How To Earn Crypto For Free

It is no surprise that people are looking for ways to get involved and accumulate digital assets. However, not everyone can afford to buy crypto due to their financial situation. In this guide, we will show you how to earn Bitcoin and crypto for free.

List of the Best Ways To Earn Crypto For Free

1. Savings Accounts

A crypto savings account has become a hugely popular earning method to make money with crypto and is widely accessible on centralized exchanges as well as dedicated platforms.

Utilizing a crypto savings account has low requirements to get started, and the entire buying and locking-up process can usually be performed on the same platform. The yields on offer aren’t as high as other methods on this list. Some of the most popular platforms to earn interest include Binance Earn, Nexo, and Crypto.com. At the time of writing, investors can earn an APY of 3% or higher on well-known currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDC, and Solana using the Crypto.com App.

What’s interesting about Crypto.com’s earning structure is that some tiers affect yield. Users who stake the platform’s native CRO token unlock greater earning potential on supported cryptocurrencies. Locking up crypto for longer terms will result in higher yields too.

This is a fairly consistent metric among crypto savings accounts. Customers can choose flexible terms, which come with a much lower APY but allow investors to react quickly to market movement. Alternatively, crypto holders can lock their tokens for periods of 12 months or more and receive greater returns, but run the risk of their now-inaccessible coins dropping in price.

Another consideration to make is that crypto savings accounts are not typically strong in terms of consumer protection. Certain exchanges and crypto savings accounts will be insured, so it is well worth researching this to calibrate risk appetite.

Other platforms allow interest to be accrued and paid daily. This allows Bitcoin and crypto interest to compound and grow.

Asset	Interest Rate APY
Bitcoin	4.9% per year
Ethereum	3.6% per year
Litecoin	3.8% per year
GUSD	8.6% per year
USDC	8.6% per year

An example of a new savings account with 0.37 Bitcoin and 1.85 Ethereum deposited. In the last 2 months (at the time of writing), this account earned $54.08 in interest. This may seem like a small amount, but with compound interest applied the account balance will increase from $7,657 to approximately $9,612 in the next 48 months by storing the funds in the interest account.

2. Staking

Staking is the process of locking up crypto tokens in a “smart contract” to help validate transactions on the blockchain. Whenever staked tokens are selected to verify trades on a certain blockchain, they receive a reward, usually a portion of the transaction fee. Staking has become the natural successor of mining crypto, due to it being much friendlier for the environment.

Staking is a little similar to using a crypto savings account. Stakers must lock up their tokens for a third party to use and will receive additional tokens as interest. The key difference is that savings accounts have no bearing on the economic operation of a blockchain. On the other hand, staking helps secure a network and ensure it runs smoothly.

Ready to start staking? Read our guide on how to stake crypto.

Additionally, staking is often required to receive governance votes. These votes can then be used to put forward proposals or support new ideas for the blockchain’s direction. Staking can help users get involved with the day-to-day functioning of their investments. The amount that can be earned through staking is dictated by a few things. The biggest variable is network congestion – the more people there are staking, the less the potential earnings. However, other factors such as gas fees and commission rates can also play a role.

Staking was initially done through supported wallets, or directly on-chain via a decentralized application. The process has simplified immensely over the past few years, and several popular exchanges now support staking as well as savings accounts. Binance has one of the most comprehensive and best staking platforms of any well-known centralized exchange. Companies that exclusively stake a range of crypto assets have begun cropping up too, with Lido.Fi and StakeWise now available.

Staking can also be done via certain decentralized exchanges. It’s worth noting that DEXs may only support staking their native token, which can become inconvenient if staking multiple cryptocurrencies.

In general, staking will typically offer a greater reward than using a savings account or debit card. This is because it tends to be a little bit riskier. Staking is actioned through smart contracts, which are still a new technology. They can be prone to bugs or exploits, meaning staked assets are vulnerable if the network is breached.

The vast majority of staker's lack the capital and tech power to run an entire operation on their lonesome. Instead, they will use stake pools (known as delegating). If the manager of a pool (known as a validator) misbehaves, they are at risk of being slashed. Through no fault of the delegator, they can end up losing all of their cryptos due to a validator’s malicious activity.

This is why it’s important to choose a reputable validator when staking directly through a wallet or a DeFi application. Assessing criteria such as uptime, total value staked and commission fees will help narrow down the options. Sticking to the best crypto DEX is a viable approach for those wanting to earn higher staking returns.

3. Yield Farming

Yield farming is a process that leverages decentralized finance technology known as AMM – automated market makers. AMM-based exchanges rely on liquidity pools to work. Investors can lend their tokens to these pools in exchange for interest, or occasionally a portion of the fees paid on any transactions.

When certain pools have low liquidity, exchanges algorithmically increase the APY rates to encourage investors to lock up tokens. Once adequate liquidity has been achieved, the yield drops. Yield farming involves finding these “low liquidity, high APY” pools, farming them until the earning potential plummets, and then moving on to the next high-reward pool. Utilizing yield farming this way unlocks some of the highest potentials for a yield of any earning method. Well-optimized strategies can bring returns of 100% APY.

