5 ways to earn bitcoin for less money

With the expensive price of bitcoin, everybody is trying to find a way to buy it for cheap. This article will cover a few ways to get bitcoin for less money. Beware that some would be for risk-takers only.

Don’t buy on Coinbase!

Coinbase is a very well-known bitcoin buying/selling platform, if not the most famous. They were one of the first to come on the market and started their service of buying and selling bitcoin since 2012. Today it is known by everyone.

However, despite their really user-friendly website, fees are everywhere. You will pay fees for any bitcoin that you buy or sell. Based on your country, the fee rate is different (fee list here).

But in general, you will pay around 4% in fees for buying bitcoin with your debit/credit card. Not to mention the high regulation on the website and some competitors that have lower fee rates.

For those who still want to use Coinbase, you can avoid paying withdrawal fees with a simple trick, by using Gdax.com, which is, in fact, the exchange of Coinbase.

From your Coinbase account, send fiat (regular government money, e.g. USD, EUR) money to your Gdax account. Then from Gdax you can buy and send cryptocurrencies to your personal wallet without paying withdrawal fees.

So, as we have just seen, Coinbase is not the most efficient solution to cut fees. Yet, for any newbie, it is a good start, thanks to its very user-friendly website.

Use bank transfer to buy bitcoin

The battle to cut fees doesn’t end with choosing a good broker. Using a debit/credit card will often expose you to high fees with all brokers. Also, the Paypal option is not better, exposing you to high fees again.

The best option will always be a bank transfer. This option indeed is slower because of the verification process and the time for the money to show up in your account but, in the end, is worth it when you see the big decrease of fees. In addition to that, a bank transfer allows you to send more money at once.

Wait before buying bitcoin

As surprising as that may sound, to wait before buying bitcoin could be a great idea. At this precise moment, one bitcoin is worth $14,268. However, only one week ago it was worth around $17,000.

The bitcoin is very volatile. Prices go down or up surprisingly quickly. Thus, someone buying bitcoin today, with a $14,268 rate, will have more bitcoin than someone who bought it one week ago.

However, be very aware that waiting could be just as risky as it could be profitable. Prices might not always go the direction that you wish. You should always do your own research before deciding, to avoid bad surprises as much as possible, and always keep in mind that it is a highly volatile market where nothing is guaranteed.

Arbitrage

Explained simply, arbitrage is when you buy on a marketplace in order to sell on another marketplace where prices are more expensive. By doing that, you gain extra money.

In the case of bitcoin, imagine that you bought $500 worth of bitcoin on one exchange. For that $500, they gave you 0.0352 BTC. Then you decide to go to another exchange with your bitcoin where the conversion rate for the dollar/bitcoin is higher.

They would give you $514 for your 0.0352 BTC. You have just profited from this transaction, and you can return to the first exchange to buy bitcoin again but now with more money and thus able to buy more bitcoin.

Arbitrage could be interesting, but it requires knowledge of where to do it and when to do it. It is not a technique for beginners.

Trading

And finally, the riskiest way to earn more bitcoin, but also the most profitable, is trading.

Cryptocurrencies can be traded on exchanges, and because of the high volatility of this market, it can be extremely profitable. Results such as increases of 30%, 60%, 120%, and even more happen often in the cryptocurrencies market. Whereas, it does not happen frequently on Wall Street.

Imagine that on 1/2/2018 you bought the cryptocurrency TRX for 0.11 BTC. Tron (TRX) was worth, on that exact date, around 0.000,004,30 BTC. On 1/5/2018, at its peak, TRX was worth 0.000,018,97 BTC. As shocking as that may sound, it represents an increase of 341%.

That’s why that market is exceptional: its incredible volatility. Though, again, be warned. Trading is pure speculation. You can lose a lot of money, but if you are a good speculator, the reward in bitcoin can be interesting.