Getting into crypto sounds exciting—until you realize you need money to start. With Bitcoin and Ethereum prices swinging like a rollercoaster, many people assume earning crypto requires big investments. But what if you could earn free cryptocurrency instead?
And yeah, yeah, we know how it sounds. “How to earn free crypto online” is a question that often comes with skepticism. Some methods require patience, while others may not be as rewarding as they seem. And with so many options, it’s hard to know which ones are worth your time.
Hopefully, there are legitimate ways to earn free crypto, and you don’t need to be a trading expert to get started. From cashback programs to learning rewards, we’re covering 20+ methods that actually work.
Let’s dive in!
1. Earn Crypto from Crypto Airdrops
Uniswap was not the first airdrop, but it was the one that brought airdrops back on the table. At its highest value, it was worth five figures.
Bitcoin Cash was also an ‘airdrop’ to Bitcoin holders. The BTC holders got new BCH tokens based on the number of BTC in their crypto wallets. The airdrop was worth almost 20% of a bitcoin in 2017.
Note: Bitcoin Cash appeared after one of the hard forks that Bitcoin had; it was not purely an airdrop.
There were many others worth 4 figures or 5 figures.
Hundreds of thousands of people have hunted free crypto airdrops ever since.
However, not all crypto airdrops were so big.
Yet, to get an airdrop, all you need to do is find new projects, get involved, try their services, and test their protocol. You might be eligible for digital assets as a reward.
2. Sign Up on Crypto Exchanges and Claim Exclusive New User Bonuses
Did you know many crypto exchanges incentivize new users by offering generous sign-up bonuses? Some of them don’t hold back at all, rolling out seriously lucrative rewards just for completing a few simple steps. This method is also a super easy way to earn free Bitcoin, among other cryptocurrencies.
Take BYDFi, for example—they’re offering new users up to 8,000 USDT in limited-time rewards for basic tasks like signing up, verifying their account, and a few other easy actions. KuCoin takes it even further, with new users able to claim up to 10,800 USDT in crypto rewards for similar tasks.
These are just a couple of examples. Plenty of other crypto exchanges are handing out sign-up bonuses, some of which can be quite generous. If you want to check out the best and most relevant ones, don’t miss our dedicated article covering 10+ free crypto sign-up bonuses!
3. NFT Giveaways
If you’re an NFT enthusiast, you’ve probably heard of Bored Ape Yacht Club, right? Of course—you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone in the industry who hasn’t.
But what about the less popular projects or those that didn’t have BAYC-level hype, like TRMP Universe? Many artists and developers turn to NFT giveaways or airdrops to promote their work when an NFT project isn’t already well-known. They offer free NFTs to build interest and attract more attention to their collections.
But in this case, from the very beginning, you must know something: you never really know what you’re getting with an NFT giveaway. The NFT you claim might be worth just a few bucks after a month, or if you’re lucky, it could skyrocket in value. Either way, NFT giveaways are considered a safe and relatively easy way to earn free cryptocurrency with little to no risk (of course, if you respect the general safety rules of the industry, like keeping your private keys secret, avoiding phishing, etc.).
If you want to find some worthwhile free NFTs, check out our dedicated article on NFT giveaways!
4. Learn and Earn
To promote their new tokens, certain companies offer small tokens to reward users who read more about their crypto projects. This is usually made possible by creating a partnership with a big brand. You only need to learn, complete quizzes, and claim a few dollars worth of crypto.
You can do this on various platforms, such as:
Coinbase
Coinbase probably has one of the most popular learn and earn programs, having done this for over 6 years. To start earning on Coinbase Learn and Earn, log into your Coinbase account and head to Coinbase Learn.
There, you can choose from multiple guides, and each level offers a reward. However, this service is not available worldwide; only certain countries and accounts are eligible. However, if approved, you can earn tens of dollars in crypto.
CoinMarketCap
CoinMarketCap usually lists a few digital assets you can learn about and earn tokens. Usually, you can watch videos, complete quizzes, and do other such activities to earn various types of crypto coins and tokens, including BNB, DFI, TRX, SXP, ROSE, NEAR, LIKE, PERP, XMS, URUS, NFTB, SAND, and many more.