Beefy.finance is an example yield farming platform with a total value locked of $470 million as of May 2022. There are over 700 “vaults” (essential pools for specific tokens) to choose from. Users can deposit their cryptocurrency into a vault and earn yield. The platform even shows a safety score, which can help risk-averse earners avoid dangerous earning pools.

Yield farming, even with an aggregator, can be incredibly risky. It is an extremely competitive sub-section of decentralized finance. Pools with notably high APYs can become unprofitable very quickly. If someone’s strategy isn’t great, or they are simply a bit slow, they can end up losing crypto due to fees and locking periods.

4. Learning About Crypto

Various crypto platforms offer their customers free crypto in exchange for completing various tasks and watching educational videos. It’s a great starting point as it gives new investors a little bit of upfront capital and teaches them the ins and outs of cryptocurrency. This process is typically referred to as “Learn and Earn” and is quite similar to micro-tasking for small amounts of money. It is offered by a lot of major exchanges, with more likely to follow suit.

Coinbase Earn and Binance Academy are two high-profile examples of learn-to-earn products. Interestingly, portfolio manager and market tracker Coinmarketcap offer a learn-to-earn service too.

Earning free cryptocurrency can be accessible to anyone with a Coinbase account. The exchange offers an educational program that pays rewards for learning about blockchain projects. The reward amount does vary depending on the specific coin. The amount received in crypto for each quiz that is completed can be converted into Bitcoin using Coinbase Pro.

Any eligible Coinbase user can participate in Coinbase earn to view educational content for the supported cryptocurrency coins on the website. To earn more than $500 in free cryptocurrency, participants will need to: 

• Watch educational videos on the selected coin
• Pass the multiple-choice quiz at the end
• Receive cryptocurrency in Coinbase wallet

The selection of cryptocurrencies offered does change and is for a limited time only. Overall, for beginners in the cryptocurrency space, Coinbase Earn is a simple and easy way to earn a few hundred dollars for learning about a blockchain project.

Cryptocurrency	Earn Amount
Filecoin	$6
Band Protocol (BAND)	$43
Compound (COMP)	$59
Stella Lumens (XLM)	$50
Algorand	$6

Naturally, learning about crypto isn’t a very lucrative earning method. Each platform caps profits at around $US 10–60, although this figure will vary. When you consider the time it takes to accrue this balance, it may not be worth it for everyone.

However, if users take advantage of all the major learn-to-earn programs out there, it can be a useful way to get a grip on the cryptocurrency ladder. There are very few risks to earning crypto this way other than time and verification documents to get started, which can make it an appealing option.

5. Cashback Reward Apps

One of the easiest ways to get free Bitcoin is by using a cashback loyalty app. These are loyalty programs that allow users to earn a small commission when they shop at an online merchant or vendor that supports the cashback program. Two of the most popular Bitcoin Cash Back & Rewards Apps are:

• Lolli App
• Foldapp

Bitcoin rewards apps are free to download and there is no cost to sign up and create an account. Shoppers will need to install a Chrome extension on their internet browser to begin earning Bitcoin rebates with their online shopping purchases.  

Bitcoin cashback reward apps work by paying out a small percentage of the sale amount to the shopper's Bitcoin wallet. The percentage amount does depend on the retailer and there can be a waiting period of up to 90 days. Bitcoin reward apps such as Lolli provide access to thousands of online shopping deals and discounts from popular online stores around the world as shown below.

Online Store	Bitcoin Cashback Percentage
Walmart	Up to 3.5%
Macy's	Up to 5%
Booking.com	Up to 3.5%
Nike	Up to 3%
Adidas	Up to 7%
Sephora	Up to 4.5%

Once the app is installed on Chrome and the user visits a supported online retailer, a pop-up will automatically appear with the rebate percentage. When a purchase is made, the user's account will be credited with Bitcoins once the refund period has expired.

The free Bitcoins can then be withdrawn to a trusted crypto wallet for safekeeping. Below is an example of a Lolli account that has accrued 0.0054 free Bitcoins, the equivalent of USD 96 at current prices for buying a few items online.

6. Polls & Surveys

Consumer information is being collected each day online and sold to 3rd party organizations for a profit. Decentralized data exchange networks such as INSTARS allow everyday individuals to earn free cryptocurrency by selling their data and feedback on consent.

Users can earn popular cryptocurrencies like INSTAR, EOS, and DAI by engaging with the platform by participating in the following activities. These tokens can be staked on the platform to earn additional rewards or transferred to a trading exchange for Bitcoin.

• Registration bonus for verifying a new account
• Capture a photograph of shopping receipts
• Completing surveys and polls
• Learning about cryptocurrency and blockchain projects
• Sharing with a friend (or two)

A way to earn free Bitcoins is by completing online polls and surveys. Using the INSTARS platform, users can complete daily activities and be rewarded with EOS tokens for each task completed. The surveys are based on the information provided in the user's profile.

