What are the ways to make money with virtual currencies? Master these 10 cryptocurrency earning tips

Cryptocurrency markets, as an emerging investment field, offer participants a variety of profit channels. Many people mistakenly believe that making money with cryptocurrencies can only be achieved through trading, but in reality, there are far more opportunities than imagined. Today, we will review the 10 most common ways to make money in the crypto space. Whether you’re a beginner with plenty of time or a seasoned investor, you’ll find suitable options.

Zero-Cost Entry Methods to Make Money in Cryptocurrency

1. Airdrops and Subsidies

Airdrops are a common way for project teams to distribute tokens, divided into active and passive types:

Active Airdrops require participants to complete specific tasks, such as registering on the official website, performing on-chain interactions, participating in community discussions, etc. After completing these, they receive project tokens as rewards.

Passive Airdrops are more relaxed, requiring only holding certain tokens to receive additional rewards. Notable historical examples include users holding Bitcoin(BTC) in 2017 receiving BCH airdrops, and Ethereum(ETH) holders receiving ETHW tokens after the merge upgrade in 2022.

Collecting airdrops has become a scaled activity, with many professional teams systematically capturing quality projects. You can follow social accounts of crypto community KOLs or join Telegram/Discord groups to stay updated on airdrop info. Each project usually provides clear instructions—just follow the steps.

Suitable for: Beginners who are new, have ample time but no investment budget

Profitability estimate: Zero investment, but requires time and effort; tokens received may lack real value

2. X to Earn Ecosystem

X to Earn is a general concept representing earning cryptocurrency rewards through specific activities, including Play to Earn, Move to Earn, Watch to Earn, and other variants. These models mainly focus on the GameFi sector, where users can profit through interaction within professional gaming ecosystems.

Participation is straightforward: prepare a Web3 wallet, connect it to the project’s official site, and use the wallet address as the game account to start.

Suitable for: Gamers, motion capture enthusiasts

Profitability estimate: Fun to operate, but often requires investing in in-game items; as participation grows, rewards decrease and may depreciate

3. SocialFi (Social Finance)

SocialFi combines social interaction with financial incentives. Users earn platform tokens through content creation, likes, comments, shares, and other social activities. Several platforms have emerged in this field, providing earning mechanisms for creators and community participants.

Creators can publish works on decentralized content platforms and receive direct tips from fans; ordinary users can also earn by sharing and engaging on social platforms.

Suitable for: Content creators, active social media users

Profitability estimate: No upfront investment needed, but platform tokens may have limited liquidity; lesser-known creators may struggle to earn significant income; some platforms pose higher risks due to unclear business models

4. NFT Creation and Trading

The Non-Fungible Token(NFT) market opens new commercial avenues for artists and creators. From personal selfies to music works, any original content can be minted as NFTs for sale. Real cases show creators earning hundreds of ETH equivalent from a single NFT sale.

Participation process: prepare original work, create a Web3 wallet, log into NFT marketplaces (like OpenSea, Rarible), upload the work, and set a price. Important: keep your wallet’s private key and seed phrase secure to prevent theft.

Suitable for: Artists, musicians, well-known figures with a fan base

Profitability estimate: Low entry barrier, supports various content types; but market risks exist, and works may not sell; some jurisdictions have restrictions on NFTs

High-Performance Cryptocurrency Profit Strategies

5. Mining with Mining Rigs

Mining is a traditional way to obtain new tokens, involving coins like Bitcoin(BTC), Litecoin(LTC), Filecoin(FIL), etc. Participants can operate their own mining rigs or entrust them to third-party professional agencies.

Self-operation requires finding a location with low electricity costs and suitable environmental conditions, installing mining software, and managing hardware. Hosting services eliminate technical setup—just provide a receiving address. When choosing operators, verify their credentials and reputation.

Suitable for: Institutional investors, individuals with access to cheap electricity

Profitability estimate: Relatively stable output, considered passive income; but long payback periods, high initial costs, and obvious capital centralization issues in the market

6. DeFi Liquidity Mining

DeFi (Decentralized Finance) mining does not rely on mining rigs but involves providing liquidity to on-chain financial protocols to earn rewards. Common methods include supplying liquidity to DEXs (like Uniswap), lending assets via protocols such as Compound(, or participating in liquidity staking.

Participation steps: select a target DeFi platform, create liquidity pools with supported tokens or deposit assets, and earn proportional liquidity mining rewards. Be sure to thoroughly understand the platform’s risk mechanisms, especially the risks of liquidation in collateralized lending—sharp price drops can trigger forced liquidation, leading to loss of principal.

Suitable for: Users with financial knowledge and experience

Profitability estimate: Rewards can be substantial, many quality projects perform well; but risks are significant, including potential losses

) 7. Holding and Earning Interest

This is closest to traditional financial savings. Users deposit their cryptocurrencies into platforms and earn interest at fixed rates, similar to bank term deposits. Usually divided into flexible (can withdraw anytime) and fixed (locked period) types. The more you deposit and the longer the term, the higher the interest.

Operation: log into centralized exchange platforms, find savings products, select the coin and term, and subscribe.

Suitable for: Long-term investors optimistic about crypto assets, low-risk appetite individuals

Profitability estimate: Simple to operate, relatively controllable risk; but yields are often low, and it’s hard to hedge against price declines

8. Spot Trading for Low Buy and High Sell

The most straightforward way to make money—buy low, sell high, and profit from the price difference. Due to high volatility, virtual currency markets offer many such opportunities. Long-term holding###HODL( is relatively safer for beginners; short-term trading requires market sensitivity and risk tolerance.

Practical steps: choose a reliable trading platform → complete identity verification → deposit fiat or crypto assets → execute buy/sell based on market analysis.

Current main cryptocurrencies prices:

• Bitcoin)BTC(: $91.37K, +1.66% in 24h
• Ethereum)ETH(: $3.14K, +1.14% in 24h
• Dogecoin)DOGE(: $0.15, +7.05% in 24h

Suitable for: Long-term for risk-averse investors; short-term for experienced traders

Profitability estimate: Low threshold, simple operation, risk manageable compared to leverage trading; but requires capital and depends on market insight and patience

) 9. Futures Contract Trading

Cryptocurrency futures have been popular since 2018, attracting many aggressive investors with their small margin and large leverage. Through leverage, users can go long or short, profiting from both rising and falling prices.

Trading is similar to spot trading but requires setting leverage ratios, position sizes, stop-loss and take-profit parameters. This high-risk, high-reward strategy demands strong psychological resilience.

Suitable for: Aggressive investors willing to accept the risk of liquidation

Profitability estimate: Potential for huge gains, supports flexible two-way trading; but liquidation risk is real, possibly wiping out the principal

10. Cross-Platform Arbitrage

Because crypto asset prices differ across exchanges, there are systematic arbitrage opportunities. In theory, buy on a low-priced platform and transfer immediately to sell on a higher-priced platform to lock in risk-free profit.

Key point: precise calculation is essential—ensure the price difference covers transaction fees, withdrawal costs, etc., or you may incur losses. Participants need accounts on multiple platforms, quick reaction times, as price gaps can close within minutes.

Suitable for: Large capital, sensitive to price movements, experienced users

Profitability estimate: Minimal risk, stable returns in theory; but actual opportunities are rare and require extremely fast execution

Summary

There is no absolute best way to make money in crypto; the key is to find strategies that match your own strength, time, and risk tolerance. Beginners can start with zero-cost airdrops and social activities to accumulate experience, then gradually advance to more complex strategies as knowledge and capital grow. Regardless of the method chosen, rational assessment and risk management are always the top priorities.