Bitcoin (BTC) used to be nearly worthless. In fact, the first recorded transaction involved a Bitcoin owner spending 10,000 BTC to purchase a couple of pizzas. Today, those 10,000 BTC are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Ouch.
But now that Bitcoin has grown to be worth over $20,000 per coin, it has become one of the most sought-after assets in the world. And although you can invest in Bitcoin using a crypto exchange, why not just get it for free?
How to Get Free Bitcoin (BTC)
There are dozens of ways to get free Bitcoin, but there are many scams out there, so we’ve combed through the internet to find the best places to get free BTC legitimately.
You own shares of Apple, Amazon, Tesla. Why not Banksy or Andy Warhol? Their works’ value doesn’t rise and fall with the stock market. And they’re a lot cooler than Jeff Bezos.
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We’ve detailed the list by the method for getting free BTC, as well as the time required. Here’s a summary of the best ways to get free Bitcoin (BTC):
| Method | Time Required | Rating |
| Learning About Cryptocurrency | Under 30 minutes | 4.5/5 |
| Sign-Up Bonuses | Under 30 minutes | 4.5/5 |
| Cashback Rewards Sites | Under 15 minutes | 4/5 |
| Bitcoin Rewards Credit Cards | Instant | 4/5 |
| Survey Apps | 15 to 60 minutes | 3/5 |
| Games | Over 2 hours | 3/5 |
| Exercise Apps | Over 2 hours | 2.5/5 |
| Affiliate and Referral Sites | Under 30 minutes | 4/5 |
| Bitcoin Faucets | Under 30 minutes | 1/5 |
1. Learning About Cryptocurrency
Learning about crypto doesn’t have to be difficult. You can even get paid for it! There are several places that offer crypto rewards for learning about certain cryptocurrencies.
- Coinbase. Coinbase is one of the most popular exchanges in the world, and offers crypto bonuses for watching short videos on different currencies. These quick five- to 10-second video clips summarize how a cryptocurrency works, and then allow users to take a quiz at the end (typically only one or two questions). After passing the quiz, tokens of that cryptocurrency are deposited into your Coinbase account. These coins can be traded for Bitcoin direclity in the app.
- CoinMarketCap. Another popular crypto app that offers rewards for learning. CoinMarketCap is owned by crypto exchange Binance and offers educational videos that pay crypto rewards, similar to Coinbase. You can watch the videos, take a quiz, and crypto will be deposited into your Binance wallet. These cryptocurrencies can then be traded for Bitcoin or cashed out.
2. Sign-Up Bonuses
Many crypto apps and exchanges offer Bitcoin sign-up bonuses to create an account. Some require minimum deposits and others may require placing a trade. Here are a few places that offer crypto sign-up bonuses:
- BlockFi. A popular crypto exchange and lending app, BlockFi rewards users with up to $250 in free BTC. This requires a deposit of U.S. dollars (USD) into the app, with more rewards going to users who deposit more cash. The rewards start at $15 in BTC for depositing a minimum of $100 USD.
- SoFi Crypto. A popular stock and crypto trading app, SoFi Crypto offers up to $100 for signing up for an account and purchasing cryptocurrency. This bonus is paid in BTC directly to your SoFi Crypto account. The minimum purchase to earn a bonus is $50, which pays out $10 in BTC.
- Nexo.io. Nexo is a crypto lending and crypto-interest account platform that offers sign-up bonuses for new users. Nexo pays out a $100 welcome bonus (paid in BTC) to users who purchase at least $1,500 worth of crypto within 90 days. An additional $50 bonus can be earned by trading at least $1,500 worth of volume on the Nexo exchange within 30 days.
3. Cash Back Rewards Sites
There are several apps and websites that offer Bitcoin rewards as cash back. These sites act as a shopping portal and pay a bonus when you shop online through their app. Here are a few popular options:
- Lolli. Lolli is an app that pays out up to 30% back in Bitcoin or cash at over 1,000 online retailers. You can simply download the app or use the Chrome extension, sign up for a free account, and shop through their app to earn rewards.
- Coin Rebates. This is another website that pays users to shop through their online portal, offering cash back in the form of Bitcoin directly to your wallet. There are no mobile apps available, but users can simply browse and shop through the website.
4. Bitcoin Rewards Cards
Credit card rewards are a great way to earn cash back on your spending, and there are now several great crypto rewards cards that offer Bitcoin instead of cash back. Here are a few of the top Bitcoin rewards cards available:
- Coinbase card. The Coinbase card is a Visa debit card that offers up to 4% back on purchases, with the option to receive cash back in cryptocurrency. You can elect to earn cash back as Bitcoin, which is automatically deposited into your Coinbase account.
- Gemini credit card. Gemini offers a rewards credit card that pays up to 3% cash back paid in the crypto of your choice (including Bitcoin). You can get 3% in rewards on dining,
- 2% on groceries, and 1% back on all other purchases
- Crypto.com card. The Crypto.com Visa card offers up to 5% cash back on purchases, with payouts made in the native crypto.com token CRO. CRO rewards can be traded on the Crypto.com exchange for Bitcoin. Note: The highest cash-back reward level requires owning an absurd amount of CRO tokens ($400,000 worth), but the standard card pays 1% and only requires owning $400 worth of CRO tokens.
