Have you noticed how cryptocurrencies have turned from just digital coins into a real revolution? Now it's not just about money, but also about a bunch of opportunities to earn money on the Internet. In fact, the world of crypto has become like a whole universe where you can dive into and find something of your own. The question arises: how to make money on crypto? It's easy, but you need one thing - to have a rivet in your head! Ready or not? Let's go!
Top ways to make money on cryptocurrency
“A complete waste of money! A lot of money for a digital coin - you can't be that stupid!” That's what many people say when it comes to cryptocurrency. But why should you invest in cryptocurrency?
The question is quite reasonable. Today, the Central Bank can print money without spending ink and paper. It is the master of money, and your money is its tool. Unfortunately, this means that the money supply grows faster than the quantity of goods - you can pay more for the same number of buns that you bought yesterday. This does not work with crypto. It is decentralized!
This was just one reason to work with cryptocurrencies. So, how to make money with cryptocurrency?
Here are 11 of the most common ways to invest in cryptocurrency. There are others, but they are more complicated and require more knowledge. The following options are arranged in order of difficulty, from simple to hellishly difficult.
1. Hodl – buy and hold
You buy cryptocurrency and wait for it to go up in value - this has worked well in recent years. This is a great passive income from cryptocurrency.
2. Landing
Many exchanges offer to lend your cryptocurrencies. This gives you regular interest, just like a term deposit account. Where do your coins go? Traders use your coins as leverage. For example, you can convert one Bitcoin into ten.
3. Staking
Staking is cryptocurrency mining where you “stake” your coins on the network to support it, such as verifying transactions. In return, you usually receive a daily percentage. The exchange also takes care of this task for you, so all you have to do is deposit your coins into your account.
4. Liquidity extraction
Here, you provide liquidity by pooling two currency pairs (e.g. Ethereum and the stablecoin Tether) into a pool. People can withdraw Tether or Ethereum from this pool by depositing another currency into it. This is how decentralized exchanges (DEXs) work, and you get rewarded as a portion of the transaction fee.
5. Bitcoin mining
Miners are special computers (ASIC) that solve mathematical problems like a child at a blackboard. They guess the numbers, when they find the right ones, another block is added to the blockchain. This protects the network and rewards them with Bitcoins. What's the problem? In our country, it's not profitable. Just look at your electricity bill, and the questions will disappear by themselves. You can get passive income from mining only if you work with a large partner, and on your own you can only suffer losses.
6. ICO (Initial Coin Offering)
How do companies go public? They organize an IPO - initial public offering: they issue shares to the public. This is how they finance themselves. Cryptocurrency companies, on the other hand, organize an ICO, and issue their cryptocurrencies to the general public. However, this is very risky, as most projects fail. You have to research everything carefully.
7. GameFi
Earning money through GameFi is time-consuming because it requires a lot of playing. However, joining a guild is a completely different matter because it generates passive income. Guilds are platforms that allow investors and players to work together. The former invest money and other assets in projects, while the latter use them to earn money in games. The profits are shared between investors, players, and often other intermediaries, such as managers who create educational materials for players. There are a number of well-known guilds, including Yield Guild Games (YGG), Good Games Guild (GGG), and Merit Circle.
8. NFTs
This way of generating passive income is by creating, buying and reselling NFTs. The first thing you need to know about NFTs is that in many cases they are essentially a lottery. There is a chance that you can create or buy something really valuable and sell it for a lot of money. The painting “Everydays: the First 5000 Days” by artist Mike Winkelman (aka Beeple) was sold as an NFT and brought its author a record 69.3 million $.
9. Trading
Cryptocurrency trading involves betting on short-term price movements, i.e. whether the price will rise or fall. It requires a lot of practice, nerves of steel, and discipline like a Roman legionnaire. It will definitely be tough for beginners, but it is all in your hands.
10. Farming
Another popular way to earn passive income with cryptocurrencies is through farming. Cryptocurrency is stored in a liquidity pool, and in return you receive LP tokens (Liquidity Provider Tokens), which can be used to generate additional income through staking. A liquidity pool is a collection of tokens that are locked in a smart contract. They are used to provide decentralized trading, lending, and other functions.
Where can you make money on cryptocurrency?
First of all: you don’t need to buy a whole Bitcoin, because it is divided into parts, just like the hryvnia. Its percentages are called satoshis, and one BTC consists of 100,000 million satoshis. Thus, you can invest in cryptocurrency with less than $1, or $10 or $20 on other exchanges. Here they are:
- Bitpanda: very easy to use, but very expensive and high transaction fees are passed on to customers.
- Bitstamp: Mediocre fees, but highly trusted. Why? The exchange has been hacked before, but no customers lost their money – the exchange refunded everything.
- Binance: has very low fees and many financial products. However, this makes it confusing and difficult. Therefore, beginners should not start with Binance. This exchange has also been hacked and replaced everything.
- Crypto.com: Very… very… very… easy to use. Especially suitable for beginners. You can also set up a savings plan with a recurring purchase feature. So you can automatically buy every month from $45.
Where is it safe to store cryptocurrency?
