It was Feb. 27, 2025, a typical workday for Utah resident Kaden Jesperson. He was on his lunch break, scrolling through his Instagram feed when he came across an interesting post from Utah Treasure Drop.
“Drop in this area in the next five minutes,” the post read.
“Oh, that’s where I work!” Jesperson said. “I paid attention, and then they dropped the location, and I said, ‘Oh my gosh that’s at the Panda Express like two minutes up the road!’”
He bolted out of work, sped up the road to the Panda Express, and found a tiny gold envelope. He opened the envelope to find $100 cash.
“Thirty seconds after I grabbed it, two dudes came running in to grab it. I just barely beat them,” Jesperson said.
He and many other Utah residents have won the luck of the draw while scrolling through social media.
Brand-new companies like Cash Drop Utah and Utah Treasure Drop bring adventure and a chance at winning big to those who are watching.
The most notable and active account is Cash Drop Utah. They started in February 2025. They already have more than 45,000 followers on Instagram and more than 22,000 followers on TikTok.
The account’s growing popularity was not anticipated by Cash Drop Utah’s co-founder, Bailee Carlson. What started as a way to get students at their local high school off their phones and out of the house has now become a statewide trend attracting people of all ages.
While cash is the prize, adventure is the reason.
“From there it started taking off," Carlson said. "We started having families show up, and then we started having 50-year-old men on their motorcycles showing up. It’s just expanded to the whole state of Utah.”
Utah resident Case Gehring won a quick $20 from a cash drop and enjoyed the hunt that came with it. Gehring, like Jesperson, was casually on social media when he learned of a drop near his house.
“It was a fun little scavenger hunt," Gehring said. "It got a lot of people outside. It was nice to get outside and then obviously win some cash. Who doesn’t like free money right?”
In addition to the adventure and quick couple of bucks, Gehring speaks on the positive impacts Cash Drop Utah is making for small businesses.
“I think it’s a good thing," Gehring said. "They’re helping other businesses, posting where they’re at. I’ve been able to find what kind of businesses are here in St. George now that I’m new here.”
Along with helping small businesses, Carlson is committed to making Cash Drop Utah an official charity brand. She speaks about plans to give to the community in ways that don’t involve cash.
“The cash is what started it," Carlson said. "I think if we were to not do cash, people would still show up now because people know our mission … we’re trying to work into becoming a 501c, basically a charity so that we can have different types of donations.”
While Carlson is not completely sure how the future of Cash Drop Utah will play out, it has undoubtedly carried out its mission to get people outside.
For more updates from Cash Drop Utah, take a look at their pages on TikTok and Instagram.