When bitcoin first started, people gave them away because they were worth very little. Believers in the cryptocurrency wanted more people to have bitcoin because wider adoption meant it was more likely to succeed. They called them bitcoin faucets because the coins just came out like water from a faucet.
Nowadays, faucets are just a fun trip down memory lane and the ones that claim to be faucets are usually scams.
There are, however, still ways you can pick up some bitcoin.
This is not a list of ways to earn bitcoin by playing games or performing tasks (many of those are using your computer to mine crypto… and giving you a smaller piece) – these are offers that will give you bitcoin just for signing up. They are offered by financial companies or cryptocurrency exchanges who are willing to give you those bitcoins in return for your business.
While the bitcoin may be “free,” some may require you to make a deposit. So in that sense, it’s not something for nothing. You won’t just get bitcoin for free – you’ll have to make a commitment as well. But what you deposit is still yours, so the coins themselves are free.
When I looked, there were only a handful of ways to get free Bitcoins and the ones I list below are all legitimate:
Table of Contents
Coinbase – Varies
Coinbase is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that is free to use and a place you can trade a variety of cryptocurrencies. One of the fun aspects of the platform is that new cryptocurrencies will often give you free coins just for learning more about them.
All it takes is for you to have an account and watch a series of videos about the cryptocurrency. These are often a series of very short videos for a few dollars worth of the cryptocurrency. But since it’s free, it’s a great way to learn about new currencies (even if they don’t end up being valuable) and get free money.
SoFi Money – up to $250
SoFi is best known for their student loan products but they have a cash management account called SoFi Money. It currently yields 4.60% APY (unlocked with direct deposit or by depositing $5,000+ every 30 days, otherwise 1.20% APY), which is meh, but they also have a new account offer.
When you open an account, they will give you up to $250 if you receive qualifying direct deposits totaling at least $1,000. It’s super easy and the account has no fees.
You can use this free money with SoFi Invest, below, to get bitcoin.
Related: See all the SoFi promotions and welcome bonuses we know about.
SoFi Invest – $50
Now that you have a SoFi Money account, you can open a SoFi Invest account and get $50 worth of stock when you fund it with at least $1,000. There no other requirement and trades are free.
So, sign up for SoFi Invest with a referral link, deposit $1,000, collect your free fifty bucks in stock. You can then sell the stock and use the proceeds to buy crypto. There are no transaction fees for the buying and selling of stock on SoFi Invest.
You can trade cryptocurrencies with SoFi Invest and they even have a promotion where they will give you $25 in Bitcoin when you make your first crypto trade of $10 or more. Trading crypto has no “fee” but they do charge a markup of 1.25% on each trade.
Coinbase – $5
It’s not a lot but Coinbase is one of the biggest crypto platforms so having an account here makes a lot of sense. You just need to open an account and the $5 in bitcoin is yours.
Also, from time to time, you can earn small amounts of other cryptocurrencies just be watching a few videos.
Not a lot but no headaches!
Robinhood – Free share of stock worth up to $200
Robinhood changed the brokerage game when they offered a brokerage app with commission-free trades. They make money off the order flow of their customers but for the average investor, that’s irrelevant. They will also give you a free share of stock when you sign up – it’ll be worth anywhere from $2.50 to $200+ (if you’re really lucky).
You have a 1 in 80 chance of getting Visa, Microsoft, or Apple. It’s not common but it’s also not extremely rare.
Robinhood also offers cryptocurrencies so you can sign up so when you get your free stock, sell it, and then buy whatever crypto you want. Robinhood is completely safe to use.
These are the reputable sources we’ve found so far (that don’t require a transaction) – we will add to this list whenever we learn of others.
William Poole says
This is not free, you still to come up with some type of form of money period. Their is a deposit. The only way you getting free crypto is mining crypto period.
That’s true, no free lunches!