With Bitcoin exploding in popularity… people are naturally asking “How can I earn Bitcoin for free?!” Now earning Bitcoin for “free” is absolutely possible, but not always legal. In this article, I am going to cover a handful of ways that people around the world generate free Bitcoins for themselves.
I’m in NO WAY condone illegally earning free Bitcoins, but this article could possibly help you from losing your Bitcoins as well… so let’s get started.
1. You could steal some Bitcoins.
Sadly, there is a variety of ways that people are able to steal Bitcoins from individuals and companies. I’m going to break down a few of the more common ways and a few of the less common ways.
1a. Extortion. When I think of extortion… I usually imagine a few heavy-set Italian gangsters telling some small store owner that it appears he needs _______ service or maybe something bad happens! This isn’t how extortion happens on the internet in 2021. Services are usually extorted one of three ways online these days: DDoS attack, File Encryption, or threat of legal troubles.
DDoS Example: “we see your internet service has been doing very well lately. i wanted to inform you that if you do not pay 1 Bitcoin to ____ that your service will not do so well next week because it will be offline. if you review your system log information from last night, you will see that we successfully took your service offline for 10 minutes. this is not a joke. next week we will take your service offline Monday to Friday if we are not paid.”
File Encryption Example: “we have encrypted your computer networks files. you must pay 1 bitcoin to ______ or your files will be lost forever. we are a serious organization and your information will be deleted in 7 days if we do not receive the bitcoins. when buying bitcoin, do NOT tell them that you are paying us… if you do, they will not sell you the bitcoins and we will delete your network.”
Legal Trouble Example: “we have found that one of the porn websites you visited included pictures of an underage minor. this was very naught of you but we will keep your secret for 1 Bitcoin. you must send this 1 bitcoin to _____ within 7 days or we will send a copy of your browser history and information to the FBI, your wife, and your children’s teachers.”
2a. Phishing. It sounds like fishing, but it’s a lot less smelly! Phishing is basically when someone tricks a user into thinking they are on a trusted website, but the reality is that the user is on a criminal’s website! Phishers target both legal and illegal websites. Professional Phishers take advantage of Tor browser having confusing URL’s for example… it’s also hard for a victim that was trying to send Bitcoin to an illegal market place to file a criminal complaint against a fake illegal market place!
3a. Horribly designed website flaws. A great way to earn some free Bitcoins is thinking outside of the box while you’re using services that use Bitcoin. I can not tell you how many services I’ve used that had mistakes that gave free Bitcoins!!!! Not just little services, but like LARGE Bitcoin services with BIG fucking mistakes haha! Always keep your eye out 😉 Here is an example of a sportbook service that allowed users to transfer their “locked” Bitcoins to a new account and withdraw: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=257496.msg2744140#msg2744140
2. You could offer a service. I feel like this is pretty self-explanatory, but really try to think outside of the box as far as services go. One of the easiest ways to earn money selling products online is “Dropshipping”. Dropshipping is where a customer places an order with you, then that order is placed with the real vendor and the middleman keeps the change! It’s wonderful until you get someone requesting an exchange or a refund, but in the cryptocurrency world… exchanges and refunds are a bitch regardless!
3. Defaulting on Bitcoin loans. My general rule of thumb is NEVER give anyone a loan using cryptocurrency… it’s just to hard to collect on bad debts. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t a HUGE line of people waiting to try to earn 10% on their Bitcoin by giving a stranger a loan on the internet… dumb dumb dumb! We call this “Chucking” someone (aka defaulting on a bitcoin loan).
4. Buying Bitcoin with a reversible method. This is probably the largest of all the cryptocurrency scams over the past 10 years… and no one talks about it! Basically, the scammer finds a target that is willing to get paid via Paypal. The scammer then sends the funds to the target, the target sends the Bitcoin to the scammer and then the scammer emails Paypal saying they have been hacked! Paypal then gives the scammer back their money and the person that send the Bitcoin is now left with nothing.
This scam works for a number of services: Paypal, Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Venmo, CashApp, and basically any financial service that “normal” people use that isn’t actually cash or wire! The general rule of thumb is do NOT sell your Bitcoin to a stranger for anything that is very convenient haha.
5. Find a Bitcoin sponsor or affiliate system! I wanted to end this article on a legal option that many people haven’t thought of…. Find a sponsor!!! There are literally thousands of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain companies that are just dying to get their brand out to people. Be that bridge and it may be hugely rewarding for you!
FreeBitcoins.com for example offers an affiliate system that pays 50% of all trade fees for life on referred users. All you need to do is get people to click the link we provide you and you’ll get paid for every trade they make… it’s really simple and more information can be found hereafter you register on the FreeBitcoins altcoin exchange: https://freebitcoins.com/xchange/profile/affiliate
Good luck and have fun!!
