
Keybase and Stellar Partner on XLM Airdrop Worth $118M - jqueryin
https://keybase.io/a/i/r/d/r/o/p/spacedrop2019
======
pixelperfect
This is an interesting/generous giveaway...

I'm not sure what to think about XLM. On the one hand, I am very pessimistic
about all altcoins, but on the other, I am impressed with Stripe, Keybase, and
the teams behind those products.

~~~
Bitcoin_iencli
XLM is a very cool altcoin system, thanks to it there is no third party so no
commissions and really low TRX cost. IBM also makes a lot of server as nodes
for the Stellar network.

------
jwr
At this point, I am at a complete loss to understand what it is that Keybase
is, or is doing.

A pity, because it started so well, as a way to manage my online identity.

~~~
ve55
It seems like they want to do a lot of things, but they embark on new projects
before previous ones have gained significant adoption. This makes it appear
like they lack a general direction, with some of the suggestions on this page
already spanning from key management to cryptocurrency to group chat.

Everyone likes free money, but I'm not sure if this will be a net plus for
them or not, it comes with a lot of overhead in multiple areas, and I hope
they realize that with this post.

------
tawm
How to join the drop:

1) install Keybase: [https://keybase.io/download](https://keybase.io/download)

2) add your device

3) in the app, go to devices (second to last item in the nav) and add two
paper keys

4) click on your avatar (top of nav) and select "View profile"

5) click "Prove your [GitHub, Hackernews]" and follow the steps (HN might take
a while to update, took about 2 mins for me)

6) now you should be able to join the drop

~~~
yebyen
(edit: I just had to restart Keybase app.)

If I see four checkmarks and "Register inside the Keybase app" what am I
missing? Do I just need to make sure I have a stellar wallet, or is there
something else?

I'm using the Keybase app for MacOS and don't see any indication that I have
joined the drop, or prompts which mention it.

The "register" call-to-action button just sends you to
[https://keybase.io/download](https://keybase.io/download) which has a link at
the top, " News: the Keybase Stellar Space Drop " that sends you right back to
the same page as referenced in the post.

~~~
yehudab
Check this out:
[https://github.com/keybase/client/issues/19408](https://github.com/keybase/client/issues/19408)

------
SilasX
Sorry to be the pedant here, but this isn't the correct use of "airdrop", or
at least, not how it's commonly used in the cryptocurrency community.

And airdrop typically refers to a fork that someone starts of an existing
cryptocurrency, but keeps the same global ledger (blockchain or equivalent) up
to a certain date. At that date/time, anyone who held the cryptocurrency at
the time is treated as having that same amount in the new fork.

Hence why it's called an "airdrop": from the perspective of existing users, it
feels like someone just dumped some freebies on you.

This is not an airdrop, in that meaning. It's just a regular giveaway.

(With that said, this finally gave me the kick in the pants to sign up for
Keybase. I initially ignored it because, well, I don't hold any XLM or have
the software for it set up, why would I benefit from an airdrop? Glad I read
the fine print.)

~~~
al-king
The 'airdrop' analogy doesn't really capture anything about the involvement of
branching ledgers, so it doesn't seem entirely unfair to use the same giveaway
jargon the community's previously used. But definitely, a different mechanism
is involved here.

~~~
SilasX
It captures the metaphier of “you do nothing further on your end, and stuff of
value falls in your lap”. This offer doesn’t do that and requires active steps
on your part. If it’s air-anything, it’s “air rendezvous” :-p

~~~
al-king
ah, well, for preexisting Keybase users with linked GitHub accounts it fits
that description - I found out about it because I got given some without doing
anything.

~~~
SilasX
I thought you specifically had to approve the participation even if you
already met the criteria?

~~~
al-king
apparently not!

------
skybrian
Previous topic that got flagged for some reason:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20919736](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20919736)

~~~
floatingatoll
I flagged that one (and this one) because a cryptocoin giveaway isn’t
newsworthy at HN, any more than “free iPad contest” or “get a $20 gift card”
deals would be.

------
gavreh
Original topic:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20919736](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20919736)

------
sliken
Seems like increased popularity is impacting keybase.

