In this post, you will learn 12 proven ways to earn Bitcoins for free or make money with Bitcoins.My Bitcoin journey started in 2016 when I bought my first Bitcoin. From then to date, I have tried various ways to earn Bitcoins. Some are still relevant today while some are not.So, in this post, I will be giving a comprehensive/practical answer to a question asked by many crypto newbies (How do I make money with bitcoin?) and then I will show you the best way to do so.Get ready to be amazed.You will need a Bitcoin wallet to receive your Bitcoin. If you don’t have, head over to Quidax or Luno to create a free Bitcoin account.Post Summary (How to Make Money with Bitcoin)Bitcoin is a currency; the first of a kind of currency called cryptocurrency. Though it is a new type of currency, it is as difficult or easy to earn as other money types such as the USD or the Naira. Thus, don’t expect magic.Did I break your spirit with the above? Worry not! I am still going to amaze you.If you don’t know what bitcoin is, I suggest you get background knowledge by reading this article first.Here are the 12 ways to make money with bitcoins that I will be covering in the next section. The first 5 shows you how to earn bitcoin for free.Earn free Bitcoin through MicropaymentsEarn Bitcoin when you ShopEarn Bitcoin when you learn about a Crypto ProjectBitcoin Affiliate ProgramsAirdrops and Bitcoin ForksWork and Earn in BitcoinsBecome a Bitcoin WriterEarn huge in Bitcoin TradingMake Money with Bitcoin MiningBecome a LenderEarn huge in Bitcoin CasinosHigh Yield Investment Programs (HYIPs)Conclusion — Which is the Best?1. Earn Free Bitcoin through Micropayments.This is one free way to earn Bitcoins but in the real sense, it’s not truly free because you have to spend a lot of time and truth be told, it’s probably not worth it.When you spend a whole day on this method, you could earn as little as $0.5 in BTC which might not commensurate with the time, data, and electricity you have spent.However, back in 2010, people earn as much as 5 BTC through this method although 5 BTC was less than $0.5 then. But say you earned a total of 100btc back then, you will be a millionaire now.Micropayment sites are websites that pay you for completing certain tasks, such as;Clicking on ads or completing a captcha. These are called Bitcoin Faucets e.g MoonBitcoinsPlaying games e.g CointiplyTaking a Survey e.g Time bucks and bitcoingetMicropayment might not be much but it gives you an insight into how Bitcoin works.2. Earn Bitcoin when you Shop (Cash Back)If you have ever bought a product online, then you must have missed an opportunity to earn bitcoins.There are platforms that can pay you up to 30% cashback in bitcoin when shopping in your favourite store.Say you want to buy a shoe online that cost $100;Here is what you have been doing (old method): You go to the online store and buy the shoe for $100 which is ok.Here is what you should be doing (new method): You go to the online store and initialize the purchase process, then check out with a cashback portal. You will pay $100 for the shoe but you will receive $30 in bitcoins. So all you spent on the shoe is $70.The most reputable and popular cashback platform that pays you in Bitcoin is Lolli. Lolli partners with over 500 stores.Here is how it works:Visit Lolli WebsiteInstall the chrome extension (no registration is required)Go to your favourite store to shop (Lolli will notify you if it’s a partner store)On ‘Check Out’ use Lolli (available if it is a partner store)Receive your cashback in Bitcoins.Go ahead and follow the process to install the Lolli extension, your favourite store might be a Lolli partner. You can also visit Lolli to view the list of its partner stores.If your store is not a Lolli partner, do not worry, there are more bitcoin cashback platforms. Other Bitcoin cashback platforms include;Foldapp (gives 2–20% cashback in bitcoin on gift card purchase)Bitcoin Rewards: Similar to Lolli and works with big brands like AliexpressCrypto reward cards: These are crypto visa cards that reward you with cash back when you shop with them. The most popular are Wirex and MCO card.Happy shopping!It’s interesting to earn bitcoin when you shop right?But what if you can earn when you learn about a cryptocurrency project? It would be fun, right?3. Earn Bitcoin when you learn about a Crypto ProjectI don’t know how long this will last but it’s on and I perceive it will be on for a long time; thanks to Coinbase.Coinbase is one of the oldest and trusted Bitcoin OTC exchange. You can read our full review of this exchange hereThere are two ways to earn free bitcoins on Coinbase.Affiliate: Create an account on Coinbase and invite your friends to join Coinbase using your affiliate link. If your friend signs