Revolut
Revolut has an app section where you can complete a few quizzes and earn around $5-$10 in crypto. It’s not much, but that amount can increase in a better market, especially with the growth of the blockchain industry. Furthermore, you can also take advantage of crypto staking on Revolut now, so you do not even need to move your funds. Besides, the guides available change periodically.
Binance
Binance is the largest crypto exchange in the market in terms of trading volume and user base, and it is no wonder why. The platform offers numerous opportunities for beginners and experienced investors alike, including the option to earn crypto assets while completing quizzes.
This feature is available on Binance Academy, and the quizzes published by the exchange are extensive, meaning you can also improve your crypto knowledge significantly.
CoinGecko
CoinGecko is popular thanks to its detailed analysis of various crypto-related topics. As a leading crypto price-tracking platform, it provides real-time market data and offers opportunities to earn free crypto.
For instance, on CoinGecko, you can watch videos to learn about top and emerging crypto projects, complete missions to test your knowledge, and get rewarded for your efforts.
At the moment, you might find guides covering Zeebu, Aleph Zero, Oasys, Sei, NYM, Tezos, Kyber Network, NYM, ALI, Polkadot, Mode Hedera Hashgraph, MANTRA, FDM, and the best crypto security practices.
BitDegree
BitDegree offers an excellent opportunity to earn free tokens by completing educational tasks, making it a great place to learn and earn crypto.
Explore various guides, quizzes, and other activities available on the platform. Check out the latest offers and rewards on Bitdegree Learn Drops.
5. Earn Crypto By Using Layer3 or Intract
Layer3 is a platform where you can do quests and earn XP. XP doesn’t help you with anything other than gamifying the protocol. But, by doing quests, you can get quality for various airdrops.
Layer3 had a few quests about Blurr, Jupiter, Arbitrum, Optimism, Starknet, Zetachain, Scroll, Linea, Base, and many more protocols. If you want a platform where you can earn free crypto by doing quests, Layer3 is the best option.
Intract.io is a platform where you can do exciting crypto-related quests, but they offer a few other incentives, such as:
- Alpha information from the crypto world, sent as a newsletter to your email
- Access to lotteries where you can win high-valued prizes
As with Layer3, you can become eligible for airdrops by interacting with protocols and doing the quests.
Intract.io is fairly new but extremely promising in the Web3 Quests world. We believe using it might lead to a few airdrops worth at least $10,000 annually. And it’s also super fun!
6. Using Brave Browser
Brave Browser is one of the most known privacy-focused browsers right now. In the past, Brave Browser offered rewards if you invited someone to join their program.
A lot of BAT was offered to convince people to try Brave Browser because the product was strong and had a real use case. But that doesn’t mean you can’t earn crypto with Brave Browser now. Their Brave rewards program allows people to see ads and get free coins.
Some users reported earning an income of $5 per month from Brave Browser by just surfing the web. The point is that you will lose money if you don’t use the Brave Browser.
7. Be a ‘Bug’ Hunter – Find Security-Related Bugs and Get Rewarded in Crypto
Any big crypto exchange has a good bug bounty program. You cannot create a top exchange without a bug bounty program that will make your platform even more secure.
That’s why crypto exchanges have decided to offer big bounty rewards.
After all, paying someone a large amount to solve a bug that can become a massive hack or even the company’s insolvency is better.
Kraken has one of the best bug bounty programs in the crypto ecosystem. For a bug classified as critical severity, you can get up to $1,500,000 in Bitcoin.
Crypto.com has another bug bounty program that rewards users up to $2,000,000 for finding security flaws.
Lastly, Binance’s bug bounty program offers up to $100,000 in crypto rewards for all its crypto ecosystems (Binance smart contracts).
These are the best ones, but each major platform should have one. Offering a reward to keep the funds safe has long been necessary for the industry.
8. Affiliate and Referral Programs
The affiliate and referral method is one of the most well-known methods in cryptocurrency and in general. All you need to do is invite someone using your referral/affiliate link – and you’ll earn a reward or commission.
For instance, I invite 10 friends to Binance using my referral link. If each of them signs up and deposits more than $50, I receive a $100 trading fee rebate voucher per referral.
That means if I refer 50 people, I could earn $5,000 in trading fee rebates—just for inviting them to join Binance and make a qualifying deposit.
