20 October 2018
This article is also available on STEEMIT here (October 12, 2018).
[NOTE: This article should not be construed as investment advice. For advice on investing, purchasing/selling Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and buying/selling futures contracts, please contact a licensed financial advisor. The reader is responsible for his own investments. Disclaimer: this article contains referral links].
Bitcoin is a revolutionary
asset, and it’s one that has made a lot of people rich. Not everyone, of
course. Those who bought Bitcoin in early 2017, for example, have made huge
returns on their investment—and even more those who bought Bitcoin prior to
2017. While Bitcoin has gone up and down throughout the years, its overall
trend is up. This is due to the fact that Bitcoin is hardwired to increase in
value. There are only 21 million Bitcoins that will ever be created, while the
demand for this limited asset keeps going up. The law of supply and demand
determines the value of any commodity. The best comparison, of course, is gold,
which has an extremely limited supply. Gold, of course, is a precious metal,
which is mined at great cost, and which has a finite supply on Earth. Bitcoin,
likewise, is finite and requires a great deal of energy and computing power to
mine. Bitcoin mining, however, unlike gold mining, is hardwired to slow down,
with halving in the Bitcoin supply occurring every 4 years, until the last
Bitcoin is mined more than 100 years from now. In 2017, I wrote a short
e-book/information guide on Bitcoin entitled Bitcoin:
10 Ways to Make Money Using Bitcoin, along with two other information
guides on investment: Gold: 10 Ways to
Make Money Using Gold, and Information
Products: 10 Ways to Make Money Using Information Products. These are all
available to purchase and download online. There are, however, a lot more than
10 ways to make money through Bitcoin, so let’s have a look at some more ways
to make money via Bitcoin.
1. Use Crypto.Jobs
or other Cryptocurrency Hiring Websites
One of the best ways to make
Bitcoin is to work for Bitcoin. This has already been mentioned in my
information guide, but it is worth repeating here. When you are paid in
cryptocurrency, you take out the middle man. Ordinarily, if you want to
accumulate Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, you have to buy them using fiat
currency (e.g. through Coinbase, Kraken, etc.) and are charged exorbitant
transaction fees. When you are paid directly in cryptocurrency, you are able to
accumulate Bitcoin without having to use your bank account or debit card. This
saves time, as well as money. It furthermore protects your earnings by making
them anonymous. Just make sure that you are paid into an anonymous wallet,
rather than one which is linked to an exchange or other KYC details. This will
allow you to accumulate earnings without having them potentially reported to
tax authorities or other government authorities. There are many jobs for
software/blockchain developers, marketers, writers, etc. Just find something
which is suitable for you. Besides Crypto.jobs,[1]
there are several other good places to search for cryptocurrency-related jobs,
including Reddit, where you can find jobs at 4/Jobs4Bitcoins,[2]
Coinality.com,[3] XBTFreelancer.com,[4]
and bitWAGE.[5] In addition, you could
search the Bitcointalk Forum Services Section for any available openings.[6]
2. Earn Bitcoin through
Lightning Tasks
The Lightning Network (LN),
as I explain in my article on 10
Reasons to Buy Bitcoin,[7] is a way to increase the scalability of the
Bitcoin network. A lot of people have criticised Bitcoin’s ability to scale up
and provide for the huge number of transactions that a world currency would
require. Such criticisms, however, miss the entire point of Bitcoin’s
existence. Bitcoin was not created, as Nick Szabo explains, to have excellent
computational scalability.[8]
Rather, it was created to have social scalability, i.e. by providing a
trustless payment network and store of value, in the same manner as gold. While
transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain may not be able to directly scale up to
the speed and volume of VISA, for example, there are solutions which would
allow Bitcoin to be used by billions of people on a secondary layer. The best
solution so far is the Lightning Network (LN), which uses a network of
micropayment channels to scale to billions of transactions per day without
relying on a separate trusted network.[9] There
are also sidechains, such as the Liquid Network, which enables faster
transactions between businesses and individuals through the medium of Liquid
Bitcoin (L-BTC),[10] RSK’s upcoming sidechain
(to-be-named),[11] and Paul Sztorc’s
Drivechain project,[12] but
that’s another topic. One new and innovative way of making money using Bitcoin
is through ‘Lightning Tasks’, which are specific tasks which anyone can do in
exchange for a reward denominated in Satoshis (the divisible parts of a
Bitcoin). The Lightning Task website is currently a proof of concept, so the
current reward is fixed at 1,000 Satoshis, which is worth about 6 cents (USD).[13]
Nevertheless, something is better than nothing, so this is one extra way to
earn Bitcoin online.
3. Trade Bitcoin
peer-to-peer
I have already referred to
OTC (over-the-counter) trading of Bitcoin in my short information guide, Bitcoin: 10 Ways
to Make Money Using Bitcoin. However, it is worth repeating here in terms
of small-scale, direct peer-to-peer transfers of Bitcoin. Over the counter
trades are highly unregulated and risky. Unless an escrow service is used, the
trades rely heavily on trust, so some kind of neutral party is best used, e.g. Localbitcoins. Even then, the buyer and
seller must beware, as the legality of trading Bitcoin and the applicability of
taxes varies from one region to another, and from one nation to another. There
are numerous stories of Bitcoin traders getting arrested. Back in 2017 in the
US, the Department of Justice announced that a Bitcoin trader and his son were
arrested and sentenced to prison terms for ‘running an unlicensed money
transmission business’.[14]
This wasn’t a one-off trade that went wrong, however. Rather, ‘Internet151’ had
conducted more than 3,000 confirmed trades since 2012 and had used a series of
personal and business bank accounts in order to hide their activities. So, if
you are operating your trades for profit, taking a commission, for example,
make sure that you are registered as a legitimate business with appropriate
licenses and other approval according to the rules and regulations of the
jurisdiction that you are in. The last thing you want is for your business
activities to get your arrested or accused of a crime. Another example in the
US was ‘Bitcoin Maven’, who was sentenced to 12 months and a day in prison, as
well as a $20,000 fine for laundering Bitcoin as proceeds of narcotics sales.
