Recently, I've been exploring how people make money in cryptocurrency, and I found that it's actually much more complicated than most people think. Many beginners believe they can only make money through trading, but in reality, there are so many ways to play this market that you can't imagine.

I've summarized how cryptocurrencies make money, which can roughly be divided into two main categories. One is completely free methods, suitable for people with no capital but plenty of time; the other requires real money investment, but the returns are relatively more stable.

First, let's talk about free methods. Airdrops are the most classic, where project teams give you tokens for free. Some require you to complete tasks, such as registering an account or interacting on the chain; others are completely passive, where just holding a certain coin can earn you new tokens through airdrops. The obvious advantage of this method is zero cost—no investment needed—but the downside is also clear: it’s very time-consuming, and the tokens you receive at the end may be worthless.

X to Earn has been especially popular in the past two years, where you earn tokens by playing games, exercising, writing, and other activities. Axie Infinity and STEPN are representatives. It sounds very attractive—combining entertainment and earning—but in practice, you often need to invest upfront to buy equipment, and as more people join, the rewards tend to decrease continuously.

SocialFi is another approach, where you earn platform tokens by creating content and interacting. If you're a KOL or have a certain fan base, this can be quite good. But if you're not well-known, it’s hard to profit from it. Creating NFTs is similar; theoretically, anyone can do it, but in reality, most NFTs don’t sell.

The truly stable way to make money still involves investing capital. Mining is one such method—buying specialized mining machines or hosting them with third parties to mine Bitcoin, Litecoin, and others. The advantage of this method is relatively stable output, considered passive income, but the payback period is long, the initial investment is high, and now it’s mostly monopolized by large institutions.

DeFi mining involves providing liquidity or participating in lending to earn rewards. Decentralized exchanges like Uniswap or lending protocols like Compound have mining mechanisms. This method can be quite profitable, but it requires high professional knowledge and carries significant risks, especially with collateralized loans—if the coin price crashes, liquidation can happen easily.

Staking coins to earn interest is simpler—similar to bank deposits—deposit your coins into a platform and earn interest. It’s straightforward and low risk, but the yields are usually not high, and during a price drop, the interest earned might not even cover the loss.

Spot trading—buy low, sell high—is the most direct approach. If you hold coins for the medium to long term, the risk is relatively controllable; if you pursue short-term swings, the risk is much higher. The key is to choose a reliable trading platform and master basic trading knowledge.

Futures contracts are high-risk, high-reward strategies. Using a small margin, you can leverage trading, supporting both long and short positions, which is very attractive. But the risk of liquidation is real, and it tests your trading psychology—probably not suitable for beginners.

Finally, arbitrage—using price differences of the same coin across different exchanges to make money. In theory, it’s low risk, but in practice, it requires quick execution and large capital, and such opportunities are becoming increasingly rare.

Honestly, there’s no absolute answer to how cryptocurrency makes money. The key is to find a method that suits you—considering how much capital you have, how much time you can dedicate, and how much risk you can bear. You also need to understand the pros and cons of each approach clearly. Currently, BTC is a little over 78K, ETH around 2.18K, and DOGE has dropped to 0.11. The market is quite volatile, so no matter which method you choose, make sure to do your homework before getting started.