How To Make Money With Bitcoin 2024 – Top 11 Options
So, you’re interested in learning how to make money with Bitcoin. You’ve probably heard tons of success stories of people earning a fortune through Bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies online. Maybe you’ve got a couple of friends who’ve invested in a crypto mining rig, or they’re traders looking to buy low and sell high.
Regardless of how people are approaching Bitcoin, one thing is certain — they’re in it to make money. However, unfortunately, not everyone can be a winner. Some people simply aren’t prepared to put in the work required to earn money through Bitcoin — mostly because they’ve thought it’s nothing more than a passive income scheme.
On the other hand, plenty of people give up simply because they don’t know how to do the proper research into making money with Bitcoin. Don’t worry, though — we’re here to give you an in-depth guide into all the ways to earn money with this cryptocurrency. After you know what your options are, it’ll be a lot simpler for you to choose the one that fits you the most and dig into it deeper.
So, what’s the lay of the land? Well, you should know that the crypto industry still has a long way to go in terms of development; it’s very much a greenfield type of investment. On the other hand, its diversified nature means you can easily find plenty of different ways of making money. With all of this in mind, let’s get into the gist of it.
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1. Buy And Hold Bitcoin
As you’ll see when we provide details on the other ways of making money with Bitcoin below, many of these methods come with plenty of rewards — but just as much risk. After all, any kind of online trading comes with a certain amount of it; so it’s not for the faint of heart.
However, that’s why the first method we’ll take a look at is the least risky one — and that’s buying and holding Bitcoin. The industry term for this practice is “staking”; but what’s it all actually about?
Well, rather than keeping your coins in your wallet, you place them in a stacking pool on your online exchange of choice. In return for keeping your coins there, you earn an interest.
One of the best platforms for doing this is Binance, because they allow you to take a couple of different approaches to staking.
The first one is flexible savings — basically, while there’s a daily redeem time, you can still redeem all of your Bitcoin whenever you please. This is the most basic form of staking; you’re just adding to Binance’s Bitcoin liquidity in exchange for an interest rate. Essentially, it’s a crypto savings account.
The second option is locked staking; this means you’re putting your coins in the Binance staking pool for a fixed time period, plus a redemption period of a couple of days.
So, which one should you go for? If you’re looking to earn money with Bitcoin through a more long-term investment, then locked staking is certainly a better option because it yields more interest. However, if you want to retain some maneuverability regarding your crypto funds, flexible savings are definitely the way to go.
2. Bitcoin Trading
If you want to take a more active approach to making money with Bitcoin, the option you should consider the most is day trading on the online crypto markets.
Seeing as cryptocurrencies have been a reality for more than a decade, it’s no wonder that the online markets for them have developed just like those for any other commodity. Today, these markets operate pretty much the same as stock or forex markets. In fact, most crypto exchanges offer options for trading in those fields as well.
So, how does this process look?
Buyers and sellers use the exchange platform to trade Bitcoin with each other with the goal of making a profit when the arbitrage is calculated. Basically, platforms like Binance are the crypto equivalent of what NASDAQ or NYSE are for stock traders.
Now, the good and bad things about Bitcoin trading are pretty much the same thing — a lack of regulation. Unlike, say, forex or other securities, crypto trading is (for now) an unregulated realm. There’s not as much operational compliance that traders and exchanges need to conform to — which means profit margins are higher.
Also, the unregulated nature of crypto trading results in frequent price oscillations during one day — in a single trading session, the price of any cryptocurrency could swing by as much as 20 percent. That leaves a huge window for quick-witted day traders to make a solid profit.
On the other hand, the lack of regulation also means inexperienced traders can lose a lot of money if they don’t study the market carefully and go in with a small investment at first. Still, if you’re thorough, methodical, and careful — you’ve got a great chance to earn a lot of money.
3. Bitcoin Mining
All that Bitcoin’s got to come from somewhere, right? That’s where mining comes in, as another way to make money with Bitcoin in 2023.