up with your link and purchases Bitcoin, you and your friend will be rewarded with $10 each in bitcoins.Earn when you Learn: Here you can earn up to $130 to learn about a cryptocurrency. The process is quite simple.Create a Coinbase account and loginClick on ‘Earn Crypto’Choose the coin you want to learn about.You will receive $2 in crypto for each lesson completed (each lesson is about 2 min video length).Note: The downside to Coinbase is that it does not support all countries. Nigeria and most African countries fall into the category of unsupported countries. If your country is not supported, don’t be deterred because there are more ways to earn free bitcoins.4. Bitcoin Affiliate ProgramMost crypto-based product and service site has an affiliate program. I mentioned one above which is Coinbase.They reward you for inviting your friends or anyone to make use of their platform. It can be a one time reward(as it is with Coinbase) or a recurring reward (forever or over a period of time). The recurring reward paid is a percentage of the service the client you introduced paid for to use the platform.To earn bitcoin through this method,Signup with the platformObtain your affiliate linkShare your affiliate link with people who care to know. You can do that in two major ways;By creating a blog like this one you are reading now, create good content and promote the product or service using your affiliate link.Social media: Put up a small write up inviting people to check the service or product. Of course, you must include your link. Share this on social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.5. Airdrops and Bitcoin ForksI almost didn’t include this method but on second thought you should know about it. This is not a way to earn bitcoin per se but other cryptos and you have to wait for it to be available.Airdrop is a way through which crypto companies grow their community by giving tokens to individuals to perform certain tasks such as joining their social media channels. These persons can then sell the token for bitcoins when it gets listed on an exchange.Note, however, that airdrops can be a waste of your time because most crypto projects fail so its token doesn’t get listed on an exchange. Thus, make sure the crypto project is solid before participating. You will sign up and verify your account on blockchain.info. Once verified, you will be qualified for airdrops that have been vetted by blockchain.info. These projects have a high success probability.Secondly, signup at airdropalert.com, airdrops are listed there regularly and you can participate to earn.Bitcoin fork, on the other hand, occurs when there is a change in the software of a cryptocurrency leading to the creation of two versions of that coin.For example, if you had 1BTC on the 1st of August 2017 when a Bitcoin fork occurred to create Bitcoin Cash, you will also have 1 Bitcoin Cash (BCH) which you can exchange for Bitcoin.Bitcoin is not the only crypto that has forked. Other cryptos such as ETH have forked in the past. Thus, if you know a coin is going to fork, you can buy that coin and sell it off after the fork.6. Work for BitcoinYou might be thinking here: How do I work for Bitcoin? Is Bitcoin a person or an organization?No, it’s not.What I mean here is that you do a job as a freelancer and get paid in Bitcoins. You can earn as high as $1,600 in Bitcoins on the completion of some jobs.These include web designing, logo creation, digital marketing, Instagram promotions, writing, and translation, etc.The top 2 sites that offer this service include:CryptogrindBitwages7. Become a Bitcoin WriterThis is still working for Bitcoin; I wanted to throw more light on it.As the cryptocurrency/Blockchain awareness is on the increase, so is the number of blogs and sites and so is the need for writers in this field.So, if you have a good knowledge of cryptocurrencies and blockchain and you can communicate your thoughts effectively, then you can write about Bitcoin.Get your sample articles ready and write to Bitcoin blogs telling them you want to write for them. Many websites are already looking for this service so they would gladly give you the job if your content has quality.You can also build your profile on Upwork or write on some other blogs for free to build your credibility.If you want to write for us, shoot me an email at [email protected]. Bitcoin TradingTrading Bitcoin is one of the most profitable ways to make a living from Bitcoins but you have to know what you are doing. There are lots of persons who trade full-time and they make a handsome living doing so.Since the Bitcoin price is quite volatile, all you need to do is to buy when its low and sell when it is high.Mastering this skill of buying low and selling high is what differentiates