Bitcoin has been growing in popularity with each passing year and more people are looking to get into it. Its creator might remain a mystery to this day, but one thing’s for sure: there are lots of opportunities for you to earn Bitcoin today. To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most popular ways to get Bitcoin. Here are some of our top picks:
1. Buying Bitcoin
Purchasing Bitcoin is perfect for beginners since it’s simple and straightforward. In fact, you can buy Bitcoin in two different ways.
Through peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplaces like Paxful, you can buy your first Bitcoin from actual people and pay using over 450 payment methods with zero extra fees. You can use bank transfers, e-wallets, gift cards, and more to get your hands on Bitcoin.
You can also get Bitcoin by buying it from centralized exchanges (CEX). The process is a little easier through CEXs, but you’ll pay more because of the extra fees.
Difficulty: Very easy
2. Accept Bitcoin payments for your store
If you’re a business owner selling products or services and looking to get your first Bitcoin, why not accept it as payment? With adoption growing rapidly over the past few years, many business owners have begun to accept BTC payments, and the list is growing larger every day.
The best part is that it isn’t hard to incorporate Bitcoin into your business—you can even use your Paxful Wallet to get started and make the most out of each transaction with the Lightning Network. If you’re running a physical store, all you need to do is put a banner up with a QR code of your Bitcoin wallet and wait for Bitcoin-friendly customers to respond. If your business is run primarily online, you can integrate intermediaries like Paxful Pay into your website.
Accepting Bitcoin payments will not only make transactions easier, but it’ll also widen your reach and make transactions more accessible to those that don’t have access to bank accounts and credit/debit cards.
Difficulty: Easy
3. Take advantage of rewards programs
Bitcoin exchanges and marketplaces, including Paxful, often have a rewards program that’ll allow you to earn Bitcoin just by bringing in users to the platform.
Note that each platform will have its rewards program set up differently, so make sure to study the different programs of each company. This will allow you to survey the landscape and let you know which one will help you earn the most.
Difficulty: Easy
4. Bitcoin faucets
Bitcoin faucets are programs that reward users with small amounts of Bitcoin (often in satoshis) by completing tasks like watching ads, answering surveys, playing mini-games, and many other similar microtasks. They don’t usually give out a lot of Bitcoin, but if you complete enough tasks, you’ll be able to earn decent amounts of Bitcoin.
Difficulty: Easy
5. Micro jobs and pay-to-click websites
Just like Bitcoin faucets, you’ll find that there are many websites out there that’ll pay you fractions of Bitcoin (also called Satoshis or sats) for completing small tasks like clicking links and watching ads. Many websites like Coinpayu, adBTC, Bitcoinget, and Coin Tasker will allow you to choose from thousands of tasks and get paid in small amounts of Bitcoin.
Difficulty: Easy
6. Get tips
Got some knowledge you want to share with other people in the world for a sweet reward? Twitter recently integrated a tipping tool into its platform, allowing you to earn Bitcoin from some of your followers. This means you’ll need to step up your Tweets to earn more followers and possibly get more tips.
Additionally, if you’re into streaming video games, you can get Bitcoin from tips from viewers who liked your content. Streaming platforms like Twitch even have fully-integrated Bitcoin-tipping services that’ll help you out.
Difficulty: Intermediate
7. Take jobs that pay in Bitcoin
As mentioned before, Bitcoin adoption has been growing in the past few years, opening the doors to many earning opportunities—including full-time jobs that pay full and part-time salaries in Bitcoin.
Aside from full-time jobs, there are also freelance gigs that let you earn Bitcoin on the side. If you’re looking to get started with these types of jobs, you can check out websites like laborX and CryptoJobs to find something that fits your skill set.
Difficulty: Intermediate
8. Write about Bitcoin and the world of cryptocurrencies
If you have a deep understanding of how Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies work, remember that some people are more than willing to pay for that knowledge in Bitcoin. Since the space is relatively new, there are only a handful of writers and enthusiasts that genuinely know how cryptocurrencies work, and more importantly, have the necessary skills to teach beginners.
To get started, you can check out websites like Cryptocurrency News to become a contributor. If you want a more freelance route, there are platforms like Upwork and Freelancer to help you out.
Difficulty: Intermediate
9. Join the Bitcointalk forum
Set up directly by Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcointalk is one of the longest-running Bitcoin forums. It has millions of users, and if you’re interested in learning more about Bitcoin, make sure to join.
You can also get Bitcoin from the forum by consistently posting quality content. Once you gain enough authority, every post you make will have a sponsored signature. From there, you’ll get paid for everything you post on the form—just remember that it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get to that point.
