It has been a year since I published my first $0 guide and while most of the info in that article is still relevant there are many new ways to get involved into crypto without actually spending a single cent.
Preparation
Burner Wallet(s)
A wallet is essential to this whole operation so pick one and set it up. The most popular option is always Metamask but they made some changes recently and it will soon start collecting your IP address. If you are't cool with this check out Frame or Rabby. These aren't the only options out there, just my favorite picks. Start with one and expand later.
Essential social media accounts
For this endeavor, you will probably only need a Twitter and Discord account but others will come in handy later down the road. If you want to put some extra effort into this create new email addresses for every wallet address. GitHub accounts along with Telegram handles may come in handy as well.
Getting Started with Testnets
If you are completely new to crypto, starting with testnet airdrop hunting is a great way to get familiar with DeFi. For example, if you follow this guide you will see that it is very easy to interact with a new blockchains/dapps completely free on their test network. It may sound like you are doing something for nothing but actually being active during testing phases has almost always proved to be a profitable activity.
Almost all projects reward early contributors when their product and token go live and testnet users are the most valuable ones. You help the developers test the product in the early days and they reward you with free tokens later down the road. A fair trade in my book.
Once you become familiar with using a wallet and interacting with a Dapp check out the LEO Airdrop Hunters spreadsheet where I collected a lot of testnet opportunities you can check out right now. Interacting with more Dapps increases your chances of getting an airdrop significantly so try to make it a daily habit to try at least one.
It is important to remember that new projects keep appearing every few days or weeks so if you want to stay up to date, use that Twitter account that you created earlier and follow these people:
Most of the time a large majority of these accounts will share airdrop strategies that require you to interact with Dapps on mainnet but if you keep checking their updates many testnet opportunities will come up. You can also check their previous posts because a lot of airdrops that they shared are still up for grabs.
Building Your Web3 ID
DeFi projects have finally figured out that they can get more people to use their products if they incentivize this activity. That is why in 2022 we have seen the raise of Web3-based websites that allow you to build your blockchain identity through achievements and quests. The most popular ones are:
This is where your Twitter and Discord accounts come into play. Join all three of those if you can and look for testnet opportunities. One example of that is again Zeta Chain. They have a Galxe quest that you can complete easily right now. For every completed step you will get a free NFT as proof that you completed the quest or task.
Most of these require you to join a Discord server or to retweet/like their posts. All 3 websites will give you very clear instructions on what you need to do and how to do it so just follow them and complete as many as you can. There is a high probability that these websites will also have their token one day and your Web 3 ID will matter a lot when that day comes.
Learn and Earn is Still Relevant
There is no question that Airdrops are the most lucrative way to get your DeFi journey started but if you want to hunt them the right way you will need some mainnet tokens as well. While you wait for testnet drops to come around spend some time learning about crypto. This, just like every step in our process, will be monetized.
"Learn and Earn" programs have been around for a while but the ones that are worth your time are:
Watch the videos, read the learning material, complete quizzes and get some free crypto that will help you get to the big leagues. Sometimes even $10 is more than enough to become eligible for a lot of mainnet airdrops.
Monetize Your Knowledge
Everything you do while following the steps above will be a learning process. At some point you will have enough knowledge to start helping others on their journey so why not monetize that as well? Here are some places where you can get started right now, and again, completely free...
If you want to discuss the latest news in crypto and get paid for it create a Reddit account and join the Cryptocurrency subreddit. Here, every upvote you get will be converted into Moons at the end of the month. Moons are a cryptocurrency that is used to reward contributors in this subreddit (you).
Share your knowledge through posts or just reply to others and join the discussions. In a few months you will have tens or even hundreds of dollars that you can use to hunt more airdrops or invest in projects.
Hive
Hive is a blockchain that started rewarding content creators a long time ago, way before it was even considered possible in this shape and form. Every piece of content you create or comment you make on Hive has a chance to be rewarded with crypto based on the number of votes you accumulate.
The great thing about Hive is that it is only the base layer. On top of Hive you have front ends like LeoFinance which also rewards you for a good piece of content or interesting/informative comment.
What this means is that you can post your content in many different communities and be rewarded in all of them for one single article. If you do decide to become a content creator you must not overlook this opportunity.
And while you are at it, what if even your Twitter posts could be rewarded? Well, there are actually two ways to get some crypto out of them as well.
POSH (proof of share) rewards users for sharing Hive-related content (including your own) on Twitter. When you share a post just add #Hive in the description and you will get rewarded with POSH tokens based on the performance of the post. These tokens are sent to your Hive wallet so having a Hive account is a must. Here is a guide on how to create one if you need it.
Leo Threads is essentially Twitter on the blockchain. You can use it in the same way but every time you post something there is a chance you will get some crypto for that post if other users find it interesting.
Keep in mind that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Hive can help you monetize almost all of your online activity if you spend some time to look into the ecosystem.
It Is Easier Than You Think
It may seem that all of this is time-consuming but the reality is that you don't need to spend more than 30 minutes daily to get your first crypto in just a few days. Creating a Hive and Reddit account will be more than enough to earn your first crypto dollar. Start from there and build your way up with airdrops. If you give it at least a few months success is almost guaranteed.
I also don't want to leave you with unrealistic expectations so here are some concrete numbers:
On Reddit, if you can get at least 500 karma (upvotes) every month you should earn at least $5-$10 in Moons. Once you start using it regularly you will soon realize that this goal is very modest. Going up to 2-3k karma per month should be an easy goal if you keep showing up every day.
On Hive, it really depends on the quality and value that you can bring to the table. If you have a lot of interesting info to share you can expect anywhere between $1 and $20+ per day. It is hard to put a finger on a specific number because it's completely up to you. Curators are always on the lookout for quality content. The more you can provide the better.
Airdrops are also highly unpredictable. The biggest one I got was around $7K but I had numerous ones that were worth $50 or less. It's still free money though...
Learn and Earn is the least attractive one because the rewards are usually a couple of dollars or less but that is more than enough to get you started. By using these coins you can interact with protocols that still have no token and increase your airdrop chances. While the initial reward is small the long-term payoff can be huge.
If I had to make a guess, worst case scenario you will have at least $20 of crypto to play with after a month, if you keep coming back to these activities daily. But we all know you can do much better than that...
For more content like this follow me on Twitter and Hive.
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