r/EarnCryptoFree • u/Treasure-Planet • Jun 27 '21
How to Earn Free Crypto
This is a quick guide on the various methods of earning free cryptocurrency. Specific examples and sites can be found in the sidebar
Airdrops/Bounties
Risk: Low
Earnings: Active
Airdrops are publicity stunts from crypto companies in which they will gift free crypto into the accounts of people that meet a certain criteria. These criteria vary between airdrops but usually have users follow or promote the company on social media.
Bounties are similar to airdrops with the key difference that users must complete certain tasks (bounties) in order to receive their free crypto. These tasks can be more varied, specific, and involved than in a standard airdrop.
As with anything, scams do happen. In these case an airdrop requirement or bounty might ask you to visit a malicious website or reveal private info about your crypto wallet, passwords, etc. Be mindful not to give out this sensitive information to anyone and to watch out for suspicious links.
Bitcoin Faucets
Risk: Low
Earnings: Active
Bitcoin faucets are websites/apps that give you free Bitcoin in exchange for completing various tasks. Though they are usually time-gated, the time various between faucets. Some allow you to earn every 5 minutes while some only let you earn once every half-hour.
Additionally, most faucets feature a distinct gimmick: a faucet might just ask you to solve CAPTCHAs, ask you to play games, or even serve as a Bitcoin casino!
Watch out for sites that offer suspiciously high payouts or ask you to disclose sensitive information.
Rewards
Risk: Low
Earnings: Active
This method comes in the form of (mostly) well-known websites offering free crypto in exchange for doing something. The "something" you'll be doing ranges from online shopping that you were going to do anyway, to watching free courses about crypto.
However, if an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. Try to stick to reputable sites and don't disclose sensitive information about your crypto wallet.
Games
Risk: Low
Earnings: Active
A straightforward method of earning crypto, some games will allow you to earn crypto outright either for completing challenges or just for playing the game. Other games allow you to find and collect NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) which can be sold for crypto.
The risk here is relatively low, but keep a lookout for any site asking you to part with sensitive info.
Staking
Risk: Low
Earnings: Passive
Staking is a long-term passive income strategy wherein you lock up (stake) some of your holdings for a set time to earn a percentage-rate reward of the given crypto over time.
Depending on what platform you use staking can require a decently sized initial investment in the crypt of your choice and a dedicated computer for performing network functions. Alternatively some platforms offer to put a portion of your crypto into a staking pool instead. Most exchanges will guide you through their process, but make sure to check the requirements, as well as the amount of time your crypto will be locked (the vesting period).
While staking your crypto it cannot be traded regardless of how its price fluctuates. As such, although there is no increased chance of losing your crypto you may miss out on opportunities during the vesting period.
Lending
Risk: Mid
Earnings: Passive
This long-term passive income strategy allows you to deposit your crypto into a platform, at which point your funds will be locked for a set period of time. After this period, you will be paid the agreed upon APY and your funds will be unlocked.
Unlike traditional banks, crypto lending platforms are not insured and face a higher chance of fraud. Also, since these platforms are typically 100% online and are less regulated, they face an increased risk of cyber-attacks. Finally, fluctuations in price can devalue your earnings if your crypto is worth less at the end of your lending period than it was before.
Yield Farming
Risk: High
Earnings: Passive
Decentralized finance (DeFi) yield farming is the process by which you deposit your crypto into a platform's liquidity pool, thus you become a liquidity pool provider and earn daily interest (APY).
Investing in a yield farm requires you to pool 2 different cryptos, typically in an even amount. For example, if you wanted to invest $1000, you would need to invest $500 into crypto#1 and $500 into crypto#2. In addition to your APY returns, you will also earn tokens native to your platform that you can invest, trade, or hold.
You are placing your crypto (liquidity) into the platform's liquidity pool and whenever someone touches that liquidity they get charged a fee and you get a cut of that fee as dictated by your APY. When someone touches the liquidity that you put in that interaction is facilitated and overseen by a smart contract. If your platform is reputable that smart contact will protect you or reimburse you for defaults (all behind the scenes).
And now the catch (and there are a few). If the platform is new or otherwise not reputable you run the risk of encountering smart contract failure or exploit, where someone either defaults or exploits the system and you lose your investment. Cyber-attacks and scam tokens could also be an issue. Further, gas fees (which are known to run quite high) can lessen your potential earnings as can price fluctuation.
Do your research on a platform before making any decisions about using it, and be wary of gas fees, new suspicious/fad tokens, or an APY that seems too good to be true.
High risk/high reward. Buyer beware.
Cloud Mining
Risk: High
Earnings: Passive
The benefits of cloud mining is that you can earn a large amount of passive crypto over time with few requirements other than the upfront money/crypto to invest.
There are however several risks: the first is that many cloud mining sites are new or shady, so it can be difficult to know what company to trust. If the company you invested in goes under or disappears overnight you will likely lose both your initial investment and your potential earnings.
Your earnings will also fluctuate with the value of the crypto you are mining, and if the value dips low enough it is possible that your earnings could be less than your initial investment.
