Before crypto exchanges, to get Bitcoin, all you had to do was visit a website. Even though now it is a trillion-dollar economy, cryptocurrency faucets have not disappeared. Are crypto faucets worth their while in 2024? Learn in the ChangeHero’s guide to the phenomenon.
Key Takeaways
- Cryptocurrency faucets are websites or resources that distribute digital assets such as Bitcoin and altcoins for free. Most often, users perform simple tasks such as completing surveys or clicking captchas to receive rewards. Alternatively, developers use testnet faucets to get tokens to test applications.
- Although the idea of free Bitcoin can sound suspicious, most crypto faucets are safe to use. They either work as get-paid-to (GPT) networks and compensate their expenses with ad revenue or dole out negligible amounts (or both).
- Some crypto faucets active in 2024 are full-fledged businesses with many features and complex referral and loyalty systems. However, old-school free crypto faucets are still around as well.
What is a Faucet in Crypto?
The term refers to special resources that distribute digital assets in small amounts. There can be conditions to receiving cryptocurrencies with this method but the most typical feature of a crypto faucet is being free to use.
Originally, the goal of faucets was to help newcomers get crypto in small amounts and learn how to use it. They are still good for this purpose, although trying to profit off the free crypto provided through this means is not unheard of.
How effective is it? Considering that the name comes from the image of a leaky faucet, crypto converts looking to turn a quick buck with this method may find themselves disappointed.
Testnet Faucets
When talking about testnet versions of public blockchains, faucets are especially valuable resources. After all, you need to test how your financial application handles the transactions before actual value is involved.
However, you can’t really have the testnet units of account trading on an open market, so what do you do if you need some and can’t buy it? You just claim as many free tokens as you need for your tests.
As we just said, though, testnet cryptocurrencies have no value because they cannot be freely traded. This is more of a reason to pay attention to the type of asset the cryptocurrency faucet distributes.
Faucet vs. Airdrop
These two ways of distributing free crypto share more similarities than meets the eye. Both can have some conditions to be met and normally do not require any investment. Even though ‘airdrop’ is a more recent term in crypto than ‘faucet’, you could say that faucet payouts are kind of like a recurring airdrop.
The difference between the two lies in details. Airdrops are usually one-off events, often connected with the launch of a new cryptocurrency. Conversely, crypto faucet users look for consistent, if modest rewards in established digital assets with fewer strings attached. It is rarer for a crypto faucet to use on-chain conditions for payouts than for an airdrop, although the latter put forward both off-chain and on-chain tasks alike.
How Crypto Faucets Work
Crypto faucets are somewhat popular even today not only because they provide an easy way to get hands-on experience with crypto. They are also very straightforward: register an account or simply visit the website, perform simple tasks, and claim rewards.
The actions that yield rewards range from clicking captchas to watching ads and writing reviews. In that regard, crypto faucets are very similar to other get-paid-to marketing campaigns.
A reasonable question to ask is where does the free crypto come from? Early crypto faucets amassed a pool for distribution by mining or donations. These days, many crypto faucets operate as standalone businesses powered by ad revenue from the tasks the users complete.
Is Using a Faucet Worth It?
A cryptocurrency faucet is more than enough to collect pocket change to figure out blockchain transactions. But can you turn this trickle into a feasible profit stream?
Let’s have the numbers do the talking. According to bestfaucetsites.com, the top Bitcoin faucets, Vie Faucet and adBTC.com, on average pay out 0.034 to 0.054 USD per active user a day. Of course, since this is an average number, it just means that there are top earners but the majority of users get minuscule results.
Frequently, the rewards for each task are too small to be credited to the user’s wallet address directly, so they accumulate in their account or a so-called micro wallet. Once a threshold is reached, you can withdraw crypto but mind that some platforms take a fee.
Risks of Using Crypto Faucets
Where there is a promise of free stuff, there are always things to watch out for. As you might have suspected, the rewards are not completely free. In return for tiny amounts of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, you provide things like personal data and brief actions. If you try to gather as many faucet rewards as possible, all of those might add up to considerable time and effort.
Malicious actors can also employ crypto faucets to try to lure unsuspecting users to fraudulent platforms. Consequences may range from infecting your device with malware to signing malicious smart contracts. Before engaging with any crypto faucet website, check its reputation and watch out for red flags.
