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Obligatory Disclaimer: I am NOT a financial advisor, and none of this advice should be taken without speaking to a qualified professional first. Further, do NOT invest more than you’re willing to lose, and do your own research first.
Passive income is the holy grail of money making, and the one thing most people cannot easily achieve. Whether it be writing and selling an eBook, blogging with tons of affiliate links (guilty), or owning real estate, generally speaking, traditional forms of passive income aren’t that passive. They require large amounts of time, for a mediocre reward.
If you’re tired of the same-old passive income suggestions and you’re looking to make a little crypto, I’ve got six suggestions for you to try out.
1. Put some money in KCS
Kucoin’s token Kucoin Shares (KCS) is a super easy way to make a little extra money on the regular. The idea is simple — you buy their token, and they share 50% of their daily transaction fees with all KCS holders, proportionate to the amount of KCS you hold. Note, this percentage is set to decrease in the future, but in the meantime, this is a great way to start your passive income journey.
2. Proof-of-Stake Mining with Decred
I’ve been in Decred since the very beginning. I got most of my tokens from their airdrop, and I’ve been proof-of-staking since earlier this year. If you have some crypto-profit you’re looking to easily grow, this is a great place to do it.
My friends at Decredible have done an excellent job explaining the process of PoS mining — as well as pretty much every other aspect about Decred — and another Slack Member created an excellent step-by-step tutorial that got me up and running. If you have more questions, start with the article I wrote here.
Decred POS is almost like earning interest in a traditional bank. For perspective, I earned 49 DCR last year from POSing, which is equivalent to ~$4,300! (Note: this option may have the highest bar of entry of this list. I’d recommend seriously looking into this option if you’ve been in crypto for a while and have a decent amount of profit you’re looking to diversify.)
3. Delegated Proof of Stake with ARK
I stumbled onto ARK a few months back and have been “delegated proof of staking” with it since day one.
The beauty of delegated proof of stake is that it works 24/7, and requires virtually no effort on your part. Once you setup your account and cast your vote, your ARK works for you. You’ll get a payout every so often through the person you voted for, as a reward for voting for them.
Each person running a node has the chance to bribe you for your vote, so do your research, pick one that has the best benefits, and watch the profit start rolling in! I found this article to be a helpful technical explanation, and this was a helpful walkthrough.
4. Earn GAS with NEO
This little crypto passive-income trick may be the most simple out of all of them. NEO was designed so that, when held in the native NEO wallet, it automatically generates “GAS,” the token that runs the network.
To receive your GAS, all you have to do is move your NEO off of any exchange, and into an official NEO wallet. I found this walkthrough to be helpful. (Note: some exchanges, like Binance, automatically credit your GAS to your account, but be aware that you don’t hold your private keys with Binance.)
5. Sign up for an Earn.com account
Originally meant to completely replace your email, Earn.com (formerly 21.co) evolved from a messaging platform that allows strangers to send you messages for a fee in Bitcoin, to a survey and airdrop platform…that also pays you in Bitcoin.
I’ve earned a few hundred dollars worth of Bitcoin through my Earn.com account, and have applied those earnings to ICOs I like, which has given me a great return on investment. This isn’t even taking into account the 9 or 10 airdrops I’ve signed up for — tokens that I’ll be receiving for free, just for being a part of their platform. Sign up for an account here!
6. Answering questions on Cent
Although not 100% “passive,” at least if we’re going by the strictest definition out there, Cent is a “Quora for Crypto” platform that pays you in ETH to answer questions.
Things like “share your favorite crypto-gif,” or “what’s it like where you live” offer small amounts of Ether, while more complicated questions could earn you quite a bit. If you’d like to ask a question you’re free to do so too — for a fee — check out this awesome gif walkthrough.
Cent has come a long way and seen a lot of updates in the past few months, with hundreds of new users joining and answering questions. Arguably one of the most useful (and operational) dApps out there, in my book. Go check them out!
So there you have it. Six quick ways to start making a little crypto. If you found this article to be helpful, please hit the 👏 to help others find it. If you have other ways to make a passive income using crypto, leave me a comment!
If you haven’t invested in Bitcoin yet and you want to join the movement, the easiest way to begin is with Coinbase. Get $10 of free Bitcoin when you use this link — it’s my referral link — and get started now!
If you’d like to start using an exchange instead of Coinbase, Binance is a great place to start. Sign up here!