This is a departure from strictly Android things, but cryptocurrency (and blockchain technology) has been my latest interest and I’ve learned a huge amount recently that I really wanted to share.
Since free Bitcoin is more fun than buying Bitcoin (and a less risky way to tiptoe into cryptocurrency), this collection of free offerings should whet your appetite. My goal is to help you shortcut to the highest reward for minimal effort (since I already put in the effort and certainly found some things I won’t recommend here).
Update: NRG earndrop closed to new pre-registration signups.
Requirements:
- None of these require payment, but some encourage you to buy other things
- Some of these require that you do KYC (Know Your Customer) – basially it’s ID verification just like mainstream banking, to prevent fraud and tax evasion. That might lock out some regions.
- Email is required for many (but not all) of these, and some offers require a telegram, twitter, or similar account.
Things to try!
Coinbase
This is the first big one – Coinbase Earn can net you $36 in free cryptocurrency (immediately!) with just a few minutes of watching videos about cryptocurrency (I found them interesting) – about 2 minutes each. Then if you refer others to do the same, you can earn up to another $40 – so hey, use my link (also works for existing Coinbase users) 😀
You do need to do KYC (Know Your Customer, which means ID verification just like mainstream banking, to prevent fraud and tax evasion). It can take a few days to get through the process, but it’s worth it!
Coinbase Pro
More on this in another post, but my recommendation is to switch to Coinbase Pro (for which you already have an account from Coinbase) to convert your new free cryptocurrency into something else with much lower fees. You can transfer out for much less. You can also do limit trades, which can make a huge difference if you get into buying or trading cryptocurrencies.
Pi
This is a free mobile “cloud mining” operation from Stanford PhDs that gives you free cryptocurrency by clicking once a day to remain active, but you get a lot more when you add people to your circle. It’s by invitation only, so use use my invitation code to get access, PrjJourneyman (and then I get to add you to my security circle too and we both earn more). You can’t “cash out” yet, but they aim to allow that in the fall. Collect Pi now so you have something to withdraw.
Electroneum
This is another free mobile “cloud mining” app, but the coins (ERC20 tokens) can be withdrawn now. It takes about a week to get to 100, which then transfer to your wallet and can be transferred out. This one is also social, in that if you enter my code you’ll earn faster. **Enter code 49EA56 after installing to activate your higher earning rate.**
Note that you have to take a selfie to start mining, to fight against scammers creating infinite accounts.
Loli
There are a number of cashback programs out there, but this one focuses on Bitcoin returns – after the cashback is received it is converted to Bitcoin and held in your account until you cash out. They even have a browser extension to help make it easier to take advantage of it (and of course you can double up and use your credit card for cashback on purchases). Lolli has a huge list of stores you may already shop at, so check them out and get Bitcoin for purchases you were already going to make.
NRG – CLOSED
UPDATE – Sorry, this one closed right after I posted this. Round 4 pre-registration signups are now closed. You *can* however join the Energi discord channel for free “rain” by participating (join the rain channel), but it will take a while to get 100 NRG that way.
This one is rather insane – joining the NRG “earndrop” increased to almost $1k before the Bitcoin flash crash, but is still over $500 and will probably go back up. A lot of crypto airdrops are not worth the time, but this is definitely worth checking out.
You get up to 100 NRG for simple things like joining their Telegram group or following on Twitter. If you join with my link here you get 10 more NRG which brings the total possible to 110.
Other Airdrops
Airdrops are a huge topic in and of itself, and many are not worth pursuing.
There are however two fork airdrops for Bitcoin holders that I am watching – I’ll need to cover these in another post
- MimbleWimbleCoin
- HEX
Faucets and free coins
Generally, it seems that “faucets” and “free crypto” games on the app stores pay in the sub-cent amounts, making them hardly worth your time (but they do pay! That’s an amazing aspect of cryptocurrency, it’s possible to transfer amounts of less than a cent!)
I’m keeping my eye on freebitco.in though – it says it’s provably fair, and doesn’t take much effort to try. There’s also a chance to hit a bigger payout, or get free “lottery” tickets for big prizes. Otherwise it’ll take a number of days to make it up to the minimum to transfer out. You can try again every hour.
Honorable mention
Earn.com apparently used to be a big thing, but this year it dried up. I guess 2018 was the year to ride the crypto craze and get paid to accept emails!
Bonus – where to store your coins and tokens
This is a topic for another post, but for ERC20 tokens, you need somewhere to store them that is NOT on an exchange like Coinbase. The Android app Coinomi is free and lets you create an Etherium (ETH) address that most airdrops require as a destination for your free coins!
More stuff: additional stuff I’m looking at but haven’t finished:
https://www.projectjourneyman.com/crypto-link-bin
Disclaimers:
Some of these links will get me a referral bonus to my own earnings, because most of this industry is focused on growth right now. I only recommended them because I have already or still am using them. This costs you nothing though. Share and share alike! You will be able to share your links with your friends too.
Also note that I’m not providing anything remotely like investment advice. Investing in cryptocurrency is highly speculative and you could loose everything.
If you have something to recommend, please let me know! Please don’t spam my comments with scammy airdrop links though 😀