Everyday, thousands of people search “how to make money online,” and that number is growing with every year. As cryptocurrency continues on its path towards legitimacy, search results for those looking to make money online will start to overlap with the niche of individuals looking for ways to earn crypto online.
In fact, the results are largely the same. If you want bigger bags of your favorite crypto, you’re going to have to offer some value in exchange. Fortunately, for those researching the topic at the time of writing, there are blockchain-specific ways of earning cryptocurrency, and some require little work upfront.
This article will focus on a blend of ways you can earn crypto, from full-blown businesses to simple click-and-earn schemes. Let’s get to it!
How to Earn Cryptocurrency in 2019
1. Micro Tasks
Completing micro tasks (sometimes referred to as bounties) for a small monetary reward might be the most interesting item on this list. In a way, it’s what happens when freelancing meets crowdsourcing.
Companies offer a reward for the completion of tasks ranging from articles written, to retweets, to referrals. The goal is usually to inspire mass participation, and depending on the type of task, higher-quality work is rewarded with higher compensations. This realm has opened up a new career path for some.
Known as bounty hunters, there’s a growing group of people making full-time incomes hunting for micro tasks, and being paid in cryptocurrency. The trend seems to have started on Bitcointalk, and has grown from there to more specialized platforms.
Today there are websites dedicated to legitimizing the micro-task industry, and right now Bounty0x is the industry-leading platform of this emerging marketplace. They’ve created a mutually incentivized ecosystem for companies to host bounties, hunters to complete tasks, and users (called Sheriffs) to quality check submitted work.
Bounty0x is being built on a blockchain with it’s own token, BNTY, in order to incentivize high-quality work, and to solve the trust problems that traditional bounty platforms have.
There’s also a built-in staking feature for Sheriffs, and the team recently announced a staking feature for Hunters as a way to reduce platform fees.
Bounty0x aims to become the “Coinbase of earning crypto,” and completing tasks is simple. Register in just seconds by clicking here.
2. Crypto Blogging Platforms
If you’re reading this, you’ve likely read an article posted on the blogging platform Medium. Writers can post articles for free, other users can “clap” (upvote) if they like the post (up to 50 claps!) and the author can build a following.
A crypto blogging platform takes this idea and turns those “claps” into satoshis. The most popular example of one of these platforms is called Steemit. The more upvotes a blog post receives, the more the author gets paid. The amount an article has made is even publicly displayed on each post, and the amount the author has in their on-site wallet is available as well.
Steemit was built by EOS and BitShares founder Dan Larimer, and requires the use of STEEM.
Taking the crypto-blogging platform idea to the next level, you can earn crypto for publishing and reading on Publish0x, a blockchain-agnostic platform that allows authors to sign up for free and earn tips from their readers, in one of many cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, the reader receives a portion of the tip they give, and they can choose how big their portion is by use of a sliding scale.
Publish0x pays it’s users for both publishing and reading, and presents a unique project in this industry.
Quick note: The website is currently in beta, so payouts are limited to HYDRO, DAI and BAT for the time being. Tipping on Publish0x is restricted to ERC-20 token tipping for now.
3. Accept Crypto as Payment
For readers who have their own company, or at the very least, an entrepreneurial itch, it’s never been easier than it is now to accept cryptocurrency as a payment. This is especially true for e-commerce websites.
Platforms like Shopify or WordPress plugins like WooCommerce allow merchants to easily accept cryptocurrencies as payment. You can accept a variety of coins, and either hold them until you choose to sell, or have them converted instantly into fiat.
If you’ve been thinking of starting your own side hustle, now would be a great time to put the effort in.
4. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing, or affiliate sales, might be the best way to get into making money online.
When you’re starting out, you need either time or money to get the ball rolling. For those with more time on their hands than money, you can make legitimate amounts of crypto if you do affiliate marketing right.
In a nutshell, you’ll be selling a company’s product or service in exchange for a commission of the sale. In the case of cryptocurrencies, the 2 most popular options are exchanges like Coinbase, and hardware wallets like Ledger Nano S — which is conveniently on a holiday sale for 30% off, at the time of writing.
For example, every link in this section (and only this section) is an affiliate link. You can tell by hovering over the link, because there’s extra information attached to the end of the URL.
If you click on them, the author receives a commission for each successful sale. For Coinbase, both the reader and the author receive $10 if the reader signs up and deposits more than $100 into their new Coinbase account.
There’s really only 2 initial steps you need to take for Coinbase: sign up if you don’t already have an account, and spread your link. Coinbase makes it really easy on its users, and displays an “Invite” button on the main dashboard. Once you have an account, simply click the Invite button, copy your link, and share it with your audience.
Affiliate sales for a hardware wallet are very similar. First, sign up for their affiliate program, then use your affiliate link when recommending a hardware wallet to your audience. For Ledger, you’ll receive a commission of 10%, with monthly payouts in Bitcoin.
Note: Before you can receive payments from Ledger, you’ll need to earn at least 50 EUR in commissions, with at least 2 sales.
Learning how to build a successful affiliate marketing campaign requires little upfront cost, and forces you to learn 2 of the most important skills in business: building an audience, and sales. As shown above, it’s simple to get started, but difficult to succeed.
Affiliate marketing is present in almost every online business out there, so earning cryptocurrency would require a crypto centered audience, combined with the ability to sell to that audience. This takes time and skill, but succeeding here means you understand the basics of business.
5. Freelancing
It’s possible you’ve built up your skill set over the years to include writing, photography, video editing, etc. If this is the case, it’s probable to find companies looking to hire you. If you’re looking to start building skills, there are endless resources available for a variety of skill sets, often free of charge.