My client is now getting:

Error: ERROR CODE 218 - internal chat storage error: readBlock: failed to
decrypt block: 1 in method chat.1.local.getThreadNonblock at new s
(file:///opt/keybase/resources/app/desktop/dist/main.bundle.js:1:561326) at
file:///opt/keybase/resources/app/desktop/dist/main.bundle.js:1:561922 at u
(file:///opt/keybase/resources/app/desktop/dist/main.bundle.js:1:561961) at
file:///opt/keybase/resources/app/desktop/dist/main.bundle.js:1:1242674 at
file:///opt/keybase/resources/app/desktop/dist/main.bundle.js:1:3018547 at
e._call
(file:///opt/keybase/resources/app/desktop/dist/main.bundle.js:1:2580383) at
file:///opt/keybase/resources/app/desktop/dist/main.bundle.js:1:2580523 at s
(file:///opt/keybase/resources/app/desktop/dist/main.bundle.js:1:2580163) at
e._fulfill
(file:///opt/keybase/resources/app/desktop/dist/main.bundle.js:1:2580493) at s
(file:///opt/keybase/resources/app/desktop/dist/main.bundle.js:1:2579694)

------
t0mbstone
The funny thing is that it seems that the amount of XLM you get (according to
[https://keybase.io/a/i/r/d/r/o/p/spacedrop2019](https://keybase.io/a/i/r/d/r/o/p/spacedrop2019))
is related to the number of people who sign up.

It appears that the amount of airdrop money is being divided equally amongst
all the people who sign up. So in a round-about way, after you have signed up,
you are actually incentivized to _not_ spread the news.

As it stands right now, if nobody else signs up, I will receive over $19,000
XLM (roughly $1136 USD).

So yeah. Nobody else sign up for this, please!

~~~
yebyen
From the top of the bottom part:

> The Finest of Fine Print

> No individual recipient will get more than $500 USD worth of Lumens.

~~~
alpisec
The question is: How long is your wallet worth $500 USD. The value dropped in
the last months significantly.

Otherwise - it´s free money.

------
EdTsft
I'm confused by the stellar sign-up terms. "6\. WE ARE UNABLE TO HELP
DISTRIBUTE SDF LUMENS TO USERS IN CERTAIN COUNTRIES. By activating this wallet
you agree you're not in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Sudan, Crimea, or any
other country or region subject to sanctions by OFAC; further you agree you're
not a non-resident alien of the United States."

So this is only open to people living in the USA or people with some sort of
non-alien legal status in the USA who are not currently residing in the list
of banned countries? Seems odd to ban a specific list of countries, and then
on top of that ban almost everyone who is not in the USA.

~~~
3JPLW
It's actually pretty scary giving out money (in any form) to international
peoples potentially sanctioned by OFAC. Making it their problem through an
EULA is an interesting strategy.

~~~
EdTsft
But what about people from countries other than the US that are are not
sanctioned by OFAC? "further you agree you're not a non-resident alien of the
United States"

Going by this [1] definition of nonresident alien, I am not a citizen of the
USA so I'm an alien, and I don't live in the USA so I'm a non-resident alien.

[1] [https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-
taxpayers/dete...](https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-
taxpayers/determining-alien-tax-status)

~~~
lallysingh
The IRS is only writing its definitions for the sake of people in the US.
That's presumed from context. Otherwise, why care what the IRS has to say?

~~~
EdTsft
Because Stellar is using that term in a document they're asking me to agree to
and it seems likely that their intended meaning is similar to the IRS
definition. But I'm not 100% sure that it's meant to exclude (almost) all non-
Americans which is why I'm asking.

------
shauifly
I join keybase and github and hacker news to be able to join and get stellar
but didnt allow me.. i dont know what happened but i was qualified cos i
joined sept 9.. can someone help me about it.. it was lagging that time i
guess theres a lot of people registering that time..

------
nickik
I think Keybase is great but I'm not really much interested in the Crypto
Currency stuff. I would much rather they focus on good authentication
services, there is so much great things you can do with what they have now.

------
3JPLW
When I first saw this I just assumed it was some sort of spam/scam. What's the
rationale for giving away money here? Is it purely Keybase/Stellar marketing?

How is Keybase planning on making money?

~~~
gexla
They aren't giving away money. They are creating these coins out of thin air.
The only way anyone is losing money is possibly by deflating the value of
existing coins by creating more supply. That these coins are worth anything at
all was sort of luck by being early in the race. The top 10 - 20 coins don't
seem to change much.

These airdrops were an expectation from the start. The first coins from this
organization were also airdropped and they have done other airdrops since.

I'm not a guru in this space, but I believe the idea for Stellar was to be
more of a utility coin as opposed to a store of value.

