If you’re wondering how to make money with cryptocurrency in 2025, we’re here to help. You’ll be glad to know there are more options than ever, from mining to trading, staking, and Play-to-Earn (P2E). We’ll look at the most popular ways traders exploit the opportunities within cryptocurrency to generate wealth in 2025.
Over 28% of American citizens now own some form of cryptocurrency. That number is expected to continue increasing as the crypto market continues to grow.
Our list includes something for everyone. Beginner or pro, you’ll find some hints and tips to help you build your wealth with crypto.
Read on for some of the best ways to make money with crypto in 2025.
Understanding Cryptocurrency and Its Earning Potential
Cryptocurrency may seem complicated at first glance. It’s fast-paced, involves many cryptic insider terms (and Discord groups), and it’s not obvious where to start learning about it. However, once you understand a few fundamental concepts, everything else will make a lot more sense.
So, What Is Cryptocurrency?
In its most basic form, cryptocurrency is digital money. But what makes cryptocurrency different from other digital currencies is that it doesn’t need a central authority like a bank to approve transactions.
Instead, a network of participants keeps ledgers that record the amount of currency in each user’s account (called a ‘wallet’). Transactions between users are cryptographically verified by other network participants and recorded in this global ledger, known as a ‘blockchain.’
The concept of digital money backed by cryptography predates Bitcoin, but Bitcoin serves as the template for what we think of as cryptocurrency today.
In 2009, when the first Bitcoin nodes were set up, the value of each Bitcoin was practically nothing. In May 2010, the first known real-world transaction was made, where 10K $BTC was traded for two pizzas.
The crypto market has come a long way in that time, diversifying from just Bitcoin into a myriad of crypto projects. Here are some of the best-in-class:
- Bitcoin ($BTC): The original cryptocurrency, Bitcoin serves as ‘digital gold’ and a decentralized store of value. It operates based on a proof-of-work blockchain.
- Ethereum ($ETH): The world’s leading smart contract platform. Ethereum powers thousands of decentralized apps, serving as both a cryptocurrency and a way to execute cryptographically verified code on a programmable blockchain.
- Solana ($SOL): A high-performance blockchain designed for speed and scalability. Solana is popular for gaming, non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces, and Solana meme coins.
- Binance Coin ($BNB): The native cryptocurrency of the Binance ecosystem, which provides trading fee discounts on the Binance exchange.
Today, with the SEC’s approval of new spot ETFs, the future looks brighter than ever for cryptocurrency.
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) give retail investors an easy way to integrate cryptocurrency into their existing investment portfolios, bringing more money into cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Decentralized finance apps are also mushrooming, putting cryptocurrency on par with traditional fiat currencies for borrowing and lending.
Top Strategies to Make Money with Cryptocurrency
Now that you have an overview of what crypto is, let’s get into the exciting stuff: how to invest in cryptocurrency.
1. Buy and Hold (HODLing)
The simplest way to make money in crypto is just to buy and hold. When you read a recommendation to ‘Hold On for Dear Life’ (HODL), this is what you’re doing. Essentially, you ignore short-term fluctuations in the price of a coin and trust that it’ll grow over months or years.
It’s the crypto equivalent of long-term growth investment in stock trading.
HODLing can work if you’ve done your research. You have to pick a crypto project that you’re confident will grow in relevance over the coming years. But that takes understanding the crypto market as a whole.
Bitcoin investors who have bought and held for at least five years have historically seen significant returns on investment, so if you’re confident in the future of the coin you’ve picked, you’ll just have to ride out the dips.
If it’s your first time buying, start with a beginner-friendly exchange like Binance. If you’re more comfortable looking after your own wallet instead of leaving it in the hands of an exchange, there are plenty of self-custody wallets out there.
Best Wallet, for example, keeps your crypto in your hands using Fireblocks MPC-CMP technology, which allows you to back up an encrypted copy of your digital wallet in the cloud.