pro traders from newbies.Trading is risky. If you have not mastered the skill, you can lose your money.Luckily I have a tutorial on how to trade profitably.If you don’t want to trade, then you can acquire Bitcoins by mining it.9. Make Money by Mining BitcoinsMining is the process through which new bitcoins are introduced into the ecosystem. In simple terms, miners solve mathematical equations in the Bitcoin network and get rewarded in bitcoins every 10 mins.As of now, 12.5BTC is rewarded every 10 mins but this will be reduced to 6.25BTC by mid-2020.Mining bitcoins requires a lot of resources in terms of hardware, electricity, and technical know-how. Even with all these, profitability is not guaranteed. Thus, it is too late for an individual or corporation to venture into Bitcoin mining.However, you can still participate in mining through cloud mining. This is like buying a share in an already established mining company and earning dividends based on profit generated.But you need to be careful when choosing a cloud mining company as many of them are scam sites or Ponzi scheme site.In view of this, we have made a list of the 6 Legit and most profitable cloud mining companies so you can make a more informed choice if you want to go into mining.Let’s look at some of the riskiest ways to earn bitcoins. I do not recommend any of this; it’s just for you to have knowledge of it and stay away. I suggest you tread with caution if you want to take the risk.10. Become a Bitcoin LenderThere are various sites where you can put your Bitcoin to work and earn interest on it by lending it. You can earn as high as a 20% interest. But the problem here is that most borrowers default. They do not pay back and you really cannot do anything about it. Thus, stay away.11. Earn Huge in Bitcoin CasinosBitcoin casinos are the fastest ways to amass a lot of Bitcoins and also the fastest way to lose them all. Just as the odds are against you when you go to a casino house to gamble, the odds are against you when you gamble online in a Bitcoin casino.However, if you are good at casino games and feel you can do well here, make sure you choose a Bitcoin casino that supports ‘Provable fair’. ‘Provable Fair’ is a way to verify that the casinos are not fraudulent.Lucky, we have reviewed the top 7 bitcoin casinos recommended by players that support provable fairness.12. High Yield Investment Programs (HYIP)HYIPs are ways to make money with Bitcoin you should keep away from. This is because they are actually designed the other way i.e to make money from you.I have had experience with HYIPs. When I started my Bitcoin journey in 2016. I didn’t know better then. I sent 0.5 BTC to a site that doubles Bitcoins in 72 hours. Guess what! In 72 hours I received 1BTC. Then I sent 0.8 BTC and receive 0BTC. So, from this venture, I lost 0.3BTC.There are so many sites like this. They promise you consistent daily or weekly return but in the real sense, they are just looking for the right time to cash out with your money.Most of these sites are Ponzi Schemes that pay an Old investor with his investment in bits or New investor’s money. They also reward investors hugely when they refer new investors. The system crashes when short of new investors.They deceive people into investing by telling them they are mining or trading with their money. The truth is that they are not. Most of then last a month to 3 months. The well-orchestrated ones last up to a year.There are pointers to identify them. Answer these questions before you invest.Do they promise consistent periodic returns for doing nothing?Do they promise a handsome reward for bringing in new investors?Is the site newly created? (You can get this is info on whois.com)Is the site owner’s info private? (You can get the info on whois.com)Are the owners of the scheme anonymous?Is the company registered and do they have a verifiable physical address?If your answer to the first 5 questions is yes, then it is definitely a scam site.Conclusion:This brings us to the end of this post; 12 ways to earn Bitcoin or make money with Bitcoins.I hope you learnt something from this post. If you did, then let me know in the comment section.In addition, tell me:Which of these methods have you tried already and which are you going to try?Are there more ways you thought I should have mentioned?Or maybe you have a question for me?Let me know in the comment section.Also, give us a share on Twitter and join us on Telegram.Cheers!Also read:How to Create and Fund a Bitcoin Account10 Best Exchanges to Buy Bitcoin and Sell BitcoinThe Ultimate Guide: A-Z of Bitcoin Wallets12 Proven Ways to Earn Bitcoins for Free in 2020 & Beyond was originally published in The Capital on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.