The Definitive Passive BTC Income Guide
Have you ever wondered how you can earn bitcoin passively in the modern crypto age? Well, look no further, here’s the perfect guide to help you get started.
Bitcoin has generated massive returns since it started being publicly traded in 2010. BTC has had its bearish periods, but the overall trend has remained very bullish. The chart below shows Bitcoin’s market capitalization from 2014 to date.
It is clearly evident that Bitcoin has gained a lot of prominence as an investable asset. This can be seen in the various institutional-grade BTC offerings designed by major industry players such as Bakkt and Fidelity to engage Wall Street market participants.
BTC has gone through a few market cycles to reach the market valuation it currently has. Therefore, it may not be financially viable for many traders to buy large amounts of Bitcoin. Even buying fractions of BTC would require shelling out generous amounts of money.
In light of that, here is a list of alternative ways to generate passive income through getting free BTC just before the 3rd Bitcoin halving in May 2020.
the main list
- Work for Bitcoin
- Earn Satoshi and accumulate BTC
- Buy and earn cashback in BTC
- Affiliate Programs
Working for Bitcoin
Working on BTC exchange is the easiest and most legit way to earn bitcoin.
Whether you are a developer, designer, writer, translator, editor, internet marketer, freelancer or engineer, you can start working for Bitcoin right now.
There are numerous platforms and websites that offer bitcoin in exchange for your service.
Some of these platforms include:
Earn Satoshi and accumulate Bitcoin
Each bitcoin (BTC) is divisible up to 8 decimal places, so each BTC can be divided into 100,000,000 units. Each bitcoin unit, or 0.00000001 BTC, it’s called satoshi. A satoshi is the smallest unit of bitcoin.
One of the ways to earn bitcoin is to accumulate large amounts of Satoshi by trading altcoins/all cryptocurrencies except BTC and then converting them to bitcoin.
Each trading pair is formed as ALTxBTC, not ALTxUSD
When you are buying and selling an altcoin in sats (Satoshis), if you sell when in USD but not sats, you will end up inadvertently trading your bitcoin. You must learn to trade against bitcoin as accumulating satoshis is the only way to win this game. The key is to value bitcoin individually and not against the USD.
Example
Start: 100k sats is worth $5. Altcoin is worth 100k sats. You buy 1 altcoin at 100k sats.
Scenario 1: 100k sats are now worth $4. Altcoin is now worth 100k sats.
Scenario 2: 100k sats are now worth $6. Altcoin is now worth 100k sats.
Scenario 3: 100k sats is now worth $5. Altcoin is now worth 120k sats.
With number 1, Altcoin is down 20% in dollars but you have stayed the same in satoshi value. Which means you have the same value as Bitcoin. Which is good!
With number 2, you earn 20% in dollars, but not in Satoshi. Which means you have the same value as Bitcoin. Which is again good!
With the number 3 you get 20% in satoshi but the same in dollars. What is the best!
As the value of BTC is higher than USD, always trade in Bitcoin or Satoshi and you will get more profit.
This example highlights the issues in valuing crypto assets in USD. #3, you would realize your Satoshi earnings converting to BTC. #1 and #2 there are no conversions to be done as their sats are the same but #2 people trading USD value can take a trade and see a gain in USD but with Bitcoin value they recorded neither a profit nor a loss. For people who trade, the USD value for numbers 2 and 3 is actually the same even though the alt is moving from $5 to $6 USD.
The difference is that at number 3 the alt is outpacing BTC growth, which is the result we are looking for, while at number 2 it is just keeping pace with BTC. #2 is not a trade-off.#3 is the only trade-off to be made.
Buy and earn BTC cashbacks
Ebates, a popular Google Chrome extension, offers customers cashback on their purchases on thousands of websites. They work with just about every major online retailer, including everything from Best Buy to Groupon and Nike. After installing the extension and creating an account, Ebates will notify you if discounts are available as you browse a retailer’s website. In one click you can activate the discounts. At the end of each quarter, you receive a check from Ebates with your cashback balance. It’s that simple.
In cryptography, a company called Stupid is offering similar services. Shop at sites like Sephora, Macy’s, CVS or any of our 500+ partner stores and get bitcoin cashback. Each store has a different incentive amount. Some offer up to 9% cashback. Others will offer a set amount of BTC. This is a very easy way to earn free Bitcoin while doing your daily shopping.