Again, this wasn’t a small-scale operation. The proceeds of her business
included $292,264 in cash, 25 gold bars and 40 Bitcoins, all of which were confiscated
by the state. To put it simply, crime doesn’t pay. Therefore, either use
Localbitcoins just to buy yourself Bitcoin, or, if you want to make an actual
business out of it, make sure that you are following appropriate legislation
and regulations, and are paying VAT or other relevant taxes on proceeds. And
make sure to ‘know your customer’ (KYC) to avoid accusations of money
laundering. It is clear, in this case, that ‘Bitcoin Maven’ ignored that
responsibility. While most of these busts seem to happen in the United States,
they can happen to anyone anywhere, so be careful.
4. Trade/buy Bitcoin
futures contracts
I have addressed this topic
in my previous articles, Digitex:
A commission-free cryptocurrency futures exchange (my review), and 10
Reasons to Buy Digitex [DGTX], where I give a brief introduction to futures
exchanges and futures contracts and describe two of the main Bitcoin futures
exchanges, BitMEX and Digitex. As I explained in the first article, “according to Investopedia,
a futures contract is an agreement between a buyer and a seller to buy or sell
an asset or commodity for a specified price at a specified date. A futures
contract is thus an agreement to buy and sell the asset/commodity/security. In
many cases, this does not mean that the actual commodity is exchanged. A
futures contract may represent 27 metric tons of corn, for example, but the
corn does not necessarily exchange hands.”[15]
Why invest in futures contracts? The reason is simple. People use futures
contracts because “a futures contract can also be used to hedge against
potential losses or gains in the value of an asset in order to reduce
volatility associated with the price of the asset. In other words, one may be a
Bitcoin holder/investor who wishes to hedge against the volatility of the price
of Bitcoin. The Bitcoin investor can reduce the risk of their investment by
taking an opposite position in the market to what they are trying to hedge,
with one effect cancelling out the other. The goal of hedgers is to reduce risk
by protecting themselves against any future drops in the price of the asset.”[16]
Speculators, likewise, “buy a contract in the hope that the price of the asset
will increase in the future.”[17]
In other words, you can use a futures contract to either hedge against the risk
of Bitcoin dropping in price, or as a means to speculate on future price rises.
Either way, it is a useful way of increasing the size of your portfolio through
careful and considered investment. It is not without risks, however, as you may
make the wrong bet and lose your initial investment. Buyer beware, therefore,
and make sure to only invest what you can afford to lose. If you are interested
in finding out more about how to get started, then check out the two articles I
have referred to above, or click
here for more on the Digitex Futures Exchange and get access to their Early
Access Waiting List (which will probably close in December 2018).
5. Join a Bitcoin Mining
Pool
Bitcoin mining isn’t what it
used to be. The mining difficulty increases day by day, but so does the
technology used to mine Bitcoin, which advances year-on-year, becoming faster
and more efficient, and one way to increase the odds of seeing a return is by
participating in a mining pool, which allows you to share your miner’s hash
power with numerous others, each earning a slice of a Bitcoin when the ship
comes in, so to speak. Some of the top Bitcoin mining pools include: AntPool,
which is owned by Bitmain Technologies Ltd., headquartered in Beijing China and
founded by Jihan Wu and Micree Zhan in 2013, discovering roughly 18% of Bitcoin
blocks over a six-month period; BTC.com, which is second to AntPool, generating
16.5% of Bitcoin blocks over the same six-month period; BTC.TOP, which has mined
13% of Bitcoin of six months; ViaBTC, which offers options to mine different
cryptocurrencies, including Litecoin, Ether, Ethereum Classic, and Dash; Slushpool,
owned by Satoshi Labs, which has mined over 1 million Bitcoins since December
2010 and 9% of total BTC over a six-month period;[18] DiscusFish/F2Pool,
which opened in May 2013; BTCC / BTC China, which was the second largest mining
pool as of 2012; Eligius, which has operated since 2011;[19] BW
Pool, established in 2014, which mines about 2% of all blocks; Bitfury, which
is a private pool that mines 11% of all BTC blocks;[20]
the Bitminter Mining Pool, started in 2011, which also produces Bitminter
client, a cross-platform program with a clear, graphical interface that works
with both GPUs and external ASIC devices;[21] and
Ckpool, which is explicitly suitable for miners with old hardware, e.g. GUIs.[22]
Bear in mind that Ckpool take 1% of what you make, but it are nevertheless
better for hobbyists who use PCs, laptops and GUIs to mine Bitcoin. Other
pools, such as Slushpool and Bitminter, specifically advise against mining with
a CPU/GPU or smart phone.[23] With
regards to Bitmain,[24]
one should bear in mind that Bitmain manufactures the Antminer S9 and S9i,
which are both used for Bitcoin mining, and Jihan Wu is one of the key
supporters of Bitcoin Cash (BCH)—a hard fork of Bitcoin which aims to replace
and supplant Bitcoin—which it has so far failed to do and will fail to do. Bitcoin.com
also has its own mining pool, pool.bitcoin.com,[25]
which, again, one should be cautious of, due to its connections with BitcoinCash.
BitcoinCash is not Bitcoin, and Bitcoin.com confuses the issue by trying to
create equivalence between the two, especially by referring to Bitcoin by the misnomer
‘Bitcoin Core.’
At the moment, the best way
to mine Bitcoin is by using an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)
device, which can be customized for a particular use, in this case: Bitcoin
mining.[26]
These can be bought for as cheaply as $489.99 (Antminer S7), or as expensive as
$2,729 (Dragonmint 16T). Cheaper ASICs are, of course, less efficient and have
a lower hash rate. The Avalon 6 is relatively cheap, at $559.95, with a hash
power of 3.50 TH/s, and the Antminer S7 has a hash rate of 4.73 TH/s. More
expensive models, such as the Antminer S9, which goes for $3,000, and the
Dragonmint 16T have hash rates of 14.0 TH/s and 16.0 TH/s respectively.[27]
The greater the hash power, the more Bitcoin you will be able to mine. Besides
the device itself, however, you have to make several other considerations.