Users can also upload a receipt of goods or service purchases with feedback on the experience to get free crypto. Each person can upload up to three receipts per day and must clearly show the business name, address, date, transaction number, and total amount. Once the image and description of the experience with a rating are reviewed, their wallet will be deposited with EOS tokens.

7. Referral Programs

Individuals can promote cryptocurrency products through word of mouth to friends and family to earn a small bonus. The top crypto exchanges will reward the new business with a registration bonus for bringing in new customers. Anyone can participate in these referral programs using a special promotion code or referral link to generate additional income. One of the most popular crypto referral programs is Coinbase which rewards $10 USD for each new customer that trades the exchange.

How it works:

1. Visit the website and create an account with Coinbase
2. Copy the referral link or send an invitation email to a friend.
3. Get paid $10 USD when a referred user creates an account and trades more than $100 USD in fiat

Individuals with a social media account or website with a following can participate in exchange affiliate programs to earn free digital currency. Using the same example, Coinbase Affiliates will reward its users with 50% of referred customers' trading fees for the first 3 months. The higher the number of affiliate accounts, the greater the potential for recurring revenue.

8. Airdrops

Airdrops are one of the most unique earning opportunities out there. They can be completely free to participate in. The concept is simple – newly released or upcoming cryptocurrencies will airdrop a certain amount of tokens to community members. This is done to artificially encourage spending within the ecosystem. The way airdrops prioritize recipients will vary. Some may be completely random, some may be like a lottery system, whereas others will require tokens to be staked or locked into a pool to be eligible.

For example, let’s say Solana was releasing a new ecosystem token to use within their blockchain. The developers may just randomly airdrop the new tokens to Solana holders.

Alternatively, the airdropped tokens could be distributed to the top 500 stakers on the network, or to the most-active community members on their Discord, forums, or Telegram platforms. To participate, people might have to like or subscribe to a social media account or share a post. This is not an exhaustive list of how airdrops can be distributed, and it’s worth assessing each event on its own merits.

Participating in airdrops requires research. Keeping up to date on news and upcoming crypto releases can help ensure investors don’t miss any opportunities. Certain platforms have added support to keep their community updated on airdrops in the future.

CoinMarketCap has its own airdrop system where users can view past events as well as get involved in any that are ongoing or upcoming. Some popular crypto exchanges like Binance also offer airdrop opportunities to their customers, although deposits may be required to participate.

Although airdrops can sometimes be seen as “free money”, this is not always the case. Certain events will need upfront capital to participate. Additionally, airdrops can be prone to massive sell-offs. While the purpose of these is to encourage adoption and community spending, once an airdrop is complete it’s very common to see an immediate drop in price as recipients sell their share for profit. They are also very competitive, and it can be hard to find “free airdrops” that don’t fill up very quickly. And something that many airdrop participants don’t actually know – any tokens received for free will be liable to taxation.

To ensure these are included in end-of-year reporting, it is recommended to use credible tax software for crypto.

9. Play-to-Earn

Play-to-earn games are the complete inverse of the increasingly popular mobile game model of microtransactions. These games are quite versatile – they range from underdeveloped flash games to entire worlds filled with strategy and content. The purpose of these games paying out cryptocurrency is very similar to airdrops. They are intended to increase the adoption and community use of the token and its associated gaming platform.

The potential rewards on offer tend to scale based on investment, time or money. For example, smaller, browser-based games like Crypto POPCOIN typically require no upfront capital to participate. However, earnings will often be capped at a few dollars per hour.

Conversely, major play-to-earn games tend to revolve around NFTs. While there isn’t always a requirement to purchase any to get started, it usually becomes easier to earn with more NFT items owned. Earnings can be paid out in various ways – native tokens per hour played/battles won, lottery pools or NFT drops that can be sold or traded on a third-party marketplace. There have been numerous popular P2E crypto games released that, while having earning potential, are fun to play in their own right.

Perhaps the most well-known crypto-based game is Axie Infinity, a trading card game that borrows a lot of tropes and gameplay from the classic Pokemon series. Players can build their “decks” and level up their army, giving them a greater chance of winning battles and earning crypto or unique NFT items. As of May 2022, the game boasts a whopping 2.8 million active players and is a popular way to invest in crypto when under 18 years old but accruing small amounts.

Other prominent play-to-earn games include The Sandbox (metaverse), Splinterlands (trading cards), Gods Unchained (trading cards), Zed.run (virtual horse racing and breeding), and Ember Sword (MMORPG).

Crypto-based P2E games can be fun but are lagging behind prominent PC and console offerings. The grind required just to accrue a decent profit is unlikely to be worth it while playing a game that simply isn’t that engaging. Additionally, investing in NFT items to start off strong can be risky if the gaming platform ends up failing and the price of its associated token drops.

Frequently Asked Questions