Other similar apps are:
Affiliate Programs
Certain companies will pay you (in Bitcoin or fiat) if you invite paying customers to their platforms. This marketing method, called “affiliate marketing”, has been around for a long time and allows users to establish an additional income stream.
There are different structures provided by companies for their affiliate programs. With many eCommerce brands, you can earn a percentage of the total order value of the referred customer. For others, you might get a flat fee for every person who signs up for a service using your promo code.
It is worth looking into some referral programs offered by well-established Bitcoin and cryptocurrency trading companies.
- Binance Affiliate Program
Binance is proud to be home to the world’s most traded exchanges. It is one of the most trusted cryptocurrency trading platforms in the industry and regularly updates its services to provide clients with new trading opportunities. According to the Binance referral page, some of the top referrals made commissions of 115 to 186 BTC.
How does the Binance Affiliate Program work?
Step 1: Sign up for a binance Affiliated
Submit your application by filling out a form. Their team reviews your application and decides whether or not to approve based on certain criteria.
Step 2: Create and share your referral links
Create and manage your referral links on your Binance account. You can track the performance of each referral link you share. These can be customized for each channel and for various discounts that you would like to share with your community.
Step 3: Sit back, relax and earn commissions
When someone signs up or registers an account on Binance with your referral link, you can earn up to 50% commission every time they complete a trade.
- Coinbase Affiliate Program
San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is one of the oldest and most well-known cryptocurrency trading platforms. Coinbase will pay $10 for every customer that signs up and deposits at least $100. You also get 50% of your arbitrators trading fees for the first 3 months
Step 1: Become an affiliate
Once you apply and your application is approved, you will have access to promotional resources and Coinbase tracking software.
Step 2: Promote Coinbase
Link to Coinbase in articles, create new content or place ads on your website.
Step 3: Earn commissions
When new customers join Coinbase through your promotions, you earn a commission.
- Changelly Affiliate Program
changelly is yet another well-known cryptocurrency exchange that provides a great affiliate program. The program gives you a 50% revenue share on all transactions.
Step 1: Join the program
After signing up for the affiliate program, you will receive a referral link which contains your referral ID.
Step 2: Promote the referral link
Share and promote your referral link on different channels.
Step 3: Earn commissions
When a new customer signs up to Changelly and exchanges cryptos, you start earning a commission.
PS The 50% revenue share model works for 90 days from your referral registration.
- Local Bitcoins Affiliate Program
Localbitcoins.com is an over-the-counter (OTC) Bitcoin exchange where users can exchange BTC for fiat money directly with each other. 20% of the user’s trading fee on each trade (trading fee is 1% of the total trade amount), so essentially 0.20% of each trade.
Commissions are earned over 3 months from the user’s registration date. Payments are sent automatically (daily) to your Bitcoin address and are accumulated in your LocalBitcoins account. There is no limit to the payment amount.
Paxful is a peer-to-peer marketplace for buying and selling Bitcoins (similar to LocalBitcoins). Their program gives 50% of all commissions paid to Paxful by their direct affiliates and 10% from their affiliates’ affiliates. You can earn commissions for up to 1 year. Payout starts instantly with no minimum earnings for payout
BitMEX It’s a Bitcoin derivatives trading platform that offers a margin trading service for both experienced and professional BTC traders. Offers up to 20% in commissions. The commission model is a lifetime program. Payments are processed instantly with no minimum earnings for payment.
TREZOR is a hardware wallet that allows you to securely store your Bitcoins offline. The company offers a commission of 12% to 15% of each sale. Can be earned once per sale. The payment frequency is monthly with a minimum earning of 0.1 BTC per payment
- Ledger Wallet Affiliate Program
Ledger is another hardware wallet that allows you to securely store your Bitcoins offline. There are a variety of commission models available. The most valuable is 10% of the net value of the sale (excluding VAT and freight). Commission can be earned once per sale. The payment frequency is monthly with a minimum earning of 0.1BTC per payment
eToro is an innovative trading platform where you can trade stocks, cryptocurrencies, ETFs, currencies, indices and commodities. It offers a commission per sale with $200-$400 as payment (depending on the referring country). Commission can be earned once per sale. Payout frequency is anytime (if you are a merchant), otherwise within 15 days from the end of the month. The minimum payout earning is 3 FTDs.
Packing
With this exhaustive list of passive and semi-passive Bitcoin and cryptocurrency sources, it’s up to you to choose which options work best for you. Most people usually start with a few of these and then build up.
Happy Profits!
Images via Shutterstock, chart by Coinmarketcap