Two magical ways to turn your spare time into crypto.

When most people think about earning money in crypto, they think of two common activities: investing and mining. Both can be costly and time consuming endeavours. But growing your cryptocurrency stash doesn’t have to be either of these things.

There are several less explored pathways to crypto-gains. In this article we’ll cover:

1. How your coins can work for you with Proof of Stake2. How applications in this ecosystem can help you earn money

Let’s get started.

Getting started with Proof-of-Stake

Proof of stake is an alternative to cryptocurrency mining that doesn’t require hardware or crazy amounts of electricity. Instead investors who hold coins are gradually rewarded with more coins.

Think of it like interest in a bank account, but with cryptocurrency. All you need to get started is a proof-of-stake cryptocurrency and a computer

Major coins like NEO, LISK, and Stellar Lumens are built on proof of stake models. And other major coins like Ethereum have announced their intention to adopt it.

How can I use PoS to start making money?

You can use PoS today with nothing more than your laptop and a stable internet connection. Although, you’re going to have to let it run 24/7 so you might want to use an old laptop.

AlphaCrypto actually does a good job explaining a bit about PoS and how to install a stakeable wallet on your computer.

If you don’t have a spare laptop, you can also set it up on a Raspberry Pi in around 15 minutes. You can check out an explainer video here.

Once it’s all set up, you’re free to leave it be. After your coins mature they’ll begin to gather you interest.

Surprisingly, it’s as easy as that! What coins you choose and how many you purchase will determine the potential dividends you’ll earn from them.

What returns could I expect to see?

Every PoS coin pays a different rate — so it’s up to you to choose the most profitable.

There are plenty of sites you can compare these coins on, but currently some of the most profitable and popular ones are NEO, Reddcoin and LISK.

NEO pays dividends in GAS. The amount of GAS you get is a percentage of the amount of NEO you stake

At the time of writing of this article, if you held 100 NEO in a staking wallet you could expect to see about a 2.4–4.5% annual rate of return in GAS. You can then exchange this GAS for BTC or fiat.

Some other coins like OKcash and Hawala.today boast returns of upto 15% — much more than a bank would pay you.

Not interested in Proof of Stake? Dive into the cryptocurrency app ecosystem.

We do everything on our mobile phones these days. Technology keeps finding new and innovative ways to use that chunk of glass in your pocket — now it’s crypto’s turn.

Crypto apps have sprouted up left, right and center since 2017 and many of them are focussed on rewarding people for using them.

Earn.com IOS AppEarn.com

Earn.com claims to be the first token-based social platform. Like most social platforms, you get a feed — although, instead of memes and funny cat videos this is a feed filled with tasks. The tasks are set by companies and usually they align with your profession or skill set. For example, during the sign up process selecting your profession as ‘designer’ will be more likely to give you tasks related to design. Completing each task will earn you BTC.

Typically tasks reward you up to $1 (in BTC) after completing them, while some pay higher. Sometimes, a task can be as simple as following a twitter page or posting to a Facebook group.

Vanywhere IOS AppVanywhere

Vanywhere’s mission is to give you access to the world’s largest collection of skills. People on their platform are called ‘Skillers’, they’re paid by the minute to share their — you guessed it — skills.

Skillers can offer whatever they want on the platform. You can give design recommendations, tips on cooking, or crypto and blockchain advice. It really is limited to your imagination. All you need to do is offer a skill that other people would be interested in speaking to you about! There’s a quick example video here.

Skillers respond via either video, voice or direct messaging. When you become a Skiller, you get to choose what price point you’d like to set your time at. People will usually ask for anywhere between $1 — $10, but there’s actually no cap on the amount you can charge.

Crypto offers so many opportunities to make money. But instead of making money, how about a a way you can save money?

Brave Browser IOS AppBrave Browser

Developed by Brendan Eich — the co-founder of the Mozilla project and founder of Javascript. Brave is showing great potential, while also seeing its user base grow at a meteoric rate.

Brave claims to save users $23 a month in internet data fees.

Brave protects your data by blocking all the ads and trackers that usually clog up your phone. It’s still able to function as well as any other browser while boasting faster load speeds.

All of the featured apps are available on the Google Play store and the Apple App store, check them out if you’re interested!

Conclusion

Ultimately, when looking to earn money in crypto, the possibilities are endless. This article dug into some of the less commonly talked about opportunities.

Now it’s up to you to decide if you want to get involved. Have a favorite proof of stake coin or a decentralized application that makes you money? Share it in the comments!

If this article was helpful or interesting, please hit the clap button 👏 and if you know someone that would like it — feel free to share it.

We will be sure to deliver you more analyses of the market in the weeks to come. — writers@coinandcrypto.com

Two magical ways to turn your spare time into crypto. was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.