~~~
whatshisface
Why would anyone back a cryptocurrency whose operator can simply whisk new
coins into existence?

~~~
james_pm
This is different from US dollars how?

~~~
whatshisface
The US government is ultimately beholden to US citizens, who don't want to get
hosed by inflation. People who can't vote in America do actually have a
legitimate reason to be concerned: if the US ever can't maintain its debt, it
will likely become in the voter's interests to devalue the currency to
nothing. That's basically the "default risk" on Treasury bonds.

------
dummy
I am excited about this XLM Airdrop. On the one hand the reputation of
cryptocurrencies and in particular XLM will increase. And on the other hand,
Keybase also creates real life use cases for the cryptopcurrencies, away from
Crypto exchanges.

------
Angelofanarchy
Great news and great partnership, being here in 2019 is exciting. Everything
is evolving and the blockchain is a wise choice to take. Good work to
everybody on Keybase and Stellar, of course to HN too, keep going guys!

------
StavrosK
This happened? So even though I have a Keybase account that I use regularly,
because I didn't click "join the airdrop", I missed this month's giveaway?

~~~
malgorithms
Nope, that's not the case, in fact you'll get the Lumens automatically within
a day or so. If you want to _continue_ after the first month, you'll need to
click the button in the app saying you want to. But you have a month to do
that.

~~~
jazzyjackson
I don't see any details on this in my keybase, it's a big confusing to say
something has already happened and I'm wondering if I was included or not...
I've verified my HN and GitHub.

Perhaps it's still being rolled out, can't complain :)

~~~
regnerba
I had to fully quit the app and launch it again before the "airdrop" button
appeared. Still unsure myself about the first airdrop. I used my account
regularly, was able to join the airdrop so meet all the criteria, but havne't
had any Lumens added to my wallet.

~~~
MastrChefRocks
According to Chris(1), the rollout "might take a couple days" because of a
lazy sending script they're using

1: [https://keybase.io/chris](https://keybase.io/chris)

~~~
regnerba
Thanks for the info. Will wait and see.

------
killjoywashere
What's the going rate for alpaca socks?

------
Slinkydu
Hello, i just want to ask. i just created and keybase account. that was before
sept 9. does this mean i don't get any airdrop? not even for the next month or
so?

~~~
Hayashi151
your question is confusing. when did you create the keybase account? BEFORE or
AFTER 9/9/19? if after, do you have any older GH or HN accounts before 9/9?

------
hmhrex
Could this potentially dilute the worth of XLM?

~~~
BigWhig
Could this dilute the value of HN?

------
cryptono
very great sir

------
mpascale00
I appreciate the free money, but is their goal to get me to use this
cryptocurrency?

~~~
mr_the_face
Yes, yes it is. Or at least become familiar with it.

------
Grrr222
New to Keybase & Hacker News.Seems legit and a good tool to start learning the
ins and outs.

------
griss2823
Quisiera hacer una pregunta yo soy nueva en keybase pero si ya tenia cuenta en
GitHub antes del 9 que quiere decir que estoy en la primera ronda?

------
dondryder
Didn't Stellar recently do a similar airdrop with Blockchain wallet? Seems a
contrived way to increase adoption/use of xlm...

~~~
keussen
Correct, but they're now winding down the airdrop. You can read more about it
here: [https://blog.blockchain.com/2019/07/15/airdrops-adoption-
wha...](https://blog.blockchain.com/2019/07/15/airdrops-adoption-whats-ahead/)

~~~
BigWhig
Thanks

~~~
chouchou312
Grab your free XLM worth $25 while it still lasts. Also means to register your
identity

------
hashtagjohnt
I can't believe this is actually in the terms of service:

7\. YOU AGREE TO HELP SPREAD THE WORD. You vow to lean about Stellar by
visiting [https://stellar.org](https://stellar.org) and by testing Stellar-in-
Keybase, simply by sending Lumens to people you care about, or at least your
enemies' enemies. You will aim to encourage 5 people to join Keybase for its
Stellar features.

I legitimately might not sign up now.

~~~
gilrain
Whimsy? In my grim, algorithmic reality? It's more likely than you think.