First of all, is Bitcoin mining legal in your region or locality? If not, then
that needs to be taken into consideration. Also, don’t mine Bitcoin on someone
else’s PC. That’s just illegal—and you’ll probably get in trouble. Several
Russian engineers, for example, were arrested for using a supercomputer housed
in the Federal Nuclear Center in Sarov to mine for cryptocurrencies, leading to
their arrest.[28] Likewise, a Florida
Government employee was arrested for mining Bitcoin and Litecoin using Florida’s
Department of Citrus (FDOC) computers, being charged with grand theft and
official misconduct.[29]
Moral of the story: use your own mining equipment and electricity to mine
Bitcoin.
Besides hardware costs, of
course, there is the question of profitability. After purchasing an ASIC miner,
your main costs will be electricity and internet usage. Electricity is, by far,
the most expensive element to your mining plan. If the cost of electricity is
too high, you will not be able to break even, and would be better off just
buying Bitcoin in an exchange. So, look up the electricity usage per hour of
your preferred ASIC device, and look at the terawatt hour costs for electricity
in your area/provider, so that you can do the math on how profitable it will
be. Electricity costs vary widely from one country to another. In Venezuela, it
costs about $530 to mine one Bitcoin while, in South Korea, it costs as much as
$26,000.[30] Also, to make matters
worse, you have to factor in the rise in mining difficulty. One can assume a
daily increase in mining difficulty of 0.4527678%, as factored in on the
BuyBitcoinWorldwide website.[31]
Moreover, roughly every four years, Bitcoin’s mining rewards (block reward) decreases
by half. This is called the ‘Bitcoin halving’ event. So far, there have been
two halvings, one in 2012, and one in 2016, with each halving occurring after
210,000 blocks have been mined, with both such events happening before
significant bull runs,[32]
indicating that the Bitcoin halving event always (or usually) results in a huge
rise in the price of Bitcoin. BTCC founder, Bobby Lee, argues that the halving
event in 2020 will drive the price of Bitcoin beyond $60,000 or 10x where it
currently stands, giving Bitcoin a total market-cap of about $1 trillion USD.[33] Accumulating
as much Bitcoin as possible before such an event (e.g. in 2020) is probably a
sound idea, though that is something you will have to decide for yourself after
researching the matter.
6. Invest in Bitcoin and
Cryptocurrency-Related Investment Funds
To buy more Bitcoin, you
need to earn more money. One could, of course, just get a job and put excess
income into Bitcoin. Investing a small amount in Bitcoin every month can go a
long way and serves as a form of dollar-cost averaging. However, what about
combining traditional investment strategies with Bitcoin? One way of doing is
through investing in an investment trust, such as the Bitcoin Investment Trust
(GBTC), which is currently the only option (as of 2018) for investors to trade
Bitcoin on the stock market. An investment trust is a company which owns a
fixed amount of an asset—in this case Bitcoin—and investors pool money to buy
shares of the trust, owning contracts which represent ownership of a certain
amount of the asset via the trust. Thus, one owns Bitcoin without owning
Bitcoin, and one must pay a fee to the company which manages the fund, i.e.
Grayscale.[34] As of 2018, Grayscale
Investments reports that it is onboarding nearly $10 million in new investments
every single week, showing the popularity of Bitcoin investment, with the
majority of this money coming from institutional investors (as defined under US
law).[35]
Another option is to invest
in cryptocurrency investment firms or hedge funds, such as, Pantera Capital,
which has reported a 10,000% return over the five-year period from its
formation,[36] Pivot Trading-2, which is
managed by Hong-Kong-based Amber AI Group, which produced a first-quarter
return of 30%,[37] Market Neutral Liquidity
SP-Institutional, which has had a 2018 return of 5.7%,[38] Galaxy
Digital Assets Fund, which is headed by Mike Novogratz and is listed on
Toronto’s TSX Venture Exchange,[39]
Polychain Capital, which manages $200 million in assets and was founded by
Coinbase’s first employee, Olaf Carlson-Wee,[40] Metastable
Capital, run by Lucas Ryan, Josh Seims and Naval Ravikant, which manages $45
million in assets,[41]
Blockchain Capital, which raised $50 million, tokenizing $10 million as BCAP
tokens which [42]were offered to accredited
investors in the US, California-based Reality Shares, which has launched a
Chinese blockchain ETF, attracting $25 million in investments,[43] Cayman
Islands-based Alphabit Fund, which has a fund of $13 but aims to eventually
manage $300 million,[44]
Auryn Capital, which launched in August with $12.5 million,[45]
Block View Capital, which manages a diversified cryptocurrency portfolio of
between $10 and $20 million, [46]
Brian Kelly Capital Management, which buys and holds 50% of assets, with 20%
investment in ICOs and the rest actively managed,[47]
BlockTower Capital, which differs from Polychain and MetaStable in that funds
are actively traded instead of simply following a buy-and-hold strategy,[48]
Crypto Asset Fund, which launched in June 2018 with $10 million and aims to
manage $400 million,[49]
Coinshares 1 LP, which is based in Jersey,[50] and
many others. Other funds, such as Silver 8 Partners, however, are down in 2018,
so buyer beware. Quite likely numerous new hedge funds will arise in the coming
months and years. In 2018 alone, some 90 crypto hedge funds have already been
launched, with 120 expected to form by the end of this financial year.[51] Out
of a total of 600 hedge funds expected to launch in 2018, the number which are
cryptocurrency-related represents some 20% of the total, showing rising
interest in the space.[52]
If you have the means to do so, this is one avenue to explore. Earnings from
shares in these funds can be reinvested in Bitcoin to allow one to accumulate
more and more Bitcoin.
7. Earn Bitcoin by Doing
Odd Jobs
Everyone has a bit of spare
time. The question is: how to utilise it? There are several websites where you
can complete surveys and other random tasks, such as BitcoinGet.[53]
BitforTip allows you to get tipped for helping people with small tasks, such as
finding an ornament or an old advertisement from TV.[54]
CoinWorker allows you to complete short analytical tasks which can be done
within your browser. When your account accumulates 200 points, the points are
converted to an amount of Bitcoin and paid directly into a Bitcoin address that
is created when you register.[55]
As with a lot of these websites, make sure that it is up-to-date and current.
