Can you get free bitcoin? Yes. In fact, it’s probably easier than you expect. Can you get rich off it? That part’s not so easy.

Through our research we found six main ways to get free bitcoin and we’ve arranged them from least profitable to most worth your time.

Free Bitcoin can be hard to come by, and it’s difficult to find methods that are actually worth your time. You could set up your home computer as a bitcoin miner; there are a number of cashback programs that reward you for using referral links with cryptocurrencies. There are also bitcoin savings accounts which provide a flat interest rate on your cryptocurrencies.

There are several ways to earn free Bitcoin:

Gambling

This cannot be stressed enough: gambling is typically a sure-fire way to lose crypto instead of gain it. Many gambling sites allow you to withdraw earnings in bitcoin, but you’ll need to win games of luck and chance first.

Bitcoin gambling sites are often just as legitimate as online gambling with any other kind of currency. They might be full of ads or malware, and you’ll typically lose money overall, but it’s theoretically possible to get free bitcoin from it.

Bitcoin faucets

A bitcoin faucet is a feature on websites that steadily drips bitcoin. For example, a website might dispense a fraction of a bitcoin every few minutes. It’s usually an extremely small amount, equivalent to a few cents or a dollar, awarded to one user every few minutes.

This is often done as a promotional feature. If a faucet holds visitors on a website, it may translate to increased engagement, higher ad revenue or other benefits for the site’s owners that make it worthwhile.

Bitcoin games

Games might award miniscule amounts of bitcoin as a prize. They’re typically also filled with advertisements. It works similar to bitcoin faucets. The bitcoin rewards keep people playing and viewing ads, so on paper the game looks like a great way for advertisers to reach people.

If you don’t mind viewing ads and actually enjoy the game you’re playing, the tiny bitcoin prizes might eventually add up.

Mining

A few years ago, you might have been able to make hundreds of bitcoin by mining on a home computer. These days, it’s a lot more difficult. The bitcoin mining network is mostly dominated by big players with hundreds of thousands of dollars of computing power dedicated to bitcoin mining.

To make a profit from bitcoin mining, you need to have a lot of very powerful hardware. Otherwise you’ll end up spending more on power than you earn from bitcoin.

Affiliate programs

This is probably the easiest way to get free bitcoin that’s actually worthwhile. Affiliate programs are used in almost all industries, including cryptocurrency.

For example, you might refer a friend to a service and then you both get a discount, accrue rewards points or get a BTC or fiat currency bonus.

When you can get discounts or free money, it can be worth going out of your way to sign up for a service through an affiliate link instead of signing up directly.

Get paid directly in bitcoin

You have to work for it, so it’s not really free, but technically you’re also working for any bitcoin you might get from a faucet or as a game reward. There are different ways to do this:

  • Asking for bitcoin donations on your website through a wallet address and QR code.
  • Working for a company that pays directly in bitcoin. For example, if you do freelance work for a cryptocurrency business or have a reputation as a reliable service provider, you could get paid in bitcoin.
  • Asking your employer to pay you in bitcoin. If you really want, you might ask for part of your wages or salary in bitcoin. Although it’s safe to assume that at this stage, most employers will say no.

It’s important to keep in mind that earning free Bitcoin may not be a reliable or sustainable way to accumulate significant amounts of the cryptocurrency. It may be more practical to buy Bitcoin directly or earn it as a form of payment for goods or services.