tapping the screen of their smartphones as part of the things they have to do to increase the money they would like get from a cryptocurrency airdrop.
Nigerians, mostly the younger ones have been doing “tap, tap” more formally known as tap-to-earn as a strategy to “mine” cryptocurrency.
Many Nigerians were attracted to this practice and became aware of cryptocurrency airdrop after a particular airdrop from a cryptocurrency called Notcoin took place. This airdrop appeared to be a success and a good sum of money came to holders of this coin within its community, thus making cryptocurrency airdrop more popular among Nigerians.
However, what a vast majority of cryptocurrency enthusiasts were introduced to has appeared to be a pipe dream because they were simply eager to join the bandwagon of those “earning in dollars,” and did not properly understand what the cryptocurrency world entails.
What is a cryptocurrency airdrop?
Investopedia describes cryptocurrency airdrop “a marketing strategy that involves sending coins or tokens to wallet addresses. Small amounts of the new virtual currency are sent to the wallets of active members of the blockchain community for free or in return for a small service, such as retweeting a post sent by the company issuing the currency.” Other promotional services required to partake in the airdrop include responding to social media posts, following accounts, and as stated earlier, tapping to earn. Airdrops are frequently used by cryptocurrency businesses to raise awareness about a new token and increase the number of individuals who trade it after it is listed on an exchange.
Cryptocurrency airdrops have quickly become a popular tool for firms to promote new tokens, with participants earning digital assets for completing simple activities such as following social media accounts or sharing posts. This approach has gained traction in regions such as Nigeria a where interest in cryptocurrencies is growing. Airdrops provide a convenient way for many people to learn about and participate in the blockchain ecosystem. However, airdrops are not without obstacles. As more people join these initiatives, token value can sometimes be diluted owing to “airdrop farming,” which occurs when too many participants diminish the value of the prizes. Some participants have been frustrated after putting in a lot of time and effort for little results.
Learning by experience
Notcoin (NOT), like Hamster Kombat and a host of others, is a game embedded in Telegram that attracted millions of players. This play-to-earn game functions as a mini-app within the Telegram messaging platform, where users can “mine” or earn the NOT token.
By March 2024, the game had amassed 35 million total players, with a peak of six million daily active users, making it one of the most popular crypto games.
On May 16, 2024, the NOT token was officially launched. Notcoin price surged 600 percent when top exchanges, Binance and OKX, listed the NOT token.
Following Notcoin, most people jumped into the current tap-to-earn projects, such as Hamster Kombat, Tapswap, Memefi, Dogs, Tomarket, and others, with great expectations. What has been the experience of most Nigerians so far is that their high expectations were not met.
Social media users expressed their grievances about some of the disappointments they have encountered in airdrops. Here are some from X, formerly known as Twitter:
@Sam_Art6675, wrote: “walai @hamster kombat, you will crumble. Since June, I’ve been tapping and tapping, now you pay me like a cleaner instead of CEO.”
@adaora_crypto posted: “if you must use your money to farm any tap to earn… Make sure you have done your due diligence and it will be worth it like citizen. A lot of projects will onboard new users and insists they should pay some $Ton at some point but verify verily I say unto you… Most of those project will end up farming the community and giving them nothing….”
@hommiesDrey posted: “So I use 2 TON valued at $14 collect CATS airdrop valued at $15…’’
@damxton wrote: “When farming airdrops, never have high expectations. Because you’ll be disappointed when it doesn’t cook. Even if you are sticking with a few that you think will cook, there is a 50 chance they won’t cook!”
@echoboomph posted: “There are a lot of scammers who will pose as legit accounts and will do scam airdrop giveaways. So, be warned. You might get caught in their phishing scams.”
Going for what is legitimate
Also, Irene Knight from Banjul in Gambia while discussing about her involvement in different airdrops and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), said that she knows how legitimate an airdrop is by going through the project’s social media channels to check their roadmaps. A roadmap provides an organised sequential plan for achieving the targets, objectives, aims, and expected results of a cryptocurrency project.
While speaking with Nigerian Tribune, Oguntade Adedoyin from Magboro, Ogun State said he has had very satisfying experiences in his two years of participating in airdrops.
He said that he believes that airdrops impact the crypto market positively. He said, “I sell 50 percent of my tokens and hold 50 percent to trade in case of bull run.”
People with lesser years of experience like 30-year-old Micheal James from Lagos, who started participating in airdrops less than a year ago, asserted that from his knowledge about cryptocurrency airdrops, it just brings more audience to the cryptocurrency space.
Stephen Adewole from Ile-Ife in Osun State, shared his experience from the Hamster Kombat airdrop describing it as a loss. He said, “When I received my Hamster Kombat token, I was not satisfied because taking part in the airdrops cost me my time and efforts. But with my years of experience in this, I actually predicted it would happen because the airdrop has been over farmed. Even if the project had good plans for the community, the number of the participants was just too much.”
Olaito Yusuff, lives in Apomu, Osun State. He shared what he described as his “fairly satisfactory experience” with the
He stated that he saw cryptocurrency airdrops as a gamble or a game of luck. According to him, he dabbled into airdrops farming for financial gains and he has participated in about 200 airdrops.
He said that with his over two years’ experience with airdrops, he is personally convinced that airdropped tokens do not have long-term value potential.
Speaking about how to confirm the legitimacy of an airdrop, he said, “I focus more on the activities of the startup developers both internally and externally and also the amount of liquidity they are bringing into the project. Cryptocurrency exchanges are vulnerable to devastating hacks, while wallet weaknesses expose users to theft, and phishing attacks deceive victims into revealing sensitive information. Users can also encounter scams like fake token scams.”
Amana Alkali, a corporate, real estate and fintech law expert stated that: “A crypto airdrop is like a digital version of a surprise giveaway. Unfortunately, the popularity of airdrops has attracted scammers. One common scam involves fake airdrop campaigns that aim to trick users into providing personal information or private keys. It’s crucial to verify the legitimacy of airdrop campaigns and exercise caution.”
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