It also has the best spread of multi-chain support. That way, no matter which blockchain you’re investing in, you’ll be able to access all of your crypto from a single mobile app, all without needing a centralized exchange to hold your crypto for you.
⚠️The biggest risk with HODLing is volatility. If you need to cash out while in a bear market, you may lose some of your initial investment. Only invest what you’re prepared to lose, and don’t invest with cash you might need at a moment’s notice.
2. Crypto Trading
If HODLing is the equivalent of picking a blue-chip stock and sticking with it, crypto trading is the chaotic day-trading floor where fortunes are created and demolished within seconds.
Crypto Trading Types
Crypto trading comes in many flavors, each catering to different risk appetites, time commitments, and strategies.
Here are some of the main types you’ll encounter:
- Day trading: Involves profiting from 24-hour price movements, but you’ll need to understand technical analysis and market sentiment. If you’re starting out, try paper trading with a few popular cryptocurrencies first to see if you’ve got the discipline necessary to be successful.
- Swing trading: Involves monitoring an asset’s swing over several days or even weeks. You still need the same skills as for day trading, but it’s less stressful as you’re not watching live trades from moment to moment.
- Scalping: A much quicker form of trading, where profits are taken immediately and often, by leveraging tiny, predictable price movements throughout the day. While usually carried out by automated bots, success depends on a well-defined, long-term strategy.
How to Get Going with Crypto Trading
Binance Pro provides numerous tools for tracking cryptocurrency pairs in real time. You can use these together with real-time charting software, such as TradingView, to create a customized view of a coin’s performance.
Unfortunately, technical analysis is such a complex and in-depth topic that it deserves a whole article of its own. However, you can start by identifying support and resistance levels.
These are price points that the coin regularly struggles to break through or drop past, which can give some idea of a trend’s strength and help you determine where to place stop-loss or take-profit orders.
⚠️ Trading is about as risky as it gets – you’re trusting your ability to read the markets and beat all the other traders and bots trying to do the same thing. Be sure to do your research, and good luck!
3. Staking Crypto
Staking complements the HODL strategy by rewarding you with passive income for holding the cryptocurrency for a predefined period.
Blockchains that operate using Proof-of-Stake require node operators to prove they’re invested in the network’s future by staking their tokens. The logic behind this is that malicious validators would need to buy up huge chunks of the overall token supply to collaborate and validate bogus transactions, ensuring the blockchain remains valid without relying on computationally expensive proof-of-work schemes.
While there are additional rewards from staking as compared to HODLing, there are also additional risks. While HODLing, as long as the liquidity is there, you can cash out at any moment. It’s recommended that you don’t, but if you need access to funds immediately, you can take your gains and leave.
Staking, however, locks your tokens for a set amount of time. If the value of a crypto drops during the lock-up period, you may end up making a loss even with the additional tokens awarded to you.
4. DeFi and Yield Farming
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) uses cryptocurrency to replicate various financial services typically provided by banks, including lending, borrowing, and insurance. DeFi apps cut out the intermediaries used to enforce financial agreements, instead relying on smart contracts to automatically execute transactions when conditions are met.
One of the best examples is PancakeSwap, a decentralized automated market maker that facilitates trades between different crypto tokens. Yield farming involves providing liquidity to DeFi protocols like PancakeSwap in return for rewards.
In practice, yield farming works similarly to staking.
The major risk of yield farming is impermanent loss. This happens when token prices diverge, causing your share of the pool to be worth less than if you’d just held the tokens.
This is a lot less likely to happen if you’re providing liquidity to stablecoin pairs such as $USDC or $USDT, but the annual percentage yield is also way less than if you’re offering liquidity to a new token pair.
As usual, more risk equals more reward. It’s best to start yield farming on a trusted platform like UniSwap, PancakeSwap, or MakerDao, and with a stablecoin pair rather than a more volatile pair. That way, you have time to learn the basics and understand how rewards are issued before moving on to a riskier liquidity pool.
