Everyone loves a freebie, especially when that freebie could exponentially rise in value at any time. Whether you’re looking for a low-cost entry into the market or you just want to expand your portfolio, free cryptocurrency is never a bad thing.
Platforms Giving Out Free Crypto
As the market expands, the ways to get free crypto are expanding as well. Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can take advantage.
1. StormX
StormX is a mobile app for iOS and Android that is focused on microtasking. You can earn free crypto if you take surveys, try out new apps or sign up for subscriptions. The rewards are given in Bolt tokens which can then be exchanged for Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) or the native StormX (STMX) currency.
The price of Bolt tokens and Bitcoin change, so the conversion rate is not constant. On average, 1 bolt equals around 0.002 cents.
Other microtask platforms that offer free crypto include Buzzin and Kucoin Play. Buzzin focuses on microtasks involving the crypto service industry directly while Kucoin Play is singularly focused on social tasks like sharing content and writing articles about sponsored products.
2. Coinbase
Coinbase is primarily a trading platform, but you can also get free crypto here. With its Earn program, the platform is giving away free crypto for simply learning about crypto. Currently, you can learn and earn the Basic Attention Token (BAT), 0x (ZRX) tokens, Zcash (ZEC), EOS (EOS) and others. Watch the video, take the quiz and answer the questions correctly to get the value. Don’t worry — you won’t lose the free money if you get the questions wrong. You can take the quiz as many times as you need to pass.
You must join Coinbase in order to get the free stuff, and this requires that you give your identity and photos to the platform. Coinbase does report to the IRS and other government entities, so don’t come looking for free currency here if you are getting into crypto for anonymity.
You can earn an extra bonus referring other people to the Coinbase Earn project.
3. Proof of Stake Coins
Staking a coin means pledging to hold it in your digital wallet. The idea is the same one bank use for certificates of deposit (CDs) — the people who keep money in the bank without withdrawing provide the money for the bank to loan out funds and participate in speculative activities.
Proof of Stake (PoS) coins build their value around users who are willing to stake that coin. Once you connect to the network and prove that you have a stake, you are rewarded with more coins — the same kind of interest you would earn on a CD.
The difference is that interest rates on PoS coins are much higher than CDs due to the more speculative nature of cryptocurrency. Rates change, so use this staking rewards calculator for real-time interest estimates. As an example, however, you might earn around 6% annually for staking a more established coin like Dash (DASH) up to 50% annually for more speculative coins.
You will join different platforms depending on the coins you choose to stake. Use the calculator as a starting point alongside this PoS coins list and visit the websites of your chosen coins to make a decision on your platform.
4. Crypto.com Cash Back
Crypto.com has partnered with Visa to offer a prepaid Visa card with a cashback incentive. If you purchase items under the program, you will earn the Crypto.com coin, MCO. The program offers 1%-5% cash back on all purchases. It features 10% cash back on Expedia and Airbnb purchases and 100% cash back on Netflix and Spotify subscriptions.
5. Celsius Network Sign Up Bonus
Deposit more than $1,000 in crypto into the Celsius Network, and you can get a signup bonus of $10 in Bitcoin. If you hold the deposit for 3 months, you can double your free Bitcoin with another $10 free reward. You also have opportunities to earn 10% interest on Bitcoins with an additional 30% for holding a portion of your stake in CEL, Celsius’ native coin.
6. Loaning Through BlockFi
If you are just sitting on crypto with no immediate use for it, you can loan it out using BlockFi. The annual compounded interest rate is 8.6% and is paid out monthly, or you can loan to BlockFi directly for 6% (the savings account). You can earn your interest in Bitcoin, Ether or USD. Withdrawal limits are also high — 100 BTC per week — far beyond the needs of most lenders.
Though there is a gap risk, your deposits are insured through Gemini, which is one of the most highly regulated crypto companies in the world. BlockFi is considered one of the easier platforms to use, so it may be a good choice if you are nervous about getting your feet wet.
7. Hard Forks
You can get free cryptocurrency from a fork in a blockchain. A hard fork represents a significant difference in the underlying protocol of a network. It may occur as a fix to a hack or to represent a difference of opinion in how a network should be run. Regardless of why the fork happens, investors who hold the fork’s coin before the fork receive both coins after the split.
You might equate a hard fork with a stock split, although the 2 are not completely analogous. For instance, though Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash are named similarly, they represent 2 completely different networks (as does Bitcoin SV, a fork that came from Bitcoin Cash). Here’s the good news: If you owned Bitcoin before the August 2017 Bitcoin Cash fork, you have Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV, whether you have claimed it or not.
Trade Cryptocurrency
If waiting around for free crypto isn’t your thing, you can join the millions of traders exchanging value or staking their portfolios to bring in extra cash. Take a look at these top brokers and learn the differences in their feature sets before committing.
Get it While It’s Hot
In a world of uncertain investments, there are few things better than free crypto. The programs above may be good alternatives for those without the extra cash to put into the crypto market directly or mine for coins. Not to sound cliché, but who knows how long this will last? Crypto platforms are giving things away to get new users like every new product, but no one says they will be so generous when the market becomes more saturated.
If you’ve been curious about cryptocurrency, now is the time to take advantage of this. At the same time, be careful of who receives your data. In the future, that data will be much more valuable than any asset on the planet. Trade it for as much value as possible by moving in the industry early.
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