How to earn cryptocurrency
Find out how to get started earning crypto with staking, lending, crypto savings accounts and more.
Don't invest unless you're prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more.
Estimated reading time: 2 min
Due to the potential for losses, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) considers this investment to be high risk.
What are the key risks?
1. You could lose all the money you invest
- The performance of most cryptoassets can be highly volatile, with their value dropping as quickly as it can rise. You should be prepared to lose all the money you invest in cryptoassets.
- The cryptoasset market is largely unregulated. There is a risk of losing money or any cryptoassets you purchase due to risks such as cyber-attacks, financial crime and firm failure.
2. You should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong
- The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) doesn't protect this type of investment because it's not a 'specified investment' under the UK regulatory regime – in other words, this type of investment isn't recognised as the sort of investment that the FSCS can protect. Learn more by using the FSCS investment protection checker.
- The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) will not be able to consider complaints related to this firm or Protection from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) does not cover poor investment performance. If you have a complaint against an FCA regulated firm, FOS may be able to consider it. Learn more about FOS protection here.
3. You may not be able to sell your investment when you want to
- There is no guarantee that investments in cryptoassets can be easily sold at any given time. The ability to sell a cryptoasset depends on various factors, including the supply and demand in the market at that time.
- Operational failings such as technology outages, cyber-attacks and comingling of funds could cause unwanted delay and you may be unable to sell your cryptoassets at the time you want.
4. Cryptoasset investments can be complex
- Investments in cryptoassets can be complex, making it difficult to understand the risks associated with the investment.
- You should do your own research before investing. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
5. Don't put all your eggs in one basket
- Putting all your money into a single type of investment is risky. Spreading your money across different investments makes you less dependent on any one to do well.
- A good rule of thumb is not to invest more than 10% of your money in high-risk investments.
If you are interested in learning more about how to protect yourself, visit the FCA's website here.
For further information about cryptoassets, visit the FCA's website here.
As decentralised finance has gained popularity over the last few years, there are now lots of ways to put your assets to work. In this guide, we’ll walk you through some of the most popular options to show you how to earn cryptocurrency if you’re already holding it.
What is crypto earning?
Crypto earning is a way to put your digital assets to work to passively grow your holdings.
The simplest way to do this is to deposit your assets into an eligible exchange account or use a specialised lending service. If you’re more experienced with crypto, you can also use a personal wallet to access blockchain-based services to generate yield, but this tends to come with higher risk.
Potential earnings vary widely depending on the method used, with riskier options known for offering rates north of 20% APY (annual percentage yield).
In a period of low-interest rates and high inflation, crypto earning offers an alternative to traditional savings accounts – but it’s not without some unique risks.
How to earn crypto
There are 6 main ways to earn cryptocurrency in the UK:
1. Crypto “savings” accounts
Crypto savings accounts work by holding or locking up your assets in return for receiving a fixed or variable reward rate. Many major crypto exchanges now offer this type of yield-bearing product, which is often marketed as an “earn account.” In some cases, you can even deposit pounds sterling into an account to earn yield without owning any crypto first.
But unlike a high-interest account held with your bank, crypto savings accounts tend to come without safety nets. Very few account providers offer insurance in the event of your funds being compromised.
Read our detailed section on risks below to make sure you understand the pros and cons.
Crypto savings accounts in the UK
2. Staking
Staking cryptocurrency is the process of locking up your assets in a smart contract to assist a network with verifying transactions. It’s a way of getting involved in the fundamental operation of a blockchain without requiring significant capital. Most modern blockchains have replaced mining with staking because it’s more environmentally friendly.
By lending your crypto to the blockchain, you become eligible to receive freshly minted coins (known as block rewards) and a portion of gas fees. Potential earnings are determined by the number of other people staking, gas fees and network congestion.
Staking can be performed through eligible exchanges and wallets or through a service like Lido.
Read our full guide on crypto staking
3. Crypto debit cards
Crypto debit cards are one of the most accessible crossroads between traditional finance and cryptocurrency. They work just like any other Visa or Mastercard, except that they can be loaded up with crypto and used at supported merchants across the world.
Crypto cards often come with a set of unique rewards to incentivise spending, often in the form of crypto cashback. For example, Crypto.com’s debit card offers a variable cashback rate in the form of CRO on eligible purchases as well as Spotify and Netflix subscription rebates.
4. Lending
Crypto lending is the process of lending crypto or fiat currency to borrowers on an eligible exchange or specialised lending service. Lenders deposit their cryptocurrency into a pool that borrowers can access.
As the loan is paid back, lenders earn a percentage of the interest repaid by the borrower, which varies based on the loan size, how much collateral is in the pool and the asset being borrowed.
There are unique risks involved for both lenders and borrowers, so read our guide below to weigh these up first.
