Pirates. Bounties and bounty hunters. Nope, not your new Netflix/Hulu series but trendy blockchain/bitcoin topic.
I’ve been swimming in murky waters of bounty programs for ICOs last couple of weeks. While navigation is often times hard if you navigate properly you can come across shiny genuinely amazing programs which in all reality can earn you a chunk rather than a ton of money.
However, as any experienced bounty hunter will tell you, there is a lot of garbage out there. And navigating through it can be an overwhelming task.
But, what are bounties?
Essentially, bounty is a marketing strategy used by blockchain startups interested in stirring up communities, getting the word out about them so to speak, by investing a part of their ‘ CryptoAssets’ into communities in return for spreading the word.
Huh, what? In simple terms, blockchain startups offer users a fair compensation for promoting and/or improving their ICO product. Users are required to perform different tasks such as social media posting/sharing etc for which they get either ICOs native token, other cryptocurrencies, or even fiat currency.
Let’s give just a few examples shall we?
TeslaWatt main goal is to build a solar farm to provide our new and existing customers access to independent energy. For the purpose of realizing their plans, they’ve built an infrastructure for a utility token TSW that will make this happen.
TeslaWatt token #TSW is an Ethereum-based token of value. As a utility token, TSW will enable holders to continuously use TeslaWatt’s solutions, as well as to trade the utilities.
A SOCIAL MEDIA BOUNTY CAMPAIGN (on Twitter, Telegram, BitcoinTalk forum, Facebook and LinkedIn) is live, with the total allocation of their 250.000 TSW tokens!
BlockScart is set to be a global e-commerce marketplace powered by blockchain technology. They operate with BLXS coin and participants will get their hands on BLXS which is a Waves Sponsored Asset at a rate traded via the DEO (decentralized exchange offering)at $0.05.
They are running their campaign on Telegram, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Reddit.
While it is one of the best ways for blockchain startups get the word out, for those participating in the program how can you be certain this isn't a scam?
While I don’t have all the answers in my experience these things work in defining the good ones from the rest:- First and foremost study the rules and the length they’ve taken to explain and promote purpose of their bounty program.- Do a research before you jump on their bandwagon. Find out everything you can that is official about the company behind bounty (headquarters address, check Google map for it, Google my Business listing, official press releases and articles etc).- Dig a bit deeper about the company and people running it and I’m not talking about their official website and soc profiles. Check out the social noizz, forum talk etc. See if there is a consistency of interest into what they are trying to promote.- Use their Telegram channel to get familiar with them. Ask the dumbest question you can think off and them go into tech specifics.- Check out what is the main purpose of their token. Ask around if their explanation makes sense.- ASK EXPERTS you either follow or have in your community.- Check out who shared/re-twitted/posted etc. You’ll be surprised how many fake profiles do that (usually low in number of followers/friends). Once you find real profiles send them a message. Ask what they did and why.
Having done all that won’t make you a successful bounty hunter in an instant. But it’ll give you a nice beginners framework which can help you become one.
BTW, a well-versed and competent bounty hunters are in demand right now. Seize the moment and happy hunting.
There are people who could explain things far better than me and whose posts helped me a lot. While I share experience they share the knowledge.
Tokenomics: A Business Guide to Token Usage, Utility and ValueThe ultimate guide to ICO bounty campaigns by Pascal ThellmannUtility vs. Security Tokens: Why Not Both?How To Make Money From Crypto Bounty Programs The Complete Guide by Mindmaster