Many people want to invest in crypto, but if you are strapped for cash, there are still ways to do that. CoinMarketCap Academy takes a look at how to invest in crypto without buying it.
With over 40% of all countries reporting an inflation rate above 10%, 2022 was a year where many people struggled with the rising cost of living. Since then, inflation has started to come back down a bit, but it remains high compared to our wages.
With that cost-of-living struggle, people are looking for ways to make some extra cash. Working a side job, selling stuff that is collecting dust in the garage, or trying to invest in financial markets with whatever capital they have left.
In today’s article, we dive into ways of investing in crypto, without having to use your hard-earned funds to buy it. There are many different potential approaches, and we will cover them one by one.
Airdrops
Airdrops are a great way to invest in crypto without buying it. Cryptocurrency airdrops are a way for new projects to generate awareness about the project. Generally speaking, small amounts of a new token are sent to active addresses in a certain community. For example, in the recent Blur airdrop, 360 million BLUR tokens were airdropped to active NFT traders on the platform.
In some cases, an airdrop is announced beforehand, allowing users to perform the necessary steps to receive the tokens. In bull markets, the value of these airdrops can grow into the thousands. For example, the value of the average Uniswap airdrop reached as high as $12,000 at its peak!
As you can tell, airdrops are a great way to get some tokens without having to spend a dime. Just be careful, as there are countless bad actors out there trying to steal your precious crypto. They can promise an airdrop for interacting with a certain protocol – only that one would be designed to hack your wallet. Exercise caution when venturing into new and unaudited projects/tokens!
Free Mints
The NFT space has its fair share of free stuff as well. Many projects offer free mints or give away a few NFTs to generate buzz around the project. This – like airdrops – can be a great way to build a portfolio in NFTs. Alternatively, users can try to get a few of these NFTs, with the intention to sell them to other investors in exchange for ETH or USDT. Either way, free NFTs can be a great way to invest in crypto without buying anything yourself.
Mining
One of the most common ways of investing in crypto without buying it, is by running a mining setup. Even though dedicated mining rigs for Bitcoin can be quite expensive, there are some altcoins that can be mined from your average laptop. Mining is a process where you add blocks to a blockchain, in exchange for rewards from transaction fees. The computing power, or in this case your laptop, will be used to process transactions on the blockchain and to keep the blockchain secure.
Once you have everything figured out, let your laptop mine some coins whenever you don’t need it, and let the rewards flow in. Note that mining comes with an important caveat: it can result in significant energy costs, so calculate the electricity costs versus mining rewards to make sure it is profitable.
Take on a Crypto Job
One of the most logical – but often overlooked – ways of investing in crypto is this: investing your time. Many projects are actively looking for support, whether in marketing, coding, or general management roles. If you have a knack for anything useful, chances are there is a project looking for someone just like you.
While pay is not as competitive as it was in the bull market, this will inevitably pick back up as the candles turn greener. Being active on Crypto Twitter will definitely increase your chances of getting a crypto job, but LinkedIn is becoming more and more important as well.
Provide Freelance Crypto Services
In line with the previous, providing services is another way of investing time. In addition to taking on a real role in a project, most crypto businesses are actively looking for people to handle a few quick things here and there. Examples include providing copywriting services, creating logos, managing a social media presence and more.
With the right marketing, you can position yourself as the go-to man for your skillset, similar to how twitter user Pepecasso managed to become the guy for custom pepe the frog memes.
Stake Your Existing Tokens
Once you have gathered a portfolio using one or more of the ways we described earlier, you can add another free layer of growth to your portfolio. With staking, you can put your tokens to work and earn some additional yield. These days, many cryptocurrencies can be staked.
Staking allows you to earn passive income by validating transactions for proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains. For instance, you can stake your Ethereum, which is then used to keep the Ethereum chain up and running. In return for your contributions, you are rewarded with a share of transaction fees and block rewards.
You can stake your crypto in many ways. Some ways are incredibly easy, while others require a bit more effort. Depending on your tech-savviness, you should either let another party handle the process, or take care of the whole setup yourself. These days, centralized exchanges (CEXs) offer staking services too, so it can be as easy as pressing a button.
Closing Thoughts
All in all, there are many ways to build a crypto portfolio – even if you are strapped for cash, or if you just don’t feel like investing any of your own money. Either way, nothing comes for free – even an airdrop requires you to invest time and work.
No matter how you are building your portfolio, opportunities abound in the crypto space. Happy exploring!
Writer’s Disclaimer: This article is based on my limited knowledge and experience. It has been written for educational purposes. It should not be construed as advice in any shape or form. Please do your own research.
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