5. Survey Apps
Online surveys can be a good way to earn some quick spending money, and most of them pay in gift cards. Most offer gift cards to places like Robinhood, eToro, and Paypal, which allow users to exchange earnings for Bitcoin. Here are a few of the best online survey apps:
- Swagbucks. Swagbucks is the most popular online survey app in the world. It offers payouts in your choice of hundreds of different gift cards. Your choices include PayPal gift cards as well as Bitcoin cards to an exchange called Crypto Voucher. Fees at Crypto Voucher are astronomical (11% to 13%), so PayPal is the better option. PayPal lets you buy Bitcoin directly within the app.
- Toluna Influencers. Toluna allows users to take surveys and earn points that can be redeemed for gift cards, including PayPal gift cards, which you can redeem and exchange for Bitcoin.
- GrabPoints. Another popular online survey app, GrabPoints offers gift card rewards as well as the ability to trade earned points for Bitcoin via a Coinbase partnership. GrabPoints also offers PayPal cash, which can be traded for Bitcoin as well.
6. Games
Play-to-Earn (P2E) crypto games have become popular over the past few years, and users can earn crypto rewards for playing games and earning achievements. Here are a few of the most popular platforms that pay out crypto rewards for playing:
- Axie Infinity. Axie Infinity is a popular monster-battling game that allows you to create teams of “Axies” (cute monsters) and battle other teams to earn non-fungible tokens (NFTs). These NFTs can be traded for other cryptocurrencies via the Axie Infinity marketplace.
- Decentraland. Decentraland is a virtual world that allows users to buy and sell digital real estate, as well as play games inside the world. Users can also design and play minigames within Decentraland to earn NFTs and Mana (MANA) tokens, one of the platform’s native cryptocurrencies. MANA tokens can be traded for Bitcoin on most crypto exchanges.
7. Exercise Apps
There are several apps that are now paying in crypto to incentivize users to move their body. Here are two of the most popular exercise apps that pay out crypto tokens:
- Stepn. The Stepn app became popular after a partnership with Asics shoes. It allows users to earn crypto rewards for tracking your steps. You must purchase a Stepn sneaker NFT to enable earnings, but then you can track your steps and earn Green Satoshi Token (GST) tokens. These can be traded for Bitcoin on most major crypto exchanges.
- MetaGym. MetaGym is an app that pays users to exercise using heart rate monitors and connected smart watches. This app requires the purchase of a MetaGym avatar NFT, and then you can track your exercises and earn MetaGym tokens. These tokens can be exchanged for USD Coin (USDC) within the MetaGym app, and the USDC can be used to purchase Bitcoin on most exchanges.
8. Affiliate & Referral Sites
Many crypto exchanges and apps offer referral rewards or affiliate programs to pay users for referring new customers. These apps typically pay in cryptocurrency, with payments varying by the type of action your referral takes. Here are a few of the top crypto referral sites:
- FTX.us. FTX is a fast-growing crypto exchange, and the FTX.us platform offers a referral program that pays you 30% of the fees paid by your referral. You can generate a referral code and share it as an affiliate link as well. The referral funds can be used to purchase Bitcoin directly on the FTX.us exchange.
- Binance.us. Binance is the largest crypto exchange in the world, and its U.S.-based platform Binance.us offers a $10 bonus on referrals after they complete at least $100 in purchases or trades within 30 days of account opening. The payout is in USD and can be used on the platform to purchase Bitcoin.
- Gemini. Gemini also offers a referral $10 bonus, but it is paid out in Bitcoin or your local currency. The bonus is earned when your referral buys or sells $100 worth of crypto on the Gemini platform within 30 days of account opening.
9. Bitcoin Faucets
One of the original ways Bitcoin was offered for free was the use of the Bitcoin faucet. These online applications deposit free Bitcoin into a user’s digital wallet for the purposes of increasing adoption and performing Bitcoin network testing. There are still some around, but unfortunately, there are also many scams that use fake websites to steal customer information.
Here are a few legitimate Bitcoin faucets that are still around, but don’t expect to make much from these platforms:
- Bitcoinker. This website offers a Bitcoin faucet, earning a small fraction of a Bitcoin (1 satoshi, worth 0.00000001 BTC) into your wallet after completing a CAPTCHA puzzle. You can earn up to 100,000 Satoshis every five minutes, although the payout is usually much lower. The minimum required to withdraw to your Bitcoin wallet is 20,000 Satoshis. Average payouts typically amount to fractions of a penny, which is a very low hourly rate.
- Cointiply. This faucet pays out about 200 Satoshis per hour for users to perform various activities. This may include online surveys, watching a video, or clicking on advertisements. Minimum withdrawal amount is 50,000 Satoshis, which amounts to about 250 hours of work and is worth about $12. A terrible earn rate.
Final Word
You can earn Bitcoin for free, but some methods are simply not worth your time. Bitcoin faucets have turned into spammy websites collecting ad revenue while only paying pennies in BTC rewards, and exercise apps make you jump through several hoops to convert your earnings to Bitcoin.
But there are also some legitimate ways to earn BTC for free, including survey sites, referral programs, and learning about crypto on websites like Coinbase and CoinMarketCap. And for those who want the best “hands-off” way to earn Bitcoin, using a crypto rewards card is the simplest method.
Getting free Bitcoin can be fun, but don’t expect to make a living off sign-up bonuses.