As of 9 October 2018, the last update I can see on their Twitter page is from 5
May 2018,[56] apologising for a delay
in payments. Bear the unreliability of a lot of these Bitcoin-related faucets
and micro-job payment systems in mind when investing your time in them. If you
have a website, you can also post advertisements on your website via CoinAd,
which will pay you in Bitcoin.[57]
Their payment is weekly, direct to a Bitcoin wallet or via PayPal (as
requested), and new publishers are only accepted on an invite basis. This is
because they want to ensure quality for their advertisers. Finally, you can use
BTC Clicks to earn Bitcoin by posting affiliate and referral links. You get
paid per click and can also potentially earn an 80% referral/affiliate
commission. The website says that you can earn up to “0.00031 mBTC” per click.
A Centibit (cBTC) is one hundredth of a Bitcoin (0.01 BTC), a MilliBitcoin
(mBTC) refers to 1 thousandth of a Bitcoin (0.001 BTC), a Microbit (µBTC/uBTC)
is 1 millionth of a Bitcoin (0.000001 BTC),[58]
and a Satoshi is 1 hundred millionths of a Bitcoin (0.00000001 BTC).[59]
So 0.00031 mBTC is actually about 31 Satoshis ($0.0020549187 as of 9th
October 2018). If you are happy to be paid 2 tenths of a cent for a click, then
by all means. If you are a compulsive internet user, this may be one way of
capitalising on your free time.
8. Earn Bitcoin by
Reading Books
Everyone enjoys a good novel
or a work of classic literature. PaidBooks allows you to enjoy doing so while
earning Bitcoin.[60] In order to take part,
you have to visit their website and then sign up for Airdrips.[61]
This will require you to login to your Facebook account, which would give them
access to your e-mail address and public profile. If that’s too much to give
away, then you will want to steer clear of this option. As always, when giving
away personal information, the user should be cautious. However, if you are
comfortable giving away your e-mail address, then you can sign up and start
earning small amounts of Bitcoin as you read. Rather like a Bitcoin faucet (see
below), the amounts you will earn will not be great. However, if you are a
prodigious reader already, this could be considered an added bonus on top of
the enjoyment of reading the books themselves. So, if you enjoy reading on your
laptop, tablet or phone, then check it out and see if it is something you would
like to do.
9. Play Online/Mobile
Games to Earn Bitcoin
As with a Bitcoin faucet
(see below), it is possible to earn small amounts of Bitcoin by playing games.
A lot of these games and faucets change their options or shut down over time,
so there’s no guarantee that any of these are still working. Tremor Games, for
example, allows you earn coins for achievements in each game, which can then be
converted into BTC.[62]
Cash Clamber is an example of social gaming, which allows you to play head to
head against your friends while earning Bitcoin as a result. They also pay
Bitcoin royalties for new HTML games, ideas, translations and animations.[63]
SaruTobi is a game which means ‘Monkey Fly’ in Japanese. The original game
allowed you to fling your monkey through the air while collecting bananas (and
Bitcoin). This game was taken down and will be replaced with a new version that
utilises the Lightning Network (LN).[64]
You can check their website for updates. Takara, which means ‘treasure’ in
Japanese, is a mobile game app for iOS devices, which allows you plant and hunt
for Bitcoin treasures planted across the world. It’s a geocaching game, rather
like PokemonGo. App users plant Bitcoin treasures, and users find and collect
amounts of Bitcoin, as well as other tokens.[65]
No doubt, more such games, perhaps using the Lightning Network, will arise in
the future.
10. Earn Bitcoin using a
Bitcoin faucet
A Bitcoin faucet is a reward
system which allows you to receive rewards in the form of Satoshis, for
visiting the website, completing a captcha task or other task described by the
website.[66] The first such faucet was
created by Gavin Andresen back in 2010—this particular example no longer exists
(as of Jan 30, 2013).[67]
Bitcoin faucets operate by making you perform certain tasks, such as filling in
a captcha. Usually, there is a certain amount of Satoshis which must accrue
before you can withdraw. Rewards are, moreover, dispensed after a certain
interval of time, so faucets can be quite time-consuming to use.[68] There
are a number of these Bitcoin faucets, including: Cointiply, Bitcoin Aliens,
Bonus Bitcoin, Milli, Bitcoinker, Moon
Bitcoin, Satoshi City, Satoshi Quiz, Robot Coin, and Wonderland Coin.[69]
Bitcoin Zebra ended operations in July 2016.[70]
There are some things to bear in mind before participating. First of all, a lot
of these faucets make their revenue through advertising.[71]
If you are happy being exposed to advertising, then go ahead. Other faucets can
be nefarious. For example, there are mining faucets which highjack your
computer’s CPU for mining purposes, and there are also scams which never
deliver on the Bitcoin you have ‘accrued’.[72]
Furthermore, it is essential to remember that faucets take a lot of time. Due
to the small rewards (perhaps 100 Satoshis or more), it may not really be worth
your time.[73] But if you are desperate
to get Bitcoin for free, this is one of the few options that will allow you to
do so. In short, only use Bitcoin faucets if you have an abundance of spare
time and no other way of earning Bitcoin.
Conclusion
All of the above offer
opportunities for investing in or earning Bitcoin, which is a revolutionary new
asset class and the sound money of the future. Whatever method you choose, you
should always make sure to invest only what you can afford to lose and hedge
against risk. Bitcoin is a new asset class, and, therefore, there is a huge amount
of volatility. This is not due to the nature of the asset itself, since Bitcoin
is fundamentally an immutable ledger which records transactions on the
blockchain. Its value is related to Metcalfe’s law, which determines that a
network is valuable in and of itself, and its value increases as the size of
the network, the number of holders and users, increases. As Bitcoin is
extremely limited, and there can only ever be 21 million BTC, demand for
Bitcoin will continue to rise, increasing the price over time. Currently, this
is usually measured against fiat currencies. In the future, however, where a
Bitcoin standard is the norm, the value of Bitcoin will be measured against
real-world goods, much in the same way that the U.S. dollar is measured against
a basket of goods for the purpose of measuring inflation. Inflation results
from an abundance in the money supply, or devaluation of the currency. Bitcoin,
which cannot be devalued, can be regarded as sound money. As such, possessing
Bitcoin is possessing real money which cannot be artificially inflated.
