If you search the words “Bitcoin faucet” on Google and other search engines, you’d most likely be told it’s simply a reward system. Well, that’s not untrue but Bitcoin faucets are way more than just reward systems.
Let’s say you have a leaking faucet in your kitchen or bathroom (statistically, we’ve all had or seen a leaking faucet), if you place a bowl under the leaking faucet for around a minute, do you think anything substantial would happen?
Now, imagine you leave this bowl under the leaking faucet for two months or more, you’d have quite a bit of water.
A Bitcoin faucet is a website or an app that gives away small amounts of Bitcoin for free. It’s like a dripping faucet, but instead of water, it drips digital currency called satoshis.
You’re probably wondering what “satoshis” are, aren’t you? Satoshi, (which is also the pseudonym for the person who created bitcoin) is the smallest unit of Bitcoin. Just like $1 is divided into a hundred cents, 1 BTC is divided into 100 million satoshis.
The idea is to help people learn about Bitcoin and get a little bit to start without having to buy it, or help you cover the cost of gas, the fee for the transaction.
Faucet are usually websites or programs that offer users small amounts of bitcoin each time they carry out different tasks. These tasks include viewing ads, solving captchas, playing games, or other small tasks.
History of Bitcoin Faucets
Before we get into it, we need to clarify something: when we speak of the Bitcoin blockchain, we’ll use a capital B; when we speak of the bitcoin currency, we’ll use a lower case B.
A year after the launch of Bitcoin, the very first bitcoin faucet was launched. Self-titled, this bitcoin faucet, which is currently one of the highest paying faucets, was launched at a time when the coin was not only worthless but unknown. Nobody used it.
Gavin Andresen, the founder of Bitcoin Faucet, was one of the very few people to see potential in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general.
Amazed by the idea of a decentralized, self-governing, and encrypted virtual currency, Andresen had no intention of developing one of the highest paying faucets, but there was zero competition at that time.
At the time of this launch, Bitcoin Faucet rewarded users with 5 BTC each time they took part in certain activities like viewing adverts, learning about the digital currency, playing games, etc.
With BTC currently worth over $42,000, we can say that people were offered more than $210,000 to carry out simple tasks. However at the time they may have only been worth tenths of a penny.
The purpose of a bitcoin faucet? To get people excited about Bitcoin and spread the currency.
As the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies continued to soar a couple of years after, a ton of these faucets have been developed to offer you rewards in the form of satoshis (yep, instead of BTC itself) each time a task is completed.
Features of Faucets
1) Rewards
Faucets give users Satoshis as rewards for completing tasks on their website. While there have been talks about how faucets can make one rich, the rewards are mostly tiny and insignificant.
Anyone seeking to make “good” money from these faucets will have to dedicate a better part of their time to it. You’d make more money at a part time job.
2) Free to Use
Bitcoin faucets are mostly free to use and are accessible to anyone with an internet connection, regardless of location.
There are a ton of Bitcoin faucet platforms that will never let you withdraw your rewards. It is important to keep in mind the minimum payout when using these services, and also to use a wallet to connect that is not where you store most of your assets!
Examples of Bitcoin Faucets
Although we have stylishly mentioned the original Bitcoin Faucet as one of the highest paying faucets, let’s take a look at a few unique alternatives that have made security, stability, reputability, and of course high payments as a core foundation.
One thing to remember when looking into faucets is to always check where the money is coming from! If you can’t figure it out, it’s probably a scam.
Moon Bitcoin
One of the oldest and most popular Bitcoin faucets, Moon Bitcoin has a couple of amazing and remarkably unique activities that keep persuading users to come back to their site.
Unlike a few of the other Bitcoin faucets, this program allows you complete tasks and participate in activities to earn other cryptocurrencies too, like Ethereum and Litecoin. This is an ideal and fantastic platform for anyone seeking to earn not just Bitcoin but other digital currencies.
Offering a ton of bonuses to users, Moon Bitcoin has cemented its stance as one of the leading and user-friendly faucets.
Bitcoin Aliens
Compatible with Android and IOS devices, this platform is built with a ton of features and processes that will help maximize your rewards.
Unlike most of the other faucets, Bitcoin Aliens offer as much as 4000 Satoshis for participating in various processes on the platform. With just a smartphone, access to the internet, and a wallet address, you can earn BTC daily on Bitcoin Aliens.
Free Bitcoins
Offering users a ton of opportunities ranging from loyalty points, gambling, lotteries, and games, Free Bitcoins is said to have an interest amount of over 30,000 Satoshis. On this platform, there’s something for everyone.
Free Bitcoins lets you roll one number every 60 minutes with rewards ranging from as little as 0.0003 to $300 worth of BTC. Interesting, right? That’s not all, withdrawals can be made once you’ve earned $1 worth of BTC.
Like most of the faucets, your withdrawals are sent directly to the Bitcoin wallet address inputted during your sign-up process.
Risks Associated with Bitcoin Faucets
You’re probably excited about the prospect of earning as much as 30,000 satoshis when you carry out activities on faucets and can’t wait to get registered.
If I were you, I would be too, however, there’s a need to familiarize yourself with the risks associated with these faucets.
1) There are too many scams
While there are a ton of reliable and stable faucets like those mentioned above, the scams outnumber them. With faucets becoming a big business in the crypto space, most would ask users to complete tasks for satoshis but will end up not allowing them to withdraw their rewards.
2) Malicious files
Since many faucets will require you to download files and applications on your device, most of them are virus-ridden programs capable of destroying your device.
3) Fake advertising
Most faucets earn money by advertising brands, products, and services and requiring you to view those ads. Some of the time, these ads could be fake, misleading, and capable of destroying users’ computers.
While you’re probably thinking you could make a lot of money from these faucets since some pay up to 30,000 satoshis as rewards, bear in mind that only long-standing users can earn that much for completed tasks. You’d have to invest your time, internet, and energy.
Conclusion
The launch of the Bitcoin network in 2009 has opened up opportunities for a ton of businesses in the crypto space, faucets undeniably one of them. These faucets as discussed are programs that reward you with BTC each time you complete tasks on their platform.
While it may look like a “get-rich-quick” scheme, faucets are far from that. You would be required to invest your time into participating in various processes as well as completing other tasks on the network.
Like all businesses in the crypto space, Bitcoin faucets can be quite risky, exercise caution.