You also have an account on the blockchain: your wallet. It has an account number (public address) and a PIN (private key). Never share your private key! Anyone who has it can access your coins. It’s like having your bank account number tattooed on your forehead and always carrying your debit card in your breast pocket. But what types of wallets are there?
Basically, there are three types:
- Web wallet, like on exchanges or as a browser extension.
- A mobile wallet and a desktop wallet (e.g. Exodus).
- Hardware wallets (e.g. Ledger Nano).
A web wallet is the least secure, while a hardware wallet is the most secure. Why? If you get hacked, hackers can see your web wallet and desktop wallet passwords as you type them. They can then copy you and drain your coins like water out of a bathtub.
On the other hand, with a hardware wallet, you only enter your password on the device. To steal your coins, thieves would have to break into your home and steal your password. So get a hardware wallet if you invest large amounts, and store smaller amounts in a desktop or web wallet.
Diversification also helps: don't keep all your cryptocurrencies in one wallet, but in several. If you lose one, all is not lost.
That's it. Now you know how to get started with cryptocurrencies, but where to invest?
Best cryptocurrencies for investment
Bitcoin and Ethereum! They are the biggest and most common. You can buy them almost without hesitation, but first you have to understand them!
1. Bitcoin (BTC)
Current market cap: $1.853 trillion, annualized return: 102.23%. BTC is the original cryptocurrency, often referred to as digital gold. It was created by Satoshi Nakamoto. It is used as a store of value and a hedge against inflation. Bitcoin is increasingly being accepted by large companies and investors such as MicroStrategy.
2. Ethereum (ETH)
Current market cap: $410.65 billion, 1-year return: 67.04 %. Ethereum is known for its ability to run smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps). This makes it the foundation of decentralized finance (DeFi). Ethereum is being upgraded to Ethereum 2.0 to handle more transactions and lower fees. It was developed in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin.
How should you allocate Bitcoin and Ethereum? Like MSCI World (Bitcoin) and MSCI Emerging Markets (Ethereum) – 80/20 or 70/30. This should be a great decision for anyone who is into cryptocurrencies for the long term.
But which cryptocurrencies will be the most promising in 2025? You should definitely take a look at other coins: research them on CoinMarketCap, read the whitepaper, and watch the videos on YouTube. And we will continue:
3. Binance Coin (BNB)
Current market cap: $100.53 billion, 1-year return: 120.08%. Binance Coin is primarily used on the Binance exchange to reduce trading fees and participate in new token sales. It benefits from the success of Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Binance Coin was launched by Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance.
4. Cardano (ADA)
Current market cap: $30.55 billion, one-year return: $24.72%. Cardano focuses on making blockchain technology more scalable and sustainable. It aims to support smart contracts and decentralized applications. Cardano was developed by Charles Hoskinson, who is also the co-founder of Ethereum.
5. Solana (SOL)
Current market capitalization: $92.67 billion, annualized return: 580.07%.
Solana is known for its fast and low-cost transactions, making it popular for decentralized applications. Its rapid growth and efficiency make it a strong candidate for future success. Solana was founded by Anatoly Yakovenko. The Solana ecosystem is growing rapidly, and countless popular meme coins, such as Bonk and DogWifHat, have been launched on its network. There are also rumors that a Solana ETF will be launched in the near future.
6. XRP (XRP)
Current market cap: $118.78 billion, annualized return: -30.90 %. XRP is designed for fast and cheap international money transfers and is used by banks for cross-border payments. Despite regulatory challenges, it remains influential. XRP was developed by Ripple Labs, founded by Chris Larsen and Jed McCaleb. How high can the price of XRP go after the legal battle is over?
7. Polkadot (DOT)
Current market cap: $10.42 billion, one-year return: $15.19%. Polkadot aims to connect different blockchains so they can work together. This makes it a key player in creating a more connected blockchain ecosystem. Polkadot was developed by Dr. Gavin Wood, co-founder of Ethereum.
8. Chainlink (LINK)
Current market cap: $13.52 billion, one-year return: 72.79%. Chainlink offers a network that connects blockchain to real-world data. It is indispensable for smart contracts that require external information. Chainlink was developed by Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis.
9. Avalanche (AVAX)
Current market cap: $15.02 billion, 1-year return: 108.09 %. Avalanche offers a powerful platform for building decentralized applications and is known for its speed and scalability. The goal is to improve interoperability between blockchains. Avalanche was developed by Emin Gün Sirer and launched by Ava Labs.
10. Dogecoin (DOGE)
Current market capitalization: $47.27 billion, one-year return: 82.72%.
Dogecoin originally started as a joke and is a meme coin that has become popular due to its community and support from famous personalities like Elon Musk. Dogecoin was created in 2013 by Billy Marcus and Jackson Palmer. After the meme coin explosion in 2024, will the meme coin boom continue in 2025?
Conclusion
It's hard to just start earning money on cryptocurrency, and then you buy crypto like buns in a bakery. Just install Crypto.com, transfer a few euros or dollars to it and start working. You will get your first experience, become more educated in yourself and soon have the confidence to make bigger investments. But don't lose your mind!