5. Crypto Lending
If yield farming is a little too technical, there’s a more straightforward way to earn interest on your crypto: lending directly to borrowers. You deposit your crypto into a lending platform, such as BlockFi or Aave, which then lends those assets to borrowers who pay a rate of interest.
Although there’s the risk of a borrower defaulting, most platforms now require borrowers to overcollateralize on their loan, meaning they put up a greater value of cryptocurrency than the value of the loan they’re receiving.
It’s still beneficial for the borrower to take out a loan, even when overcollateralized, as it allows them to express an investment position in an alternative coin while retaining the original asset, which can grow over time.
6. Play-to-Earn Games
The Web3 gaming market was valued at $31B in 2024 and is projected to reach $182B in the next ten years.
In an online video game, a player’s inventory is usually either tracked client-side (which is open to manipulation) or by a central authority (requiring trust in that authority). Tracking each player’s inventory via the blockchain and managing trades with smart contracts opens up the possibility for entirely decentralized game marketplaces and play-to-earn concepts.
Let’s take PEPENODE ($PEPENODE) as an example. It’s a Play-to-Earn meme coin project that transforms crypto mining into a gamified browser-based experience. Users buy and upgrade virtual mining nodes to earn $PEPENODE and other meme coins, with every upgrade burning 70% of tokens spent. This creates deflationary pressure, pushing up the value of the token, and rewards active gameplay.
There’s a much lower risk involved with P2E games than other strategies on this list. While you’ll still have to make an initial investment in some P2E games to get started, the main thing you’re wagering is your time. Of course, the assets you acquire in-game could depreciate just like other crypto assets if the player base wanes or token inflation kicks in.
The flip side is that the potential earnings are also lower. You may be able to earn $10-$100 monthly as a casual gamer, playing a few hours a week. That said, if you’re dedicating yourself to one of the more popular titles, it’s not unheard of to make between $500-$2K in a month.
7. Investments in NFTs & Other Digital Assets
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are proof of ownership in a unique digital asset. Bitcoin is considered fungible – each Bitcoin is indistinguishable from the others. An NFT is a token with a unique identifier associated with it.
So far, most of the concepts we’ve discussed map onto traditional currency trading. NFTs, on the other hand, are much closer to the collectibles market — think trading cards, stamps, art, and books.
Opensea is still the largest NFT marketplace, supporting multiple blockchains and asset types. Multiple video games offer their own NFT ecosystem, such as Axie Infinity and Illuvium.
The risk involved in buying and reselling NFTs is the same as with any other commodity or collectible: you may not receive your asking price for it. NFTs tend to go in and out of fashion. That said, while we’re not quite in the NFT hype cycle we were in during 2020, NFTs could be making a comeback as they’re integrated into more popular platforms.
8. Airdrops and Free Crypto
Crypto airdrops are free tokens distributed to wallet holders as a marketing tool to boost interest in a new project or reward existing community members. Airdrops can also incentivize beta participation in things like testnets or serve as a reward for promoting a cryptocurrency on social media.
Arbitrum recently held a highly successful airdrop campaign, rewarding users with governance tokens for completing tasks such as deploying smart contracts, bridging trades into Arbitrum, and conducting transactions over several months.
PEPENODE’s airdrop rewards users for mining, staking, and referring others through its simulated meme coin mining game. Top performers can earn bonus airdrops in top meme coins like PEPE and Fartcoin, as well as the project’s native token $PEPENODE.
⚠️ It can be tempting to chase after airdrops, but you need to ensure you aren’t linking up your wallet to a scam. Hackers sometimes masquerade as legitimate airdrop portals to get into your wallet and grab your hard-earned cryptocurrency, so be warned.
9. Automated Crypto Bots
Crypto bots give traders an edge in competitive crypto markets where time-to-trade is key to success.
Crypto bots work by executing trades based on preset conditions. Once set up, they work constantly in the background, monitoring the blockchain 24/7 for new opportunities to trade. If you’re a regular day-trader, they’re an essential part of your toolkit, shielding you against price crashes by automatically executing sell orders when you’re not actively managing your portfolio.
