Top 10 Ways to Earn Free Bitcoin in 2023

Here are the best ways to earn free Bitcoin when your wallet is light.

Are you interested in Bitcoin but still want to refrain from investing money? Alternatively, are you looking to stack every sat possible without the dry powder to buy more?

Here’s a secret: you can put more bitcoin in your pocket without spending a dime – or even doing real work. 

That’s not to say you’ll earn much bitcoin without either. After all, if Bitcoin weren’t hard to find or create, it wouldn’t be scarce. If it weren’t scarce, it wouldn’t be valuable. 

Nevertheless, there are plenty of free ways to gather some free Bitcoin with little sacrifice. From sign-up bonuses to cashback rewards to outright giveaways, the apps and methods listed below can heighten your stack!

How Do I Get Free Bitcoin?

The first five methods listed are specific, downloadable apps featuring novel ways to earn small amounts of Bitcoin. The latter 5 are more generic methods that can apply to a broader swath of services or situations.

The Bitcoin Company App

The Bitcoin Company Tutorial. Source: BTC Sessions

The Bitcoin Company App offers users Bitcoin cash back rewards when they shop online. That means extra satoshis for every Visa and gift card purchase from over 300 brands, including Airbnb, Twitch, and Uber.

App users can pay with credit, debit, or Bitcoin while stacking up to 25% in Bitcoin cashback.

The app also has 1000 sats for every friend you refer to use the app. 

Bitcoin earned through the app can be withdrawn to a user’s self-hosted Bitcoin or lightning wallet anytime. Alternatively, users can withdraw to commonly used banking apps that support Bitcoin, like Venmo and PayPal. 

Fold

This one’s neat: with the Fold app, you only have to spin the daily spin wheel to earn free Bitcoin!

Playable once per day, the wheel could reward you with satoshis, exclusive deals, or other surprise rewards. Rewards can range from a mere five sats to a whopping 1 million – worth roughly USD 200 at current prices.

Fold also features the Fold card, bitcoin rewards Visa debit card. Through simple, everyday spending, users can earn 1% back on every purchase in Bitcoin. 

Alternatively, they can spin the Purchase Wheel to win back 100% of their purchase.

Like the Bitcoin Company App, Fold is lightning compatible and lets users earn up to 20% back on various gift card purchases. 

sMiles

Out for your daily walk? The sMiles app lets you earn satoshis with every step you take. In addition, the app integrates with Apple Watch and Healthkit to accurately track users’ steps. 

Using the lightning network, sMiles gives users free Bitcoin for walking, shopping, and playing games. Bitcoin may also be earned by spinning a wheel twice daily or taking surveys. 

Earned Bitcoin can be withdrawn to a personal lightning wallet or spent at the sMiles store for up to 30% cashback.

Earn Carrot

Do you need to feel more active? No problem – Earn Carrot gives people free Bitcoin just for reading articles about Bitcoin. 

Brands promoting content on Earn Carrot can directly compensate their audience’ with a direct Bitcoin payout. That includes rewards for completing surveys, social media campaigns or viewing live streams. 

Using Earn Carrot requires users to have a lightning-compatible Bitcoin wallet. 

Oshi

Oshi (sounds like “Satoshi”) is an app for uniting local communities, including merchants and consumers, around Bitcoin.

Its platform replaces traditional rewards points like stars, punch cards, and coffee points with satoshis. It also lets businesses accept Bitcoin for payment, with an option to convert it into the local currency instantly. 

Yes, Oshi offers free Bitcoin, too: between business-specific promotions and sats back on purchases, there are plenty of ways to earn. Moreover, by referring others to use the app, users can win back 1% of their future purchases in Bitcoin. 

Referral Codes

Plenty of Bitcoin-centered apps will offer first-timers free Bitcoin – especially with the right referral code. 

For instance, Strike – a custodial Bitcoin lightning wallet – offers $10 upon sign-up to new users and those who gave them their referral code. That $10 can then be converted to Bitcoin instantly within the app.

A list of referral codes for Strike can be found here. For other referral codes at other Bitcoin businesses, try checking out the YouTube channels of your favorite Bitcoin influencers. They often leave codes in their video descriptions or promote them during the video. 

Interest Accounts

Some companies offer Bitcoiners the chance to passively earn a yield on their Bitcoin by depositing it into an interest-bearing account. 

Interest rates at Bitcoin companies are typically much higher than rates earned with typical savings accounts. BlockFi, for instance, offers up to 3.5% Bitcoin-denominated APY and has some double-digit offers for other cryptos. 

But beware: depositing Bitcoin with such a service comes with significant counterparty risk. To generate yield, services like BlockFi either lend out your coins to other yield providers (aka “rehypothecation”) or trade the coins to try and generate a profit. 

However, poor trading decisions on the lending firm’s part can lead to loss and even insolvency. That means you may only receive a portion of your coins back – or none at all. 

In June, several lending services, including Celsius and Voyager, went bankrupt after making risky leverage trades with user funds.

In short, interest accounts present significant risk compared to other “free bitcoin” methods on this list. However, if you have a risk appetite, it is also likely to earn users the highest, most consistent yield.

Learn and Earn

Coinbase Earn Intro. Source: Coinbase

Some of the biggest brands in crypto are now offering a two-in-one for crypto newbies: Learn and earn courses. 

Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the U.S., offers up to $50 in Bitcoin to whoever takes its free crypto course. After watching some videos, you’ll earn some Bitcoin for every video you watch. 

Binance offers similar rewards to those taking lessons, like the popular price tracker CoinMarketCap.

Staking

To be clear, Bitcoin uses a proof-of-work consensus mechanism. That means it cannot be staked to secure the network and earn rewards.

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t use other cryptocurrencies with proof of stake. 

Ethereum, for example, transitions to proof of stake next month. After that, users can become validators by staking at least 32 ETH and earning more ETH. 

The Amber Group estimates that validators could expect to earn 8-12% APR on their holdings post-merge. 

Don’t like Ethereum? No problem – trade back into Bitcoin once you’re done staking. Crypto has one of the most liquid markets in existence. 

Also, if you don’t have 32 ETH, you can stake with a centralized staking service like Lido or Coinbase. Staking with centralized providers may have risks, but it is easier for newcomers and lacks a financial or technical barrier to entry. 

Cloud Mining

Remember what I just said about proof of work? There’s a unique, modern way to profit from it – even if you’re not an industrial miner. 

Large mining companies like Core Scientific and Blockstream now offer cloud mining. They let you rent out servers and mining rigs they own on-site and profit from it. You do not require any loud mining machines or maintenance efforts. 

CoreScientific’s cloud mining services were responsible for 44% of its rate in July, according to the company’s numbers. In addition, more colocation agreements were signed that month, expected to generate the firm $50 million.