MIT Study Reveals New Data on Free Bitcoin Airdrop

In the spring of 2014, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology unveiled an ambitious plan.
Spurred by active enthusiasts on campus, the prestigious US university raised $500,000 with the goal of distributing $100 in bitcoin to every student on campus. Completed in the fall of 2014, the project would spur similar experiments at campuses around the globe.
But despite the buzz around the so-called bitcoin airdrop, not much was known about its success or the impression it left on students. Now, a study by MIT researchers has provided new details by using the event as a way to research “early adopters“, or individuals likely to be among the first to use or evangelize for a new technology.
Though the study seeks to broadly answer questions about early technology adoption, the incidental findings in the report provide context about how the bitcoin airdrop was received by students.

This post was published at Coin Desk on August 24, 2016.