Airdropping crypto, a relatively new method of reverse-crowdfunding, could have huge impact in the geopolitical environment. Airdrops typically involve businesses or crypto projects creating tokens or NFTs to give to their communities as a way to monetarily incentivize adoption of a project. Since the Ukraine has been fighting off a war against invading Russians, Bitcoin and crypto users all around the world have donated their assets to help Ukraine fund their military. As a way to say thanks and entice more people to pledge help, the Ukrainian government is performing an airdrop. Anyone who has donated before 11am ET, Thursday, March 3rd will receive a gift from Ukraine.
The government is yet to provide additional information on what type of airdrop donors will receive which adds another layer of speculation. “In this case, the airdrop is a token of appreciation from Ukraine, and may be of value in the marketplace.” said Haohan Xu, CEO of Apifiny.
Ukraine launched its crypto funding efforts on Feb. 26th, which was two days after Russia invaded the country. Since then, it has raised over $30 million of donations from various crypto coins including Bitcoin. However, airdrops are not possible on the Bitcoin network for the time being. Airdrops are typically reserved for altcoins that are smart contract platforms.
The long term impact of crowdfunding war efforts via cryptocurrency is not yet known as this is the first time a country has used this as a method to raise funds. What we do now know, is that now anybody can participate in funding wars, and countries can incentivize individual donors through airdrops.