While the U.S. dollar, euro and pound Sterling are all backed by nothing but
thin air, and the goodwill of their governments, Bitcoin is backed by code, the
network effect and scarcity, and its value is determined by the fundamental
economic laws of the market, such as supply and demand. For more on this, you
can read my related article on 10
Reasons to Buy Bitcoin (on Steemit),
and my short information guide, Bitcoin:
10 Ways to Make Money Using Bitcoin.
Sources:
99Bitcoins.com (2018) Top
Ten Bitcoin Faucets, 99Bitcoins. URL: https://99bitcoins.com/top-10-bitcoin-faucets/
(accessed 01/10/2018 12:12 PM AST)
AirDrips.com. URL: https://airdrips.com/
(accessed 09/10/2018)
Osato Avan-Nomayo (2018)
Bitcoin ‘Halving’ 2020: What Will The Price of Bitcoin Be? Bitcoinist,
May 31, 2018 17:00. URL: https://bitcoinist.com/bitcoin-halving-2020-what-will-the-price-of-bitcoin-be/
(accessed 10/10/2018)
NJ Bridgewater (2018) Digitex:
A commission-free cryptocurrency futures exchange (my review), Crossing the
Bridge (blog), 4 September 2018. URL: https://nicholasjames19.blogspot.com/2018/09/digitex-commission-free-cryptocurrency.html
(accessed 10/10/2018)
NJ
Bridgewater (2018) Ten Reasons to Buy Bitcoin, Steemit, 24 September
2018. URL:
https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@njbridgewater/ten-reasons-to-buy-bitcoin (accessed
30/09/2018). Also available at:
https://nicholasjames19.blogspot.com/2018/09/ten-reasons-to-buy-bitcoin.html
(accessed 30/09/2018)
Bitcoin
Exchange Guide News Team (2018) Cryptocurrency Funds Explained: List of the Top
25 Bitcoin Hedge Funds, BitcoinExchangeGuide.com, August 13, 2018. URL: https://bitcoinexchangeguide.com/cryptocurrency-funds-explained/
(accessed 10/10/2018)
The
Bitcoin Strip. URL: https://thebitcoinstrip.com/bitcoin-denominations-explained/
(accessed 09/10/2018)
BitcoinGet.
URL: https://www.bitcoinget.com/ (accessed 09/10/2018)
BitcoinTalk Forum. URL: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=52.0
(accessed 01/10/2018)
BitforTip.
URL: https://www.bitfortip.com/ (accessed 09/10/2018)
BitUSD.
URL: https://bitsusd.com/bitcoin-units/ (accessed 09/10/2018)
BitWage. URL: https://www.bitwage.com/
(accessed 01/10/2018)
Nick
Chong (2018) BTCC Founder: The Next Bitcoin Halving Will Push Prices To $60,000,
Ethereum World News, August 25, 2018. URL: https://ethereumworldnews.com/btcc-founder-bitcoin-halving-prices/
(accessed 10/10/2018)
CoinAd.
URL: https://coinad.com/ (accessed 09/10/2018)
CoinWorker.
URL: https://coinworker.com/ (accessed 09/10/2018). See also: URL: https://twitter.com/CoinWorking
(accessed 09/10/2018)
Crypto.Jobs. URL: https://crypto.jobs/
(accessed 01/10/2018)
The CryptoCurrency Facts
(2018) Understanding The Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC), CryptocurrencyFacts.com.
URL: https://cryptocurrencyfacts.com/understanding-the-bitcoin-investment-trust-gbtc/
(accessed 10/10/2018)
CryptoLeet.
URL: https://cryptoleet.com/tremorgames-get-paid-bitcoin-playing-games/
(accessed 09/10/2018)
Patrick
Daniels (2018) These are the largest Bitcoin mining farms in the world, Digital
Trends, Posted on July 1, 2018 - 2:08PM. URL: https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/largest-bitcoin-mining-farm/
(accessed 11/10/2018)
Nikhilesh
De (2018) 10,000%: Pantera Reports Massive 5-Year Crypto Investment Return, CoinDesk,
Jul 27, 2018 at 20:36 UTC; updated Jul 27, 2018 at 21:02 UTC. URL: https://www.coindesk.com/10000-pantera-capital-reports-massive-5-year-crypto-investment-return/
(accessed 10/10/2018)
Mina
Down (2018) Bitcoin Faucets: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, CoinMonks,
September 6, 2018. URL:
https://medium.com/coinmonks/bitcoin-faucets-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-a8687c2a2e72
(accessed 01/10/2018)
Nate
Drake (2018) The best mining software in 2018, TechRadarPro, August 28,
2018. URL: https://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-cryptocurrency-mining-software-2018
(accessed 11/10/2018)
Omar
Faridi (2018) Bitcoin's Sidechains May Soon Support Smart Contracts and Allow
Firms to Launch ICOs, CryptoGlobe, 8 Oct 2018. URL: https://www.cryptoglobe.com/latest/2018/10/bitcoin-s-sidechains-may-soon-support-smart-contracts-and-allow-firms-to-launch-icos/
(accessed 12/10/2018)
Stan
Higgins (2017) 9 Years: LocalBitcoins Trader Sentenced in Latest Money
Transmission Case, CoinDesk, May 30, 2017 at 20:00 UTC. URL: https://www.coindesk.com/9-years-localbitcoins-trader-sentenced-latest-money-transmission-case/
(accessed 10/10/2018)
Zach
Hildreth (2018) Best Bitcoin Mining Software: An In-Depth Look at the Top Choices,
Blockonomi.com, July 4, 2018. URL: https://blockonomi.com/bitcoin-mining-software/
(accessed 11/10/2018)
Bei
Hu (2018) As Bitcoin Plunged, These Crypto Hedge Funds Kept Making Money, Bloomberg,
19 April 2018, 19:00 GMT+3. URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-19/as-bitcoin-plunged-these-crypto-hedge-funds-kept-making-money
(accessed 10/10/2018)
Jobs4Bitcoins. URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/Jobs4Bitcoins/
(accessed 01/10/2018)
MandelDuck. URL: http://www.mandelduck.com/sarutobi/
(accessed 09/10/2018)
Avi
Mizrahi (2016) Bitcoin Go! AR Geocaching Game Takara Lets You Collect
Counterparty Tokens, FinanceMagnates, 09/08/2016 09:54 GMT. URL: https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/interview/bitcoin-go-geocaching-game-takara-lets-you-collect-counterparty-tokens/
(accessed 09/10/2018)
Samson Mow (2018) The Launch
of the Liquid Network, Blockstream, Oct 10, 2018. URL: https://blockstream.com/2018/10/10/liquid-launch.html
(accessed 12/10/2018)
Rahul
Nambiampurath (2018) Lightning Tasks Allows you to Earn Bitcoin for Completing
Micro Tasks, BitManager.com, September 26, 2018 5:00. URL:
https://btcmanager.com/lightning-tasks-bitcoin-micro-tasks/ (accessed 30/09/2018)
PaidBooks.