5. Yield farming
Yield farming is one of the most advanced options for earning crypto and isn’t suitable for everyone. It involves locking your cryptocurrency in a protocol, known as an automated market maker (AMM), which provides liquidity for users in need of assets for other activities.
Liquidity providers then receive a portion of the transaction fee as a reward. Bonus tokens may also be issued by the AMM as an added incentive. Experienced liquidity providers often move liquidity between high-yield pools to take advantage of market movements and to maximise returns. There are even applications and algorithms that can do this automatically, known as yield aggregators.
Higher earnings may be possible with yield farming, but it’s also a much higher risk strategy, so read our full guide first.
Dive deeper into yield farming
6. Mining
Mining is the process of high-powered computers solving complex mathematical problems to verify transactions on the blockchain. In return, miners receive a portion of cryptocurrency, sometimes called a block reward.
Mining popular coins like Bitcoin requires a hefty investment, as the computational power required to earn a decent return can’t be achieved with a personal computer. For this reason, it’s no longer a viable way to earn crypto for most people.
Certain blockchains like Monero and Ravencoin have attempted to limit the use of mining farms and to make earning crypto with the right GPU and know-how still possible.
It’s worth keeping in mind that most ways to earn free crypto are less profitable than the options we’ve listed above, and the space is particularly susceptible to scams.
Know the risks
Putting your crypto to work to earn generous passive returns may sound appealing, but it’s not without risks. Make sure you fully understand them before placing your assets into any kind of crypto-earning product.
- No FSCS protection. The government’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme guarantees eligible assets up to £85,000, but crypto savings accounts and other earning protocols aren’t covered. In the event that your digital assets are lost or stolen, you could lose your capital. As the market matures, some popular crypto platforms have introduced insurance funds to mitigate against this risk, but it often doesn’t apply to earning accounts – so read the fine print.
- Counterparty risk. Entrusting your funds to any third-party platform – no matter how reputable – puts you at risk of loss. In the event of theft or platform insolvency, you’re unlikely to be able to recover assets held on an exchange or in an earning account.
- Market volatility. Cryptocurrency is volatile and unpredictable. Many earning protocols require you to lock up your crypto for a fixed period. If the price of your cryptocurrency drops, you risk losing some or all of your capital. Stablecoins – cryptocurrencies pegged to an underlying asset like the US dollar – are often used by crypto-earning products to help shield against some of this volatility.
- New technologies. Smart contracts are what make earning with crypto through staking, lending and yield farming possible. However, they’re still a relatively new piece of tech that’s vulnerable to bugs and hacking. Insecure smart contracts are nearly always the point of attack for bad actors, and in the past, this has seen millions in locked-up tokens stolen.
- Tax may apply. Many crypto investors are unaware that buying, selling and trading assets might be a taxable event. This applies to most crypto-earning methods too. Crypto tax is complex, so seek professional advice, read our guide to cryptocurrency tax in the UK and defer to HRMC for the latest information.
Watch out for scams
The growing popularity of legitimate ways to earn cryptocurrency has seen a simultaneous rise in scams.
Be wary of new platforms that offer “too-good-to-be-true” rates, like 1,000x returns. Although a select few may be credible, many are “rug pull” scams where the developers abruptly shut down the platform to steal deposited assets.
Perform due diligence on any platform you plan on using – but especially those offering unbelievably high APYs – and stick to protocols with a large userbase and reputable track record.
Bottom line
There are now several ways for crypto holders to put idle digital assets to work earning a return. But while rates may be high, crypto-earning products aren’t as well regulated as traditional bank accounts and there’s no FSCS guarantee.
Investors who fully understand the risks and are willing to overlook short-term market volatility may find allocating a portion of assets into a crypto-earning product to be a good way to earn passive income.
The more you research, the better equipped you’ll be to decide if earning a return on crypto is for you, so keep learning with one of our guides below.
Learn how to earn crypto returns
Compare rates for different coins and project your potential earnings with our step-by-step crypto-earning guides and APY calculator.
Learn more about staking
Learn more about one of the more popular ways to earn a passive income with crypto: staking.
Crypto banking explained
Earn yield on, spend or withdraw loans against your crypto assets with crypto banking.
Crypto mining guides
Mining is no longer profitable for most coins, but it can be a way to earn crypto in some cases.
*Cryptocurrencies aren't regulated in the UK and there's no protection from the Financial Ombudsman or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Your capital is at risk. Capital gains tax on profits may apply.
Cryptocurrencies are speculative and investing in them involves significant risks - they're highly volatile, vulnerable to hacking and sensitive to secondary activity. The value of investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. This content shouldn't be interpreted as a recommendation to invest. Before you invest, you should get advice and decide whether the potential return outweighs the risks. Finder, or the author, may have holdings in the cryptocurrencies discussed.
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