The process of “mining” means using your computer’s processing power to “solve” a complex equation — and once that automatic process is complete, you’re rewarded a single coin (or a part of a coin) on the Bitcoin blockchain network. It’s how all Bitcoin is initially made.
While people used their desktop computers to mine Bitcoin in the beginning, the process has become far more complex in the meantime. Today, because of how many people are trying to mine Bitcoin all over the world, you need increasingly powerful computers to do so successfully. You may have heard of these — they’re dubbed “mining rigs”.
Now, should you invest in a mining rig in 2023?
Well, there are some pros and cons to consider before you do so. On the one hand, you’ll be getting a certain income in Bitcoin over a fairly regular amount of time. But on the other, the appearance of entire mining farms means you need to make a sizable investment into a computer with a powerful GPU and CPU. A specialist rig (also called an ASIC) can set you back thousands of dollars today.
Also, before you start thinking that the initial investment isn’t that steep — take all of the electricity that these rigs will spend into account. Even in countries with the cheapest electricity rates, this will add up to a significant sum over time.
4. Bitcoin Lending
Rather than letting your crypto funds just sit in your wallet, you can also earn interest through Bitcoin lending. There are two types of crypto lending: through centralized and decentralized lending platforms.
With a centralized platform, those who need money are basically borrowing US dollars (or another fiat currency) against their Bitcoin, which serves as a collateral. If you want to earn through lending, you just deposit your Bitcoin into the lending pool of the platform and wait for the interest.
Decentralized platforms function on Ethereum more often than Bitcoin, because their process is automated through smart contracts — meaning the distribution of repayments and loans is pretty passive.
The advantages of Bitcoin lending are pretty clear — the lack of regulation means low transactional fees and attractive interest rates, as well as no geographical limitations. On the other hand, unlike conventional loans, these aren’t insured by a bank or a government. That means crypto loans have a higher probability of default.
Also, the volatility of crypto means that lenders could actually lose money, if the value of Bitcoin drops by more than what they’re earning through interest.
5. Investing in Crypto Startups
One of the main things about earning money with Bitcoin is to always look towards the future. And that’s something crypto aficionados have in common with visionary entrepreneurs. That’s why plenty of new tech startups are seeking funding in Bitcoin — they realize that any seed money they receive in BTC will be worth even more in just a year or two.
With that in mind, investing in crypto-aware startups is a great idea — the value that your ownership share could reach might very well eclipse the value of that Bitcoin investment; provided you make the right investment.
Of course, this is a valid option for the business-savvy among you; we don’t recommend doing this if you’re not well-versed in startup investment and don’t know how to spot a promising tech company.
6. Bitcoin Faucets
A Bitcoin faucet is a website or app that distributes tiny amounts of Bitcoin to its users in exchange for them completing simple tasks. The name faucets comes from the fact that these crypto payments are quite small, like drops of water coming from a faucet — but then again, so are the tasks you need to complete for the reward.
So, once you complete the tasks, your tiny share of earned crypto is sent to your wallet. The tasks can vary wildly, but it’s usually simple — stuff like completing a captcha, clicking on ad links, watching videos that showcase different products, and all kinds of other ads.
As an Internet user, you’ve probably heard of similar websites that used to pay dollars for microtasks. However, the catch here is that even the smallest amount of Bitcoin you receive will likely be worth something in the future.
Of course, the only downside is that you have to spend a lot of time on menial tasks in order to get any meaningful amount of Bitcoin.
7. Affiliate Marketing
When you’ve got a popular blog, YouTube channel, news website, forum, or Twitter account that addresses a niche audience — affiliate marketing is definitely a great way to earn money. And in this regard, crypto is really no different. If you’re well-versed in the world of Bitcoin and you’re constantly creating relevant content on the subject, there are tons of platforms you can use to earn money through affiliate marketing.