URL: http://www.paidbooks.com/ (accessed 09/10/2018)
Daniel
Palmer (2018) Crypto Hedge Fund Launches Are Soaring to Record Levels This Year,
CoinDesk, Oct 10, 2018 at 15:00 UTC. URL: https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-hedge-fund-launches-are-soaring-to-record-levels-this-year/
(accessed 10/10/2018)
Joseph
Poon, Thaddeus Dryja (2016) The Bitcoin Lightning Network: Scalable Off-Chain
Instant Payments, DRAFT Version 0.5.9.2, January 14, 2016, Lightning Network.
URL: https://lightning.network/lightning-network-paper.pdf (accessed 23/09/2018)
Jamie
Redman (2018) Developer Paul Sztorc Launches the First Version of Drivechain, Bitcoin.com,
Sep 26, 2018. URL: https://news.bitcoin.com/developer-paul-sztorc-launches-the-first-version-of-drivechain/
(accessed 12/10/2018)
Shobhit
Seth (2018) Top 5 Bitcoin Mining Pools, Investopedia, February 23, 2018
— 1:40 PM EST. URL: https://www.investopedia.com/news/top-bitcoin-mining-pools/
(accessed 11/10/2018)
Laura
Shin (2018) Crypto Boom: 15 New Hedge Funds Want In On 84,000% Returns, Forbes,
Jul 12, 2017, 08:00am. URL: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/07/12/crypto-boom-15-new-hedge-funds-want-in-on-84000-returns/#114f25b2416a
(accessed 10/10/2018)
Hamad
Subani (2017) The Easiest Way to make your PC mine Bitcoins, techtangerine,
September 22, 2017. URL: http://www.techtangerine.com/2017/09/22/bitcoin-pc-mining/
(accessed 11/10/2018)
William
Suberg (2018) Reality Shares Will Join Increasingly Crowded Bitcoin Hedge Fund
Arena, Says Source, Coin Telegraph, August 15, 2018. URL: https://cointelegraph.com/news/reality-shares-will-join-increasingly-crowded-bitcoin-hedge-fund-arena-says-source
(accessed 10/10/2018)
Nick Szabo (2017) Money,
blockchains, and social scalability, Unenumerated, Thursday, February
09, 2017. URL:
https://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2017/02/money-blockchains-and-social-scalability.html
(accessed 23/09/2018)
David Trujillo Uribe (2018)
5 Best Bitcoin Faucets, ToughNickel.com. URL:
https://toughnickel.com/personal-finance/What-is-a-Bitcoin-Faucet-5-Best-Faucets
(accessed 01/10/2018)
Jordan
Tuwiner (2018) Bitcoin Mining Hardware ASICs, BuyBitcoinWorldwide, last
updated June 30, 2018. URL: https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/mining/hardware/
(accessed 10/10/2018)
Jordan
Tuwiner (2018) Bitcoin Mining Pools, BuyBitcoinWorldwide.com, last
updated June 30, 2018. URL: https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/mining/pools/ (accessed
11/10/2018)
UseBitcoins.info.
URL: https://usebitcoins.info/index.php/leisure/games/games-social-gaming/346-cash-clamber
(accessed 09/10/2018)
Preeti
Varathan (2018) Russian nuclear scientists were arrested for using a
supercomputer to mine bitcoin, Quartz, February 9, 2018. URL: https://qz.com/1203665/russian-nuclear-scientists-were-arrested-for-using-a-supercomputer-to-mine-bitcoin/
(accessed 11/10/2018)
Josiah
Wilmoth (2018) Bitcoin Investment Trust Creator Adding $10 Million in New
Investments Every Week, CCN.com, July 18, 2018 17:11 CET. URL: https://www.ccn.com/bitcoin-investment-trust-creator-adding-10-million-in-new-investments-every-week/
(accessed 10/10/2018)
XBTFreelancer. URL: https://www.xbtfreelancer.com/
(accessed 01/10/2018)
Molly
Jane Zuckerman (2018) Florida Gov’t Agency Employee Arrested For Mining Crypto
Using Dept. Computers, Coin Telegraph, Mar 15, 2018. URL: https://cointelegraph.com/news/florida-govt-agency-employee-arrested-for-mining-crypto-using-dept-computers
(accessed 11/10/2018)
Wikipedia / BitcoinWiki articles:
Application-specific
integrated circuit (Wikipedia article). URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application-specific_integrated_circuit
(accessed 10/10/2018 20:44 AST)
Bitcoin
faucet (BitcoinWiki article). URL:
https://en.bitcoinwiki.org/wiki/Bitcoin_faucet (accessed 01/10/2018 12:27 PM
AST)
Bitcoin
faucet (Wikipedia article). URL:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin_faucet (accessed 01/10/2018 12:12 PM AST)
Bitmain (Wikipedia
article). URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitmain (accessed 11/10/2018 07:02
AST).
[1] See: https://crypto.jobs/ (accessed
01/10/2018).
[2] See:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Jobs4Bitcoins/ (accessed 01/10/2018).
[3] See: https://coinality.com/
(accessed 01/10/2018).
[4] See: https://www.xbtfreelancer.com/
(accessed 01/10/2018).
[5] See: https://www.bitwage.com/
(accessed 01/10/2018).
