Since its launch eleven years ago, Bitcoin has exploded onto the fintech scene, setting the stage for a whole new wave of cryptocurrencies. And if you’ve heard half the hype about Bitcoin, chances are you’ve considered dipping a toe into the cryptocurrency world yourself. But how do you actually go about becoming a Bitcoin millionaire?
There are several ways you can make money with Bitcoin. Read on to discover some of them and how you can build your Bitcoin empire today.
What Is Bitcoin?
Before we dive into all the ways you can make money with Bitcoin, let’s talk some about what Bitcoin actually is. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, which is a type of money that’s separate from any national government or banking operation. Rather than being managed by a government, Bitcoin is created and regulated through a public blockchain system.
Since its founding in 2009, Bitcoin has taken off, skyrocketing in value and popularity. As of this writing, each singular Bitcoin is worth about $32,000, though the values fluctuate minute to minute. There are also smaller divisions of Bitcoin, going all the way down to the satoshi, which is one hundred millionth of a Bitcoin.
How Does It Work?
So how is it that a made-up currency that’s not issued or guaranteed by a national government can have value?
The first answer is that, as with all money, we as a society have agreed that Bitcoin has value. A dollar bill has no inherent value, but we as a society have agreed that you can trade one for a cup of sweet tea at McDonald’s.
Bitcoin is also valuable because there are a limited number of Bitcoins in the world. The founder of Bitcoin set a cap on the currency that will only ever allow there to be 21 million Bitcoins in existence. This helps to prevent Bitcoin from inflation, allowing the cryptocurrency to hold a real value in the global market.
Accept Bitcoin as Payment
If you would like to start gaining Bitcoin wealth, one of the simplest options is to start accepting Bitcoin as payment. As Bitcoin has grown in popularity and value, it has also become a more acceptable form of payment for various goods and services. Even major vendors like PayPal, Visa, and Overstocks now accept Bitcoin as payment.
If you have an online business, you may consider starting to accept payments in Bitcoin, in addition to your normal currency. Keep in mind that Bitcoin exchange rates are always fluctuating. You’ll want to calculate the Bitcoin price each time you get ready to complete a transaction to ensure you get the same value you would with your standard currency.
Get Bitcoin Tips
Maybe you don’t sell products online, but you do offer some sort of a service where you can accept tips. You may not want to immediately transition your entire payment system to Bitcoin. But if you want to get into the Bitcoin game a little, you can always start accepting tips in Bitcoin.
Accepting Bitcoin tips can help you to start to grow some Bitcoin wealth without taking away the relative stability of your normal income. You can accept tips for services you provide online, as well as during digital streaming sessions and more. There are even some websites where you can help people out with various tasks in return for tips in the currency of your choice.
Mine Bitcoin
If you want to get a little more skin in the Bitcoin game, one of the most popular options for earning Bitcoin is by mining it. Bitcoin mining rewards people for their services as auditors. In essence, you’ll be helping to verify Bitcoin interactions to ensure no one is trying to spend the same Bitcoin twice.
Bitcoin mining involves generating an extremely rapid series of sixty-four-digit hexadecimal numbers to try to match a corresponding number in the Bitcoin blockchain system. The first person to guess a number equal to or lower than the number attached to that block gets rewarded with a generous amount of Bitcoin. This process can be difficult and may only rarely payout, but it can be very lucrative when it does.
Buy and Hold Bitcoin
Another great way to make money with Bitcoin is to treat the cryptocurrency much like a traditional stock. You can buy certain amounts of Bitcoin for U.S. money and then hang onto it in hopes that it will go up in value. When Bitcoin values get higher than what you bought the currency for, you can sell it back and get a profit.
This process, also called HODLing (Holding On for Dear Life), is a somewhat safer way to make money in Bitcoin than by mining. Yes, the individual payouts in Bitcoin mining might be higher, but there is much less guarantee of profit there. Bitcoin has continued to rise in value since it got its start, meaning that if you hold onto your Bitcoin for long enough, you are almost guaranteed to make a profit.
Trade in Bitcoin
If you like the profit guarantee of HODLing but you want things to move a little faster, Bitcoin trading might work well for you. This process works essentially the same way as any other kind of stock market trading. The primary difference between Bitcoin trading and HODLing is the amount of time you hold the Bitcoin for.
When you engage in Bitcoin day trading, you buy and sell Bitcoin at various points throughout the day. Swing trading lands somewhere in the middle of day trading and HODLing in terms of how long you hold the Bitcoin for. You can also engage in arbitrage, in which you buy Bitcoin at more affordable prices on one platform and sell it for higher prices on another platform.
