Blockchain, one of the world’s biggest crypto wallets, plans to give away a vast amount of cryptocurrency in a bold move to scale the adoption of crypto to a more mainstream audience.
Blockchain and the Stellar Development Foundation (stellar.org) will distribute $125 million worth of Stellar lumens [XLM] to Blockchain’s users. Blockchain is claiming this is the largest airdrop in the history of crypto, and potentially the largest consumer giveaway ever — and to most outside observers, it looks that way.
Critics of the move will, however, may lay the charge that it’s a cynical move akin to cheap marketing techniques. Whatever the case, most people would probably say they’d have quite liked someone to “give them a bitcoin” a few years ago… It remains to be seen, however, what effect it will actually have on the ground in regards to crypto adoption.
Accessible to anyone with a Blockchain wallet, Blockchain says that the first batch of recipients will receive their lumens, Stellar’s native digital currency, this week — for free. The Stellar network has gained a reputation for scalability, with its lumen token enabling competitively quick, low-cost worldwide transactions. It has its critics however, and not every crypto fan out there will be impressed.
In a statement, Peter Smith, CEO at Blockchain, said: “At Blockchain, we’re committed to putting our users first. Providing exclusive access to the next generation of cryptoassets allows new and existing users alike to test, try, trade, and transact with new, trusted cryptoassets in a safe and easy way. We’re empowering our users with private keys, which allow them to go beyond just storing their crypto to actually using them. In turn, we can help build a bigger and more engaged crypto community, and drive network effects that make the ecosystem more useful and valuable for the many rather than the few.”
Stellar is Blockchain’s first airdrop partner following the launch of the company’s Airdrops Guiding Principles framework in October 2018.
Jed McCaleb, co-founder of Stellar Development Foundation, said, “We believe that airdrops are central to creating a more inclusive digital economy. Giving away lumens [XLM] for free is an invitation to communities to design the services they need. Our hope is to eventually have global citizens own and use lumens, in both developing and developed economies. By working with Blockchain to increase the availability and active use of lumens on the network, leveraging their almost 30 million wallets, we will increase the network’s utility by many orders of magnitude.”
As part of the airdrop, Blockchain is also partnering with a number of organizations to further the adoption of lumens, including charity: water, Stanford d.school’s emerging tech initiative, code.org, and Network for Good who share the company’s vision for using this transformational technology to build a better future. Blockchain plans to reveal specific details of each initiative in the coming weeks.
Carissa Carter, director of Teaching and Learning at Stanford d.school, said, “The strength of any network is derived from innovation. We are excited to join Blockchain on this airdrop to empower some of the most brilliant and creative minds to start experimenting and building on Stellar’s network.”