Compliant Airdrops Are Here: CoinList to Offer Investors Free Crypto Giveaways

That's the question crypto innovators have had to come to terms with since the concept of "Airdrops" - or the practice of gifting tokens in massive giveaways - has come under the scrutiny of government regulators.

Aptly named Airdrops, the product runs users through compliance checks and attestations so that a token issuer can give CoinList's users free tokens.

The SEC hasn't taken a formal stance on how it views crypto tokens delivered through ICO, airdrops or other forms of sales and giveaways, but it's clear regulators are currently investigating that question.

Not only does the startup believe it has a solution for working under existing securities law, but it's also opening up its existing user base of past investors to new token issuers.

Once users have gone through the company's compliance flow, they will be verified to receive airdrops, and CoinList will take a nominal fee from users to accept new tokens.

To date, according to its website, CoinList has run $850 million worth of token sales through its platform, representing what could be a vast pool of people interested in investing and taking part in future crypto tokens.

While that pool of potential investors will likely be attractive for token issuers, Coinlist's product is opt-in - a feature added to reduce spam and mitigate the security threats that have become a common annoyance from crypto enthusiasts involved in such offerings.

CoinList says it's only willing to work with token issuers that are focused on complying with the law.

CoinList's product allows for airdrops that might fall under Regulation S and Regulation D and will also collaborate with AngelList spin-off Republic, which has a license to sell securities under limited conditions to non-accredited investors using Regulation CF. The company is also doing a country-by-country analysis to determine what sorts of checks issuers will need to do in order to airdrop to users around the world.

While CoinList has so far been focused on fundraising, Bromberg said that potential issuers will not have to have a token sale on the platform in order to use the new product.