It’s an easy way to stack rewards while helping others get started with crypto. Pretty cool, right? Binance was just an example, but there are more crypto affiliate programs, such as:
- Ledger – Ledger offers a 10% affiliate commission. So, if you buy a ledger through this link – we’ll make 10% of its worth. Yay, and thank you!
- Coinbase – Coinbase offered $25 in BTC if you referred someone who purchased cryptocurrency worth $100 or more on their platform. And that offer is available since BTC was under $2,000.
- Paxful – Paxful is another example of a good affiliate program, where you can earn 50% of the fees that Paxful gets from your referrals’ trading fees and 10% from the fees of the users invited by your referrals. Sounds tough? You can read the Paxful affiliate program review.
Affiliate marketing is one of the most challenging jobs, though. You need to do a lot of work to obtain a monthly income, and some programs pay only once.
Note: Affiliate marketing requires extensive research and expertise, which you can obtain by searching affiliate marketing courses, surfing the web for tutorials, and, most importantly, by trying.
9. Crypto Faucets
Did you know that at one point in the past, a ‘faucet’ used to give 5 BTC for free? Gavin Anderson, one of the pioneers of Bitcoin, was its creator.
Gavin Anderson created the term “faucet” in the cryptocurrency world by creating the first website where people could get free crypto. His project helped people earn millions in crypto, 19700 BTC more precisely.
After Gavin, more people created this type of website and called them ‘Bitcoin faucets.’ The strategy was simple: visitors would enter the Bitcoin faucet webpage and see a lot of ads, which the webmaster used to gain a profit.
The webmaster would pay the visitor bits of Bitcoin, called Satoshi.
Bitcoin faucets were a big opportunity in the past. You probably won’t make a fortune right now, but it’s another way to earn crypto for free.
If you’re interested in finding out the best faucets, you can check these articles:
- A list of the best bitcoin faucets
- Best dogecoin faucets list
- Best Litecoin faucets list
- Best Ethereum Faucets
One of the best things about crypto faucets is that you don’t need to spend too much time or do something complicated, but the reward is small.
Other Micro-Task Platforms:
- JumpTask – JumpTask allows users to earn JumpToken (JMPT) by completing digital gigs and microtasks.s is that you don’t need to spend too much time or do something complicated, but the reward is small.
- Cointiply – Since its launch, Cointiply has paid its members over $12,000,000 in BTC. Their app has over 500k installs and mostly good reviews on Trustpilot.
- FreeCryptoRewards – You can withdraw over 20 cryptocurrencies, which takes 48 hours.
- Earnviv – Online and paying since 2019, Earnviv is a microtask platform where users can complete simple online tasks to earn cryptocurrency. With a total of $850,517 earned by users, it has proven to be a reliable way to accumulate crypto rewards.
Watch & Earn Free Cryptocurrency
Moreover, some platforms allow you to watch videos and earn digital assets. They’re similar to YouTube, but you are also getting something in this case. One of these services is Odysee, where you can watch videos or upload videos and earn LBRY.
We recently saw someone with 124 views on his video who had already earned $1.6. But we also saw someone with 3000 views that earned only $0.2. It depends on your niche and how good your content is.
Odysee is a way to get extra income if you’re already a content creator or want to become one. It’s a hard process to make a fortune on it, but it’s a needed protocol for decentralization.
You won’t make too much by watching videos or by the earn rewards page from Odysee, but you can earn crypto if you upload quality videos from tips from other users.
10. Earn Crypto by Using a Crypto Debit Card
The first crypto debit card launched by a business was created in 2017.
In 2025, most big exchanges will have their crypto debit card, and you can earn crypto by using it.
Most cryptocurrency debit cards offer a small cashback on purchases, either in BTC or their cryptocurrency.
The most well-known crypto debit cards are Crypto.com debit cards and Wirex debit cards, each offering a cashback.
But some competitors started to appear, such as:
- Trastra debit card – You can get it for free!
- Fold debit cards – Where you have two options: the free one or the $10 per month one with improved benefits.
Crypto debit cards are useful because they allow you to earn extra money from your purchases. It won’t hurt to have one or two.
11. Freelance for Bitcoin on Different Websites
The easiest way you can earn cryptocurrency is by working for it. Many projects seek employees – from technical support and writers to management positions.
My first cryptocurrency bag was made by freelancing on different websites for coins. All you have to do is find a good platform where you can find some projects – and then do your best.