Difficulty: Intermediate
10. Bitcoin mining
Originally the only way to get Bitcoin in its earlier days, Bitcoin mining is the process of using a powerful computer to solve complex mathematical problems to validate Bitcoin blockchain transactions. In return for confirming transactions, miners are rewarded with a newly-minted Bitcoin. Basically, mining is a race to the finish to see who can validate a transaction first.
Back when Bitcoin was still new, there weren’t very many miners on the scene. Now, since Bitcoin has boomed in popularity, you’ll have a lot of competition. To keep up, you’ll need some of the most advanced equipment and run an extremely efficient operation. You can join mining pools or clouds to give yourself a fighting chance, but know that there’s a lot of work to be done if you plan to earn Bitcoin from mining—so make sure to do your research before getting started.
Difficulty: Hard
11. Catch website and system bugs
Do you love coding and want a challenge? Check out the various bug bounty programs offered by Bitcoin exchanges and marketplaces to earn yourself a sweet reward. By finding vulnerabilities in their systems and notifying the developers, you can do your part in keeping an exchange or marketplace safe—and it doesn’t hurt to be rewarded for doing so.
If you want to get started on Bitcoin by finding bugs, you can check out Paxful’s Bug Bounty Program to help us improve the platform even more.
Difficulty: Hard
How to make money with Bitcoin
Now that you’ve learned how to earn Bitcoin, it’s time for you to decide how you can profit from it. There are many options and choosing the best route isn’t always easy. To make things a bit simpler for you, we’ve compiled a list of ways how to make money with Bitcoin:
1. Buy and hold Bitcoin
If you’re a beginner, the buy-and-hold strategy is among your best options as it’s the most straightforward and most effortless way to earn money with crypto. Here’s how it works:
- Create a Paxful account—you’ll receive a free Bitcoin wallet upon signing up!
- Buy Bitcoin with bank transfer or choose from 400+ payment options.
- Hold on to your BTC and wait for spikes in price—no matter how long that may take.
You could wait weeks, months, or even years before you decide to sell. That’s the beauty of buying and holding. This technique has become so popular; there’s even an internet name for it—HODL. It started as a typo on a forum and became an acronym for Hold On for Dear Life. So if you decide to buy and hold, remember to hold on to the BTC for dear life.
If you want a systematic approach to HODLing, why not try Dollar Cost Averaging? Also known as constant dollar plan, DCA is an approach where you invest the total sum of your money in small increments throughout a specific period instead of handing out a lump sum in one go. This is especially useful for investors looking to back particular assets for the long term.
Difficulty: Very easy
2. Earn cashback on credit card purchases
Many payment giants worldwide have also started to dip their toes into the crypto waters. Interestingly, this paved the way for many crypto users to unlock and enjoy new financial opportunities with their Bitcoin while using their credit cards.
The BlockFi Rewards Visa® Signature Credit Card, for example, rewards its users with cryptocurrency instead of the usual miles or points. Cardholders can also earn 1.5% up to 3.5% cashback, which will be converted to BTC automatically and placed into a BlockFi account monthly. Apart from giving you a different financial experience, the next best thing is that it has no foreign transaction fees.
Difficulty: Very easy
3. Monetize your website
Another effective way to make money with Bitcoin is by monetizing a website with the Paxful Bitcoin Kiosk. It’s a tool that lets your visitors buy or sell Bitcoin without leaving your website. By setting up the kiosk on your website, you’re helping your visitors get Bitcoin easily and securely.
Paxful Kiosk is customizable and easy to set up. It also offers no chargebacks and allows your customers to use nearly 400 payment methods it supports. As a reward for putting up the kiosk, you’ll earn automatic affiliate revenue on all kiosk purchases on your website.
Difficulty: Easy
4. Trade Bitcoin
If HODLing is long-term investing, Bitcoin trading is its fast-paced equivalent. Essentially, BTC trading means taking advantage of its highly volatile nature. This method requires practice and knowledge of the market, so be sure to do your homework before giving it a shot.
Here are a few trading strategies you can try out to make money with Bitcoin:
- Day trading – This approach entails short and quick trades, allowing opportunities for small and fast profits. Day traders don’t hold open positions overnight, so this method carefully analyzes the market, sees small money-making opportunities, and capitalizes for a small profit. At the end of the session, day traders could have a significant cumulative gain.
- Swing trading – If HODLing is long-term and day trading is short-term, swing trading is kind of in the middle. Like HODLers, swing traders will buy low, wait long enough to see their holdings increase in price, and then sell high. However, their holding time isn’t as long as a HODLer and isn’t as short as a day trader.