While this is a pretty stable source of income that can get you months or even years of revenue, there’s only one catch — it’s not really viable for crypto beginners, because you need a lot of knowledge on the subject to create content that will attract a sizable niche audience.
8. Accepting Bitcoin Payments
While Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are still far from becoming a mainstream thing, more and more businesses are opening themselves up to the idea of becoming a part of the crypto economy. And if you’re a small business owner or you’re accepting payments for any kinds of goods and services — consider doing the same!
The advantage here is crystal-clear; once you accept payments in Bitcoin and hold onto them long enough, you’ll have doubled or tripled those funds without moving a finger. On the other hand, this also means you’ll have to make sure you have enough revenue in fiat currencies to maintain your cash flow.
9. PTC Websites
If you’ve already gone through our section on Bitcoin faucets, this is pretty much a variation on that theme. Pay-to-click (or PTC) websites are just what they sound like — they pay you a tiny amount of money for each click you do on advertisements.
The procedure is clear, simple, and it doesn’t require you to make any kind of up-front investment — and you can still get paid in Bitcoin, provided you find the right website. Plus, you get to work from the comfort of your couch!
Now, while this business model is tried-and-true, there are still a couple of things you should keep in mind. First of all, ad-clicking will only get you a really small amount of BTC for each click, and the whole point of Bitcoin is to hold onto it until its value rises even higher. So, this should definitely not be your main source of income, as you won’t be able to spend the money you earn right away. Also, there are plenty of fraudulent PTC sites, so make sure to research them carefully and do your due diligence before registering anywhere.
10. Binary Options
Our penultimate pick among the myriad ways you can make money with Bitcoin in 2023 is binary options trading. So, what is this exactly?
Basically, this type of trading involves predicting whether the market value of Bitcoin will fall or rise over a specific time period, and making an investment in the appropriate option. If you’ve guessed right, you’ll get the payoff from the option — otherwise, the investment is lost.
If you start browsing binary bitcoin options, make sure to see its expiration date — that’s when you’ll know if you’ve won or lost. Now, the advantage of this is that you aren’t necessarily handling crypto — you’re just making predictions on its rise or fall.
For people who believe they’re knowledgeable enough, this is certainly an investment that’s simple to execute and potentially quite lucrative. But the downside is that it’s pretty much just like any other options trade; ultimately, you’re playing a guessing game. And there’s a whole world of factors that can decide whether the value of anything, including Bitcoin, goes up or down — are you reasonably sure you can predict most of them?
11. Bounty Programs
Our final option is similar to investing in tech startups — but instead, you’re investing directly into the world of crypto. As you probably know, tons of new cryptocurrencies are created every single day. And while most of them don’t reach anything near the value of Bitcoin as the most valuable currency of this type in the world — success stories like Ethereum are bound to crop up more and more in the following years.
Naturally, their creators don’t work for free either. And one of the ways new blockchain networks earn a profit is by staging an initial coin offering — an ICO. This is analogous to the IPO (initial public offering) that startups and similar companies have at some point. Throughout the ICO, you’ve got a chance to get a certain amount of the new blockchain’s cryptocurrency for a smaller price — in other words, it’s initial value.
Bounty programs that are a part of the ICO process also include tokens or similar rewards for people who help with a set of specific tasks; usually aimed at promoting the ICO. And if you’ve read our guide up until now, you probably have a good idea of the upsides and downsides here.
On the one hand, this new coin could become quite valuable over time (Dogecoin comes to mind), but it could also fail spectacularly — which is an obvious risk.
Best Crypto Exchange to Make Money With Bitcoin
Now that you know all the different ways to make money with Bitcoin, the next logical question you’re probably asking is — where can I do it?
We’ve already mentioned that there are plenty of crypto exchanges you can use online, but it’s still extremely important to choose a reputable one — Binance is a great example.
First of all, Binance is pretty much the best choice out there if you’re a beginner — it supports trading in more than 500 different cryptocurrencies, and it’s got insanely low fees for low-volume trading accounts; meaning it’s the cheapest exchange platform for absolute beginners.
