Cryptocurrency Hard Forks vs. Airdrops: What’s the Difference?
Cryptocurrency Hard Forks vs. Airdrops: An Overview
If you’ve followed the cryptocurrency world for even a short time, it’s likely that you’ve heard both the terms hard fork and airdrop come up before. Perhaps you’ve even seen the totals in your digital currency wallet increase for no apparent reason at all and then discovered it was the result of an airdrop.
Airdrops and hard forks are similar in some ways, and, at times, this has led to confusion among cryptocurrency investors. However, there are important distinctions between these two operations. A hard fork occurs when there is a permanent split in a blockchain. This split occurs when there is a change to the code; this creates two paths. One path has the new blockchain, and the second path has the original blockchain.1
An airdrop occurs when a new cryptocurrency token is deposited directly into users’ wallets. If a virtual currency forks into two, an airdrop may be used to send the new cryptocurrency straight to users’ wallets.2
Coindesk. “What Is a Crypto Airdrop?”
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- A hard fork occurs when there is a permanent split in a blockchain; this split occurs when there is a change to the code.1
- This creates two paths: One path has the new blockchain, and the second path has the original blockchain.1
- An airdrop occurs when a new cryptocurrency token is deposited directly into users’ wallets.2
- If a virtual currency forks into two, an airdrop may be used to send the new cryptocurrency straight to users’ wallets.