- Arbitrage – Bitcoin arbitrage is similar to the styles above. However, instead of looking for money-making opportunities within the same exchange, traders who use arbitrage look for those opportunities across different platforms. In essence, they buy BTC from exchange A and then sell it at exchange B for a higher price.
These methods require a lot of practice, so don’t expect to get it right on the first try. You can also try our simple strategy for earning money from Bitcoin trading on Paxful. This involves buying BTC and selling it for a profit. Note that on Paxful, you have over 400 payment options to choose from and bank transfer has the lowest fees among the payment groups. You can use it to buy Bitcoin and make a significant profit by taking advantage of the offer margins.
Difficulty: Intermediate
5. Play crypto and blockchain games
Yes, you can earn money and have fun at the same time! Bitcoin play-to-earn games like Bitcoin Alien Run and Sparkprofit give out Satoshis. Recently, non-fungible token (NFT) games have started to emerge. Some of the most popular blockchain games you can try are Axie Infinity, CryptoBlades, and My DeFi Pet, among others. Tokens from these blockchain games can then be converted into Bitcoin and sold for a decent profit.
While it takes more effort than micro jobs, we’ll say Bitcoin games are probably more fun than completing a survey.
Difficulty: Intermediate
6. Try out the binary trading approach
Binary trading has existed in the financial world for a very long time, so it only makes sense that it can also be applied in the world of crypto. This is a suitable option to make money with Bitcoin if you’re willing to take risks.
As the name suggests, Binary has just two options: a trader purchases an option and an expiration time. The trade is either “in the money” or “out of the money.” Basically, you’re betting on where the price is going.
For example, the price of BTC is 46,500 USD at 10 AM. You can either bet that the price will be more or less than that by 6 PM. If you bet that the price will increase and that happens, you earn the payout of a certain percentage of your investment. However, if it’s lower, you lose the investment.
On the other hand, you earn the option’s payout if you bet that the price will go down and it indeed happens. This can be a challenging way to earn BTC, but you can gain money quickly if you invest right.
Difficulty: Hard
7. Start your own dropshipping business
If you’re planning to put up your own online store, accepting Bitcoin isn’t only the way to incorporate cryptos into your business. Dropshipping, for example, is another approach you can try. Here, you can sell Bitcoin in exchange for gift cards from hundreds of global brands. This includes clothing, electronics, accessories, groceries, and a lot more.
On Paxful, you can buy gift cards at a lower price; some are even selling for up to half off! You can use these gift cards to purchase items for your online store. Then, you can sell the items at your online store at a suggested retail price. This is where you’ll get your profit.
Let’s say your customer ordered a limited-edition pair of shoes. You can buy gift cards of the shoe brand on Paxful at a lower price and use them to buy the shoes at the online store. Once you have the item, you will ship it to your customer’s address. You’ll make a decent profit from the gift cards you used to buy the shoes.
This method may take more effort, but it’s an excellent way to earn money with Bitcoin.
Difficulty: Hard
8. Run a Lightning Node
Did you know that you can complete Bitcoin transactions in a blink of an eye? This is made possible by the Lightning Network, which facilitates lightning-fast Bitcoin transfers. Interestingly, you can also make extra income by running a Lightning Node. This enables users to set up payment channels powered by the Lightning Network.
By running a Lightning Node, you’ll operate a channel and get rewards through transaction fees. However, it’s important to note that the amount of money you’ll make might not be as high compared to other ways on this list. On the flip side, the small rewards you’ll get will significantly contribute to the scalability of the network.
Difficulty: Hard
9. Become a masternode
A masternode is a dedicated role that keeps track of the blockchain in real-time. Much like Bitcoin’s full nodes, they’re always up and running.
In addition to saving, validating, and announcing valid transactions to other nodes, the master nodes also perform different tasks with the blockchain, including smooth protocol operations, governing voting events, and more. For their dedicated services, they are heavily incentivized.
Difficulty: Hard
The ways to earn Bitcoin and profit from it are ever-evolving
As the crypto economy matures over time, we will see constant development and people will keep finding new ways to earn cash with BTC. Even beyond this list, there is an endless amount of earning opportunities offered by Paxful. Be sure to do your research and find out what works best for you. The sky’s the limit on how to make money with Bitcoin—all you have to do is be creative. Good luck!
Disclaimer: The content herein is not, and is not intended to be, legal, financial, investment, or other advice. You should carry out your own independent verification of facts and data, do your own research, and may want to seek professional advice before making any decisions.