Here are some of the best ones:
- Jobs4Bitcoin – This subreddit is where I landed my first gig. Access is very simple, and you can advertise yourself freely.
- Fiverr – The bad part about Fiverr is that the fees are a bit high, and you don’t have a way to earn crypto, but you can withdraw the earnings to PayPal and use PayPal to buy crypto.
- Upwork – Same as Fiverr, you cannot withdraw crypto from Upwork – but you can find cryptocurrency-related jobs and use the funds you get to buy crypto.
- Anytask – On Anytask, you can earn Electroneum (ETN) only. Electroneum is a cryptocurrency created in 2017, which can also be mined.
Similar to this one, there is another way to earn crypto.
12. Get a Job in the Crypto Industry
The blockchain, the protocols, and the whole new industry that appeared almost ‘overnight’ opened many jobs worldwide.
Tens of thousands of projects are working hard to become well-known. Some have a token, while some don’t. But all of them are looking for capable people to help them succeed.
Here are the best websites to find a crypto job:
- CryptocurrencyJobs – A place where you can find the latest companies hiring. Various jobs are available, from being an intern to the Head of Product or a CMO.
- BitcoinerJobs – This platform is different because it shows which companies are paying in Bitcoin.
- Bitcointalk Marketplace – You can create a topic, post about your experience, and receive messages from interested parties. Here’s a good post.
- Crypto.Jobs – Probably the oldest and the most awesome platform where you can get a crypto job.
Due to market conditions, there may not be many jobs right now, but someone with the right skills could surely find one.
13. Using Presearch – Get Paid to Search
Presearch is a search engine, just like Google. It’s not the world’s best search engine – but it does its job well.
All you need to do is create an account on Presearch, and then you can earn an income by surfing the web.
Users can earn between 0.10 PRE and 0.50 PRE per search, limited to 8 PRE daily. You can also earn an extra 25 PRE when you invite a friend to Presearch.
PRE is just under 5 dollars worth of cents, so the rewards might not be so big – but it’s an extra income.
14. Publish Content and Get Tokens
Another great way to earn crypto is by publishing content on various platforms.
The best are decentralized blockchain platforms where readers can donate tokens if your content is useful – basically, you get coins for writing quality posts.
Let’s list some of those platforms:
- Steemit – The oldest protocol where you can earn crypto for posting. Unfortunately, the project was acquired in the past, and the contributors are not so happy about it anymore.
- Ecency – Decentralized social media network powered by Hive since 2016.
- ZapRead – Zapread wants to create a social economy where the top authors, the community, the groups, and the platform earn something. It has a big focus on Bitcoin.
- Publish0x – One of the oldest platforms where you can post and earn crypto.
Don’t expect to make a fortune here, as it depends on your writing skills and your target audience, but it’s a way to earn crypto that you should know.
15. Create Nodes & Become a Validator
Creating a node is probably one of the hardest things to do, as it requires technical knowledge of setting up a VPS and, in some cases, blockchain programming.
But it’s one of the most rewarding ones. In the past, creating a node for a project, keeping it up to date, and running for a few months can yield a life-changing amount of crypto.
The best I’ve heard was around $100,000, but the regular profit is around $2,000+.
What you have to do here is:
- Check daily for new projects appearing in the crypto world;
- Learn their protocol and programming language if you don’t know it;
- Set up a node and maintain it for a few months;
- Hope for the best from the project.
There may be projects that won’t deliver, and somewhere, the bonus will be low, but by trying and trying, you’ll surely hit a winner.
16. Become a Testnet Hunter
Testnets are a relatively new concept in the cryptocurrency space. They allow users to explore and interact with a blockchain protocol’s decentralized applications. Participants are often rewarded with incentives in return for testing and providing feedback.
As of 2025, one of the most well-known testnets is Monad, which rewards users with airdrops for engaging with its ecosystem. Check out our dedicated article on the Monad Testnet to discover how you can participate and earn rewards!
On a testnet, you just have to go and try the protocol, see how it moves, interact with things, be active on Discord, spot some bugs, and maybe try some staking (if they have it available).
Most testnets probably won’t have an airdrop for the testers, but you don’t need crypto to test it; you just have to dedicate some of your time.
17. Be Active on Bitcointalk
A signature campaign on Bitcointalk was the real OG way to make more Bitcoin before Bitcoin even became mainstream.