Extend Loans
If you already own some Bitcoin and you have some extra money to play with, loaning money can be a great way to grow your Bitcoin wealth. Many people need small loans for things like medical expenses or home improvement projects. You can loan them the money they need and collect the interest in Bitcoin.
There are sites you can work through which pair up lenders and borrowers. You can see how borrowers rank in terms of creditworthiness to make sure you don’t put yourself at too much risk of losing money. You may also consider making multiple small loans, rather than one large loan, to avoid some of this risk.
Gamble With Bitcoin
If you like a little more risk and reward in your financial life, you might consider gambling for Bitcoin. This method works essentially the same as any other type of gambling; the difference is what currency you get paid in. Try to go for gambling games that rely on some level of skill, rather than outright luck, if you plan to go this route.
It is important to note that gambling can be incredibly addictive and dangerous. While you may start gambling for some extra Bitcoin, it’s easy for this to spiral out of control and starts impacting other areas of your life. If you or someone you love struggles with a gambling addiction, there are resources available that can help you.
Start Binary Trading
Binary trading is another Bitcoin moneymaking option that lands somewhere between trading and gambling. In effect, you’re betting about what the value of Bitcoin will do over short periods of time. If you guess correctly, you win Bitcoin, and if you guess incorrectly, you lose Bitcoin.
Like gambling, binary trading can be somewhat addictive and may be risky financially. If you plan to go this route, be sure to keep a close eye on the various factors impacting the value of Bitcoin on any given day. If you manage your money well and you do your homework, you could make a reasonable amount of money this way.
Get Involved With the Blockchain
There are also other ways to make money by getting involved with the Bitcoin blockchain system aside from Bitcoin mining. Bitcoin uses a series of masternodes, tools that keep track of the Bitcoin blockchain full-time. They help to keep Bitcoin running by saving, validating, and announcing Bitcoin transactions to various other nodes.
If you have some computer skills, you can make a reasonable amount of money by creating a masternode. These programs are incredibly important to the management of Bitcoin since they help to govern voting events and keep protocols operating smoothly. They can often bring in huge amounts of Bitcoin payments in return for these essential services.
Join a Bug Bounty Program
Another way to use your computer skills to improve the Bitcoin world and also earn some cash is by joining a bug bounty program. These programs incentivize people to help make various websites and programs stronger. If you find a bug, loophole, or exploitable weakness and let a company know about it, they’ll pay you for your discovery.
Many Bitcoin vendors and websites run these sorts of bug bounty programs. This helps make them more secure and help them provide better service for their customers. You can get paid in Bitcoin for your efforts, as well as making the Bitcoin ecosystem a little more pleasant for everyone.
Use Affiliate Marketing
If you have a large online following, you may have heard about the possibilities of affiliate marketing. This system allows you to take a small commission on sales of products you recommend. Your followers will click a specialized link to the product on your site, which lets the vendor know that you earned your commission.
While most affiliate commissions get paid out in standard currencies, you can request that this money be paid to you in Bitcoin instead. Since this is passive income, you can also combine this with some of the other methods we’ve discussed here. This can help you to gain a steady influx of Bitcoin income with little active effort on your part.
Write About Bitcoin
If you dive into the Bitcoin world and learn a lot about the currency, you may be able to make that expertise work for you. Bitcoin is a very hot topic, and people all over the world want to know more about it. They want to learn more about Bitcoin mining, what impacts the values of the cryptocurrency, and what other cryptocurrencies they should consider investing in.
You may be able to make money by writing about Bitcoin online. One option is to do this through your own website, which you can then monetize with affiliate links, advertising revenue, and other such routes. You can also ghostwrite articles for other websites that will pay you for your expertise and writing skills.
Work for Bitcoin
The least glamorous of the Bitcoin earning options is also one of the most reliable: work for Bitcoin. There are several ways you can do this, some of which we’ve already discussed. Accepting Bitcoin payments for businesses you already run is a great option, as is taking Bitcoin affiliate payments.
You can also complete micro-jobs in exchange for Bitcoin payments if you don’t mind tedious work. These jobs tend to include things like taking surveys, watching ads, and watching videos for small payments. While none of these are exactly get-rich-quick schemes, they can turn into a steady flow of cash with enough dedication.
Learn How to Make Money With Bitcoin
Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency on the market today and is one of the best ways to make some extra cash online. Consider getting involved with Bitcoin trading or diving into the world of Bitcoin blockchain. You can also work for Bitcoin, either by accepting payments for work you already do or by using your Bitcoin expertise to find new avenues of income.
If you’d like to discover more ways to make money with Bitcoin, check out the rest of our site at Byte Federal. We have Bitcoin ATM locations all across the country to make it simple for you to buy and sell Bitcoin.
Find a Bitcoin ATM near you today and start making your Bitcoin fortune!