You’ll find different types of bots, including:
- Grid trading bots: Make regular buy and sell orders, capitalizing on market volatility
- Dollar-cost averaging bots: Automate regular purchases to reduce the impact of volatility
- Arbitrage bots: Exploit price differences between exchanges to create profit
- Sniper bots: Execute high-speed trades during the first few moments of extreme volatility during a new coin listing
3Commas offers several of these bots for you to try out, but it’s a paid platform. There’s also the much-anticipated Snorter Bot, now in development (and in presale), a multi-chain sniper bot that can be programmed to carry out regular trades for dollar-cost averaging and grid trading.
Unlike 3Commas, Snorter won’t require a subscription and comes with its own utility token ($SNORT) for reduced transaction fees.
10. Launchpads and Crypto Presales
Crypto presales offer early supporters the opportunity to invest in promising new coins before they’re listed on major exchanges, and therefore at a significant discount. In exchange, these first adopters provide liquidity and a boosted market capitalization, allowing crypto projects to generate market buzz from the moment they’re launched.
Binance Launchpad, for instance, has accelerated the growth of numerous projects in specialized sectors, such as gaming and DeFi.
Top crypto wallet, Best Wallet, also offers access to hundreds of presale project tokens directly from its mobile app, essentially creating a multi-chain DEX for presales.
The most promising presale we’ve seen in 2025 so far is Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER), an ultra-fast Layer-2 solution for Bitcoin that integrates the Solana Virtual Machine to enhance transaction speed and reduce fees on trades, as well as support for dApps. To date, Bitcoin Hyper has raised over $23M in presales and currently offers 50% per annum staking rewards.
However, presales involve several risks, but there are ways to spot them. For example, if a token’s contract hasn’t passed an audit, that’s a red flag. And while pure meme coins such as $DOGE have pumped in the past, it’s usually better if a coin has a clear use case.
If a coin promises utility but lacks a clear development roadmap or whitepaper, it’s concerning. You could be looking at a potential rug pull.
To be safe, look out for presales with a legitimate community of investors and transparent, regular communication from the developers in the lead-up to release and beyond.
What Are the Risks of Making Money with Crypto?
It’s important to remember that nothing is ever guaranteed, whether you’re putting money into stocks or crypto. However, if you’re aware of the risks, your chances of success are higher.
1. Market Volatility
In a nutshell, the market and the value of any coin can swing up and down, and in crypto, the amplitude is often magnitudes greater than in traditional stocks. Selling pressure below the market value of a coin causes the coin’s value to decrease. Even Bitcoin has significant bear periods. But Bitcoinists know things only go up over the long term.
2. Wallet Security
Keep your wallet keys secret and store them in a safe place. That’s because the only way to access your wallet is through a private key, which acts as a ‘password’ for your crypto.
If your device is hacked and your private key or seed phrase is compromised, you may lose access to your wallet and all its assets.
3. Scams
Put simply, there are numerous scams in the cryptocurrency world. The decentralized nature of the blockchain allows anyone to generate a new cryptocurrency token.
To understand how most crypto scams work, you must understand how smart contracts are built.
Blockchains like Ethereum and Solana don’t just verify cryptocurrency transactions; they also facilitate the transfer of digital assets. They also enable developers to create verified blocks of code that other users on the blockchain can interact with, known as ‘smart contracts.’
Generally, a smart contract has two types of functions: open and owner functions. Anyone can call an open function, whereas only the wallet designated as the ‘owner’ can call an owner function.
Owner functions enable a developer to manage the functionality and distribution of a token prior to its official release. If a developer doesn’t release ownership after release, they can use the smart contract to mint additional tokens, redirect funds, burn token pools, and halt trades completely.
This is why it’s essential to verify that a reputable smart contract auditing service, such as Coinsult, has audited the project you’re investing in.