Certain businesses will offer you an opportunity to advertise them in your BitcoinTalk forum’s signature and earn crypto by the number of posts you make.
Of course, not all of your posts will be accepted, as the posts are subject to the campaign’s terms of service.
To find out more about this, you can check the following topic.
On Bitcointalk, there are also some bounties where you can make some crypto, businesses that require some services, or, as mentioned before, advertise what you can do on their marketplace.
18. Play P2E Games – Play in a Metaverse or a Virtual World and Earn Crypto
But now, there are plenty of play-to-earn games where you can make a living by playing games. Let’s get into a small list of the best games that you can play:
- Gods Unchained – If you’re good at Hearthstone, you’ll love Gods Unchained.
- Splinterlands – A different type of card game that gained popularity in 2022.
- Axie Infinity – Axie Infinity is still one of the easiest and most relaxing P2E games in 2025.
- Illuvium – An MMORPG built-in cryptocurrency
- League of Kingdoms – An MMO Strategy game similar to Clash of Clans.
There are many crypto projects designed as Play-to-Earn (P2E) games (or crypto games) that you can dive into. Some games also allow trading in-game assets, enabling players to buy, sell, and trade items they’ve earned or collected.
While some P2E games require a simple account to start playing, others may need an NFT or a pack of cards to participate.
19. Stream to Earn
Stream to earn crypto is something that appeared a few years ago. While the market is not fully developed, there are some stream platforms that you can use to earn cryptocurrency:
Dlive – Dlive is a decentralized streaming platform based on a blockchain protocol. Streamers can earn Lemons, the price of a Lemon being fixed at 0.012$. You’d need around 4250 to withdraw from the platform – and you also have an alternative to withdrawing in USDT, BTT, or TRX.
Twitch – Twitch is accepting cryptocurrency payments through Bitpay. Streamers can also put their address to receive cryptocurrency on their channel to receive crypto directly. Twitch accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and many other cryptocurrencies.
20. Stake Your Cryptocurrency
By the time you’ve completed most of the tasks above, you probably earned some crypto. It’s time to learn about staking.
Staking is securing a network by locking your tokens and earnings at a certain annual percentage rate (APR).
By staking a cryptocurrency, you’re helping secure the protocol and also helping yourself earn some extra cryptocurrency. However, your coins need to be locked up for a certain period in order to start earning staking rewards.
One of the easiest ways to earn more cryptocurrency is by staking, but the downside is that you cannot complete transactions with your staked coins while they are locked up. However, you can choose from various types of staking, and some of them are pretty accessible. For instance, Lido Finance offers simplified participation in staking by allowing users to stake their tokens without locking them.
21. Listen to Podcasts and Get Free Cryptocurrency
Wondering if it’s possible to listen to your favorite podcast and earn crypto? Using Fountain, that’s now a possibility in 2025. Fountain integrated Zebedee’s API, which can reward users with small amounts of BTC (Satoshis).
There are many popular podcasts there, such as the Pomp Podcast, Unchained, What Bitcoin Did, Bitcoin Magazine Podcast, and many more. Besides the fact that you can improve your knowledge about protocols and coins – you can also earn a small income.
22. Participate in Giveaways
In the crypto industry, many new projects promote themselves by organizing giveaways. Crypto companies spend thousands of dollars on such events to increase their followers on various channels.
Participating in giveaways is a full-time job, like crypto trading. There are tens or hundreds of giveaways per minute, and some of them require work.
There’s also risk—some of the giveaways might not pay, and you’d lose your time helping them. There’s no exact protocol for giveaways, but most of the projects use X (Twitter), as it’s easy to access for any crypto enthusiast, and most people already have an account there.
How much you can earn is subject to your luck and the number of giveaways you participate in. If you’re someone with a lot of time on their hand looking for some way to spend it -you might try this one.
Conclusion
There are countless ways to earn cryptocurrency for free, whether through learning, staking, gaming, or cashback programs. The best method depends on your interests, time commitment, and expectations.
Some options require patience and consistency, while others offer quicker returns with minimal effort. If you enjoy engaging with crypto projects, testing new platforms, or simply stacking small rewards over time, there’s something for you.
With 20+ methods to explore, you’re bound to find at least one that fits your goals. The only question is—where will you start?