[6] See:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=52.0 (accessed 01/10/2018).
[7] See: NJ Bridgewater (2018) Ten
Reasons to Buy Bitcoin, Steemit, 24 September 2018. URL:
https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@njbridgewater/ten-reasons-to-buy-bitcoin (accessed
30/09/2018). Also available at:
https://nicholasjames19.blogspot.com/2018/09/ten-reasons-to-buy-bitcoin.html
(accessed 30/09/2018).
[8] See:
Nick Szabo (2017) Money, blockchains, and social scalability, Unenumerated,
Thursday, February 09, 2017. URL:
https://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2017/02/money-blockchains-and-social-scalability.html
(accessed 23/09/2018).
[9] See: Joseph Poon, Thaddeus Dryja
(2016) The Bitcoin Lightning Network: Scalable Off-Chain Instant Payments,
DRAFT Version 0.5.9.2, January 14, 2016, Lightning Network. URL:
https://lightning.network/lightning-network-paper.pdf (accessed 23/09/2018).
[10] See: Samson Mow (2018) The Launch of
the Liquid Network, Blockstream, Oct 10, 2018. URL: https://blockstream.com/2018/10/10/liquid-launch.html
(accessed 12/10/2018).
[11] See: Omar Faridi (2018) Bitcoin's
Sidechains May Soon Support Smart Contracts and Allow Firms to Launch ICOs, CryptoGlobe,
8 Oct 2018. URL: https://www.cryptoglobe.com/latest/2018/10/bitcoin-s-sidechains-may-soon-support-smart-contracts-and-allow-firms-to-launch-icos/
(accessed 12/10/2018).
[12] See: Jamie Redman (2018) Developer
Paul Sztorc Launches the First Version of Drivechain, Bitcoin.com, Sep
26, 2018. URL: https://news.bitcoin.com/developer-paul-sztorc-launches-the-first-version-of-drivechain/
(accessed 12/10/2018).
[13] See: Rahul Nambiampurath (2018)
Lightning Tasks Allows you to Earn Bitcoin for Completing Micro Tasks, BitManager.com,
September 26, 2018 5:00. URL:
https://btcmanager.com/lightning-tasks-bitcoin-micro-tasks/ (accessed 30/09/2018)
[14] See: Stan Higgins (2017) 9 Years:
LocalBitcoins Trader Sentenced in Latest Money Transmission Case, CoinDesk,
May 30, 2017 at 20:00 UTC. URL: https://www.coindesk.com/9-years-localbitcoins-trader-sentenced-latest-money-transmission-case/
(accessed 10/10/2018).
[15] See: NJ Bridgewater (2018) Digitex:
A commission-free cryptocurrency futures exchange (my review), Crossing the
Bridge (blog), 4 September 2018. URL: https://nicholasjames19.blogspot.com/2018/09/digitex-commission-free-cryptocurrency.html
(accessed 10/10/2018).
[16] See: Bridgewater (2018).
[17] See: Bridgewater (2018).
[18] See: Shobhit Seth (2018) Top 5 Bitcoin
Mining Pools, Investopedia, February 23, 2018 — 1:40 PM EST. URL: https://www.investopedia.com/news/top-bitcoin-mining-pools/
(accessed 11/10/2018).
[19] See: Patrick Daniels (2018) These
are the largest Bitcoin mining farms in the world, Digital Trends, Posted
on July 1, 2018 - 2:08PM. URL: https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/largest-bitcoin-mining-farm/
(accessed 11/10/2018).
[20] See: Jordan Tuwiner (2018) Bitcoin
Mining Pools, BuyBitcoinWorldwide.com, last updated June 30, 2018. URL: https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/mining/pools/
(accessed 11/10/2018).
[21] See: Nate Drake (2018) The best
mining software in 2018, TechRadarPro, August 28, 2018. URL: https://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-cryptocurrency-mining-software-2018
(accessed 11/10/2018).
[22] See: Hamad Subani (2017) The Easiest
Way to make your PC mine Bitcoins, techtangerine, September 22, 2017.
URL: http://www.techtangerine.com/2017/09/22/bitcoin-pc-mining/ (accessed
11/10/2018).
[23] See: Subani (2017).
[24] See: Bitmain (Wikipedia
article). URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitmain (accessed 11/10/2018 07:02
AST).
[25] See: Zach Hildreth (2018) Best
Bitcoin Mining Software: An In-Depth Look at the Top Choices, Blockonomi.com,
July 4, 2018. URL: https://blockonomi.com/bitcoin-mining-software/ (accessed
11/10/2018).
[26] See: Application-specific integrated
circuit (Wikipedia article). URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Application-specific_integrated_circuit
(accessed 10/10/2018 20:44 AST).
[27] See: Jordan Tuwiner (2018) Bitcoin
Mining Hardware ASICs, BuyBitcoinWorldwide, last updated June 30, 2018.
URL: https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/mining/hardware/ (accessed 10/10/2018).
[28] See: Preeti Varathan (2018) Russian
nuclear scientists were arrested for using a supercomputer to mine bitcoin, Quartz,
February 9, 2018. URL: https://qz.com/1203665/russian-nuclear-scientists-were-arrested-for-using-a-supercomputer-to-mine-bitcoin/
(accessed 11/10/2018).
[29] See: Molly Jane Zuckerman (2018) Florida
Gov’t Agency Employee Arrested For Mining Crypto Using Dept. Computers, Coin
Telegraph, Mar 15, 2018. URL: https://cointelegraph.com/news/florida-govt-agency-employee-arrested-for-mining-crypto-using-dept-computers
(accessed 11/10/2018).
[30] See: Ryan Browne (2018) It costs
$26,000 to mine one bitcoin in South Korea — and just $530 in Venezuela, CNBC,
Published 9:31 AM ET Thu, 15 Feb 2018
Updated 12:58 PM ET Sat, 17 Feb 2018. URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/15/the-cheapest-and-most-expensive-countries-to-mine-bitcoin.html
(accessed 11/10/2018).
[31] See: Tuwiner (2018).