Freelancing has one of the lowest barriers to entry when considering what kind of online business to start. Not only are there crypto companies looking for talent, there are freelance job boards that only pay in cryptocurrency.
Here are a few places you can start looking:
- Bitgigs.com
- CryptocurrencyJobs.co
- Cryptogrind.com
- Ethlance.com
6. Day Trading
I’m not a trader, so this topic is over my head. That being said, reading charts and trading without emotion can be a lucrative daily activity for those who know what they’re doing. Like any skill, it takes years of consistent practice to get good.
It’s best to start trading paper money (trading simulators) and slowly edge your way into the actual market. You can practice trading crypto with real-time prices at WhaleClub for free. It’s a great way to get used to the terminology and tools used while trading live.
For those with a few years worth of trading under their belts, the most popular exchanges that give you access to a full set of trading tools are Bitmex and Bitfinex.
7. Gambling
There are a number of online casinos that pay winners in cryptocurrency.
If you’ve got a high risk tolerance and nerves of steel, this might be right up your alley. Crypto casinos are typically more convenient than your average online casinos, because oftentimes they don’t require any user verification or personal information.
It’s best to keep your wits about you when traversing this space. You’re moving into a mostly unregulated section of a mostly unregulated industry, so make sure you can trust the platform you choose to use.
For more detailed information on the world of crypto gambling, and a few safety tips, check out this CoinClarity post.
8. Mining
There’s a handful of millionaires (billionaires?) walking around today that put together a mining rig in 2010 and earned thousands of Bitcoins while they slept.
When a cryptocurrency uses a Proof-of-Work consensus algorithm, it requires miners to perform difficult mathematical algorithms in exchange for a block reward. The profit margin depends on the current market price of a coin, minus the cost of electricity and cooling required for mining rigs.
While mining Bitcoin isn’t nearly as profitable as it once was (not profitable at all at the time of writing), there’s still opportunity to make some passive income mining other altcoins. You can build your own rig, or sign up for a cloud mining service that takes care of all the tech-savvy stuff for you.
9. Masternodes
Masternodes are still somewhat low-key in the cryptocurrency space, but they’re an awesome way to earn passive income.
Very similar to mining, masternodes are responsible for block verification in Proof-of-Stake projects, and require users to dedicate their computers’ processing power to the network.
Each masternode requires a certain amount of its native token to be staked. For example, Dash masternodes require 1,000 DASH to be staked in a masternode wallet. The technical process won’t be covered here, so for a solid beginner’s guide, check out this article.
Your masternode return-on-investment depends on multiple factors, and their recent increase in interest earned has caused some scammers to enter the space. That said, Dash nodes earn an estimated 6.8% annually. Finding a masternode project now that succeeds long term could be one of the best investments out there.
10. Staking
Some Proof-of-Stake coins allow users to stake their cryptos in exchange for a reward. It’s very similar to setting up a masternode, but much less involved. All that’s typically required is storing your coins in a designated wallet, and the more coins you stake, the more you’ll be rewarded.
For example, Komodo offers 5% annually. Cardano is planning to introduce the option to stake cryptos soon, and Ethereum is following suit.
Then there’s EOS, which allows users to stake their tokens in exchange for network resources. Instead of earning more EOS tokens, stakers are able to rent network resources to dapp developers in exchange for a fee.
11. Crypto Faucets
Crypto faucets are pretty cool. They range from websites packed with ads, to full-on games, with the common thread of paying out small amounts of crypto in exchange for your time and attention.
The more basic ones simply require participants to complete a CAPTCHA, others payout after a survey is completed, and one app even pays out satoshis for killing aliens.
At the end of the day, this is the least lucrative way to earn cryptocurrency, assuming you find a minimal amount of success using the rest of the methods on this list. Of course, it also happens to be one of the easiest and most consistent ways to fill your bags.
12. Airdrops
Airdrops can be the easiest way to earn cryptocurrencies.
Sometimes they require mindless tasks like following a company on Twitter, sharing posts on Facebook, or simply holding the right crypto at the right time. Often they’re used as way to market a project during the ICO phase.
EOS is likely the most popular example of this. EOS started as an ERC-20 during their ICO phase, and when it came to an end in summer 2018, token holders were required to register for a token swap. This allowed users to receive EOS-blockchain-based tokens, and simultaneously register for EOS-based airdrops.
Stellar also conducted a massive airdrop event, the largest airdrop at the time of writing, giving away $125 million dollars worth of XLM to Blockchain wallet users.
For a more detailed information on airdrops, check out our guide to cryptocurrency airdrops.
13. HODL
Hands down the simplest way to earn cryptocurrency, if you can handle the volatility.
Earn fiat in real life, buy into a cryptocurrency you believe in, and hold on for dear life. Buy low, sell high, repeat on a long-term scale. Your patience could pay extremely well here.
A general rule of thumb for crypto hodlers is this: the less time and energy you want to spend in the cryptocurrency space, the longer-term your expectations should be.
Of course there’s a mandatory baseline of attention you need to pay when moving your money around, but if after your research you determine another cryptocurrency bull run is imminent, then dollar cost average in and keep your coins secure.
The next level from there is to gain knowledge of how markets work, that way you’ll be prepared to sell a portion of your holdings when the market is overbought, and buy the dip when it’s oversold.
This is obvious for the veterans out there, but keep in mind that markets are largely driven by emotions, and nobody can predict the top or bottom of the market. The more buying/selling you do, the more risk/volatility you subject yourself too.
This can be a double-edged sword, so arm yourself with as much knowledge and experience as possible to increase your chances of ending up in the green.