How do you get people to try out cryptocurrency when the market is in a prolonged slump? You can try giving it away.
That’s what the makers of a little known digital currency, known as ZRX, are doing. In an initiative announced on Wednesday, users of the popular crypto exchange Coinbase can earn a few tokens of ZRX by watching videos and taking quizzes. Here’s a screenshot:
No one is going to get rich watching the videos, however. A person at Coinbase familiar with the project said participants will earn roughly $3 worth of ZRX tokens, but added that the company expects to offer the same arrangement for other cryptocurrencies.
“Traditionally, the two ways people get cryptocurrency are by mining or buying. Mining cryptocurrency typically means high setup costs and technical knowledge, while buying cryptocurrency requires disposable income to exchange for cryptocurrencies, which limits access. Earning cryptocurrency is a third option,” said Coinbase in blog post explaining the project.
In the case of ZRX, the creators of the cryptocurrency have reportedly earmarked 1.6 million tokens to give away through Coinbase, which amounts to around $500,000 given the tokens current price of 34 cents.
The ZRX tokens can be used in a blockchain project known as 0x, which offers a decentralized exchange for trading a wide variety of tokens.
For Coinbase, the ZRX education campaign represents a new phase for a company called Earn that it acquired last year. Earn paid users small amounts of cryptocurrency to complete small marketing tasks. Since the acquisition, Earn’s CEO Balaji CEO has become Coinbase’s CTO, and it appears the company is being rolled up into a new entity called Coinbase Earn.