Also, there’s a massive number of transaction types to choose from here — it’s got the best margin trading options for Bitcoin, in up to 5x leverage for premium accounts! And it’s great for Bitcoin futures trading — you’ve got options for both quarterly and perpetual contracts, as well as a decently low funding fee.
Best Ways to Make money With Bitcoin For Beginners
Considering we’ve given you a couple of options — which one is the best for beginners? If you’re not that familiar with the world of crypto, buying and holding BTC is pretty much your best bet — along with lending it when you amass enough coins. Platforms like Blockfi are the best option for beginners who are looking to get into crypto lending but don’t have much experience.
Also, if you’re a crypto beginner caught in the middle of a crypto market crash — don’t be dissuaded by plenty of naysayers out there. While many of the smaller-scale cryptocurrencies do fail all the time, heavy hitters like Bitcoin and Ether are always worth holding onto if you’re looking to actually make money in the long run. It’s just like with the stocks of a company that’s going through some turbulence but you know will make it in the long run — you just buy and hold.
How To Get Free Bitcoins
While mining technically means getting the coins for free, you have to invest in a mining rig and pay consistently high electricity bills. With that in mind, we’re more prone to recommending PTC websites and BTC faucets if you want to get Bitcoin for free as a beginner.
Also, if you’re interested in engaging with this sector long-term, you could always get a job in a cryptocurrency company. Everyone from web designers to content creators and digital marketers are frequently hired by crypto companies — and their competitive packages often include free Bitcoin or other crypto coins.
Summary
There are plenty of ways to earn quite a decent amount of money with Bitcoin — but before you start applying any of the methods that require an upfront investment, make sure you’ve done enough research to know what you’re getting into.
FAQs
Can you get rich from Bitcoin?
Plenty of people have gotten rich from Bitcoin — you just need to learn all the ins and outs of the crypto market, and be prepared to make an initial investment.
How do beginners invest in Bitcoins?
The thing every beginner needs to do first is to open a digital crypto wallet and join an exchange like Binance.
Why is Bitcoin so expensive?
Unlike traditional fiat currencies whose circulation is frequently increased, there’s a very limited supply of Bitcoin and huge demand for it.
Are Bitcoins a safe investment?
No investment is completely devoid of risk — but Bitcoin is safe if you perform a necessary amount of due diligence.
Team that worked on the article
Chinmay Soni is a financial analyst with more than 5 years of experience in working with stocks, Forex, derivatives, and other assets. As a founder of a boutique research firm and an active researcher, he covers various industries and fields, providing insights backed by statistical data. He is also an educator in the field of finance and technology.
As an author for Traders Union, he contributes his deep analytical insights on various topics, taking into account various aspects.
Olga Shendetskaya has been a part of the Traders Union team as an author, editor and proofreader since 2017. Since 2020, Shendetskaya has been the assistant chief editor of the website of Traders Union, an international association of traders. She has over 10 years of experience of working with economic and financial texts. In the period of 2017-2020, Olga has worked as a journalist and editor of laftNews news agency, economic and financial news sections. At the moment, Olga is a part of the team of top industry experts involved in creation of educational articles in finance and investment, overseeing their writing and publication on the Traders Union website.
Olga has extensive experience in writing and editing articles about the specifics of working in the Forex market, cryptocurrency market, stock exchanges and also in the segment of financial investment in general. This level of expertise allows Olga to create unique and comprehensive articles, describing complex investment mechanisms in a simple and accessible way for traders of any level.
Olga’s motto: Do well and you’ll be well!
Mirjan Hipolito is a journalist and news editor at Traders Union. She is an expert crypto writer with five years of experience in the financial markets. Her specialties are daily market news, price predictions, and Initial Coin Offerings (ICO). Mirjan is a cryptocurrency and stock trader. This deep understanding of the finance sector allows her to create informative and engaging content that helps readers easily navigate the complexities of the crypto world.