Coinsult takes all the technical work out of your research, presenting you with just the potential red flags in a token’s smart contract implementation.
4. Regulatory Uncertainty
Although the EU and the US are taking significant steps to mitigate it, regulatory uncertainty can also impact confidence in the cryptocurrency market. Without clear guidance on regulating crypto, market makers and DeFi apps operate in a gray area that could collapse if future legislation deems their services unlawful.
5. Taxes
Finally, although it’s not strictly a risk, you should be aware of how your jurisdiction taxes cryptocurrency. The last thing you want to do is cash out only to realize you have a huge tax bill to pay – it could be the difference between a juicy payday and just about breaking even.
Tips for Successfully Profiting with Crypto
Whatever way you choose to make money with cryptocurrency, the tips below will help you manage the risks:
- Pick the right strategy: Pick one strategy and stick to it, especially if you’re new to crypto. Assess how much you know about crypto and how much time you are willing to spend learning more. Ask yourself how much risk you can afford, whether you prefer active or passive income, and how much capital you have available to commit.
- Never invest more than you can afford to lose: The crypto market is extremely volatile and runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Pull out if you aren’t comfortable holding a coin for a long time without monitoring it. There’s no recourse if you lose your investments to a scam or rug pull.
- Use security best practices: Pick a wallet you trust. We like Best Wallet, it’s mobile, non-custodial, and secure. A scam wallet can drain your funds and leave you high and dry. When using CEXs like Binance, enable 2FA so even if your password is leaked, hackers can’t ransack your account
- Keep learning: Dedicate a little time each day to keeping up with current crypto news, and a more extended session for in-depth research on crypto projects sometime in the week. Not only will this grow your crypto knowledge, but it will also keep you ahead of new scams.
- Manage market volatility and diversification: Pick a cryptocurrency investment strategy that you think could work, and a couple of cryptocurrencies to try it on. That way, even if one project goes through a period of significant volatility, your diversified portfolio will absorbs some of the risk.
Final Thoughts on How to Make Money with Cryptocurrency
The cryptocurrency ecosystem offers numerous opportunities for informed investors to generate returns across various risk profiles. Whether it’s conservative staking of established cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Solana, DeFi yield farming on Aave, trading NFTs on Axie Infinity, or hunting down juicy presales on Best Wallet, there’s an approach for every type of investor.
That said, the fundamentals remain the same regardless of your method. Start small and test the waters with a limited amount of capital before investing a significant amount. Do your own research on the projects you’re investing in and keep up with the latest crypto news.
Don’t forget to practice good safety habits like enabling 2FA on your wallet. Keep your keys locked away safely as well. And above all else: Don’t invest what you can’t afford to lose!
FAQs
1. Is crypto staking worth it?
It depends on your risk appetite, but staking is generally worth it if you’re confident in the value of a coin staying stable or growing during the lock-in period. Established cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Solana can offer between 3% and 12% return per annum, whereas new tokens like $HYPER offer higher APYs to attract new users during presales.
2. Can I make money with crypto as a beginner?
Absolutely. It’s best to start with simple strategies like HODLing or staking into established coins, but these approaches won’t give you the same returns that buying into new crypto projects can offer. Whichever strategy you choose, conduct thorough research first and only invest in reputable cryptocurrency projects.
3. Is crypto trading profitable in 2025?
The ongoing bull run in 2025 means that crypto trading is more profitable than it has been in recent years. Don’t be put off by the idea that all the major gains have passed you by – plenty of crypto projects out there are growing fast on the back of innovation and market growth. It only takes one moonshot to make you profitable. However, staying in the green requires skill, discipline, and constant research.
4. What’s the safest way to earn crypto income?
The safest way to earn crypto income is by investing in a trusted coin with support from major financial institutions. Currently, that means buying Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana. Staking on established cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum and Cardano, through reputable platforms, is another method to generate passive income with relatively low risk. However, you can still lose money if the value of those coins goes down during the staking period.