Best Crypto and Bitcoin Faucets in 2024
Cointiply
Cointiply is a popular user-friendly faucet and get-paid-to (GPT) platform that offers payouts in BTC and DOGE. The reward system credits earnings in coins, earned through activating the faucet in time increments or completing simple tasks.
The best bet to earn rewards on Cointiply is to fill out surveys from their partners, which can be found on the offerwall. Other options include playing games or watching ads, which pay around a few dollars per hour. Cointiply also has loyalty and referral programs, which can boost earnings but not exactly provide them on their own.
As far as GPT platforms are concerned, there are better-paying alternatives out there. The main appeal of Cointiply is the opportunity to earn Bitcoin.
Fire Faucet
Another well-known offer in the multi-coin faucet niche is Fire Faucet, which has a wider withdrawal option selection (13 cryptocurrencies). There are also loyalty and referral programs, but also a level system to keep users engaged and a premium account.
Positive user reviews confirm that this crypto faucet website is legitimate but there are also negative reviews expressing frustration with the low reward rate and issues with claiming. The fact that there are negative reviews at all, though, means that the platform is real and has been working for a while.
CoinMarketCap Learn and Earn
A joint reward program by CoinMarketCap and Binance takes the best from the worlds of faucets and airdrops. Users can get established and new coins and tokens in exchange for watching educational videos and completing quizzes afterward.
The downside of this method is that campaigns are not always available. On the flip side, instead of selling your data, time, and effort to data harvesters, here you educate yourself while supporting vetted crypto projects. It also provides a way to receive trending cryptocurrencies early, something that not a lot of crypto faucets can offer.
Allcoins
This crypto faucet is more like the first two we reviewed. In addition to free claims and GPT actions, Allcoins users can auto-claim free tokens and use their miner application. While it may not be very effective with Bitcoin or Ethereum, it may turn idle GPU or CPU computing power into smaller altcoins such as GGM.
Allcoins lets its users swap accrued balances between the supported coins, allowing them to capitalize on arbitrage or withdraw all rewards in one cryptocurrency.
Optimism ETH Faucet
An interesting example of crypto faucets is the Optimism ETH faucet which gives free oETH to cover gas fees on the Optimism L2. The condition to receive those, however, is to bridge 1,500 USDC or more with Optimism Gateway, O3 Swap, cBridge, and Hop Exchange. Nevertheless, it is different from most crypto faucets which rely on ad networks, because it is fully on-chain.
BestChange BTC Faucet
Did you know that crypto exchange monitor BestChange has a Bitcoin faucet? It is very simple to use: all you need to do is provide a BTC address, and between 1 and 100 satoshi will be credited to you. The timeout is 60 minutes, and the minimum withdrawal amount is 1,000 sats.
Instead of being a full-fledged business, this faucet is just a bonus for the monitor’s users. It may lack all the advanced features and extra ways to collect additional rewards but it is a fairly straightforward method to earn free Bitcoin.
Conclusion
Crypto faucets are still a great resource for promoting cryptocurrency and letting newcomers get hands-on experience before diving deeper. However, more often than not, trying to turn even the best crypto faucets into a revenue source will prove frustratingly slow.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are cryptocurrency faucets?
A cryptocurrency faucet is a resource that gives out free Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies in very small amounts. Usually, they double as marketing platforms that reward users for completing simple tasks.
Are crypto faucets safe?
Many crypto faucets are safe to use and have a decent reputation in the crypto community. Nevertheless, you should always perform due diligence when trying out new options, even if they seem to have good reviews or rewards.
Are crypto faucets still a thing?
Yes, crypto faucets are still around, although these days they are more similar to GPT marketing networks instead of simple resources that distribute free crypto.
What is the best crypto faucet in 2024?
Some of the most reputable cryptocurrency faucets still around are Cointiply, Fire Faucet, and Allcoins.
Is Bitcoin faucet worth it?
The first faucet made by Bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen in 2010 used to dish out 50 BTC every time. Popular Bitcoin faucets these days give out a handful of satoshis (0.00000001 Bitcoin) regularly. Nevertheless, if you have enough patience, you can stack sats with this method without any issue.