[32] See: Osato Avan-Nomayo (2018)
Bitcoin ‘Halving’ 2020: What Will The Price of Bitcoin Be? Bitcoinist,
May 31, 2018 17:00. URL: https://bitcoinist.com/bitcoin-halving-2020-what-will-the-price-of-bitcoin-be/
(accessed 10/10/2018).
[33] See: Nick Chong (2018) BTCC Founder:
The Next Bitcoin Halving Will Push Prices To $60,000, Ethereum World News,
August 25, 2018. URL: https://ethereumworldnews.com/btcc-founder-bitcoin-halving-prices/
(accessed 10/10/2018).
[34] See: The CryptoCurrency Facts (2018)
Understanding The Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC), CryptocurrencyFacts.com.
URL: https://cryptocurrencyfacts.com/understanding-the-bitcoin-investment-trust-gbtc/
(accessed 10/10/2018).
[35] See: Josiah Wilmoth (2018) Bitcoin
Investment Trust Creator Adding $10 Million in New Investments Every Week, CCN.com,
July 18, 2018 17:11 CET. URL: https://www.ccn.com/bitcoin-investment-trust-creator-adding-10-million-in-new-investments-every-week/
(accessed 10/10/2018).
[36] See: Nikhilesh De (2018) 10,000%:
Pantera Reports Massive 5-Year Crypto Investment Return, CoinDesk, Jul
27, 2018 at 20:36 UTC; updated Jul 27, 2018 at 21:02 UTC. URL: https://www.coindesk.com/10000-pantera-capital-reports-massive-5-year-crypto-investment-return/
(accessed 10/10/2018).
[37] See: Bei Hu (2018) As Bitcoin
Plunged, These Crypto Hedge Funds Kept Making Money, Bloomberg, 19 April
2018, 19:00 GMT+3. URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-19/as-bitcoin-plunged-these-crypto-hedge-funds-kept-making-money
(accessed 10/10/2018).
[38] See: Bei Hu (2018).
[39] See: Bitcoin Exchange Guide News
Team (2018) Cryptocurrency Funds Explained: List of the Top 25 Bitcoin Hedge
Funds, BitcoinExchangeGuide.com, August 13, 2018. URL: https://bitcoinexchangeguide.com/cryptocurrency-funds-explained/
(accessed 10/10/2018).
[40] See: Laura Shin (2018) Crypto Boom:
15 New Hedge Funds Want In On 84,000% Returns, Forbes, Jul 12, 2017,
08:00am. URL: https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2017/07/12/crypto-boom-15-new-hedge-funds-want-in-on-84000-returns/#114f25b2416a
(accessed 10/10/2018).
[41] See: Shin (2018).
[42] See: Shin (2018).
[43] See: William Suberg (2018) Reality
Shares Will Join Increasingly Crowded Bitcoin Hedge Fund Arena, Says Source, Coin
Telegraph, August 15, 2018. URL: https://cointelegraph.com/news/reality-shares-will-join-increasingly-crowded-bitcoin-hedge-fund-arena-says-source
(accessed 10/10/2018).
[44] See: Shin (2018).
[45] See: Shin (2018).
[46] See: Shin (2018).
[47] See: Shin (2018).
[48] See: Shin (2018).
[49] See: Shin (2018).
[50] See: Shin (2018). (accessed
10/10/2018).
[51] See: Daniel Palmer (2018) Crypto
Hedge Fund Launches Are Soaring to Record Levels This Year, CoinDesk,
Oct 10, 2018 at 15:00 UTC. URL: https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-hedge-fund-launches-are-soaring-to-record-levels-this-year/
(accessed 10/10/2018).
[52] See: Palmer (2018).
[53] See: URL: https://www.bitcoinget.com/
(accessed 09/10/2018).
[54] See: URL: https://www.bitfortip.com/
(accessed 09/10/2018).
[55] See: URL: https://coinworker.com/
(accessed 09/10/2018).
[56] See: URL: https://twitter.com/CoinWorking
(accessed 09/10/2018).
[58] See: URL: https://thebitcoinstrip.com/bitcoin-denominations-explained/
(accessed 09/10/2018).
[59] See: URL: https://bitsusd.com/bitcoin-units/
(accessed 09/10/2018).
[60] See: URL: http://www.paidbooks.com/
(accessed 09/10/2018).
[61] See: URL: https://airdrips.com/
(accessed 09/10/2018).
[62] See: URL: https://cryptoleet.com/tremorgames-get-paid-bitcoin-playing-games/
(accessed 09/10/2018).
[63] See: URL: https://usebitcoins.info/index.php/leisure/games/games-social-gaming/346-cash-clamber
(accessed 09/10/2018).
[64] See: URL: http://www.mandelduck.com/sarutobi/
(accessed 09/10/2018).
[65] See: Avi Mizrahi (2016) Bitcoin Go!
AR Geocaching Game Takara Lets You Collect Counterparty Tokens, FinanceMagnates,
09/08/2016 09:54 GMT. URL: https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/interview/bitcoin-go-geocaching-game-takara-lets-you-collect-counterparty-tokens/
(accessed 09/10/2018).
[66] See: Bitcoin faucet (Wikipedia article).
URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin_faucet (accessed 01/10/2018 12:12 PM
AST).
[67] See: Bitcoin faucet (BitcoinWiki article).
URL: https://en.bitcoinwiki.org/wiki/Bitcoin_faucet (accessed 01/10/2018 12:27
PM AST).
[68] See: Bitcoin faucet (BitcoinWiki article).
[69] See: Top Ten Bitcoin Faucets, 99Bitcoins.
URL: https://99bitcoins.com/top-10-bitcoin-faucets/ (accessed 01/10/2018 12:12
PM AST).
[70] See: David Trujillo Uribe (2018) 5
Best Bitcoin Faucets, ToughNickel.com. URL:
https://toughnickel.com/personal-finance/What-is-a-Bitcoin-Faucet-5-Best-Faucets
(accessed 01/10/2018).
[71] See: Mina Down (2018) Bitcoin
Faucets: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, CoinMonks, September 6, 2018.
URL:
https://medium.com/coinmonks/bitcoin-faucets-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-a8687c2a2e72
(accessed 01/10/2018).
[72] See: Down (2018).
[73] See: Down (2018).