Utility and viability allow Permission to maintain course.

As the global economy faces headwinds and the crypto market enters bear territory, Permission remains too busy building its ecosystem and use cases for ASK to be unduly distracted. During the first half of 2022, we maintained growth through a combination of internal developments, external partnerships and key executive hires. These activities add value to our core ad serving infrastructure launched in 4Q21 — Permission Ads DSP (demand-side platform).

Unlike any other ad-tech product on the market, Permission Ads enables brands to distribute a tokenized reward ($ASK) across the open web, while collecting zero-party data (i.e., data that a user volunteers to share with a brand) and incentivizing action in a way that respects the user. Advertisers can run rewarded campaigns to preferred audiences, build custom, opted-in communities and cultivate loyalty by offering value in exchange for their customers’ engagement. 

The 1-2 punch of tech and talent developments in 1H22 set the stage for us to partner with major brands in 2H22. CMOs and their agencies are eager to find alternatives to Big Tech data oligarchs while simultaneously dealing with increased consumer data protection legislation. Permission’s zero-party data platform addresses multiple pain points for brands seeking new engagement opportunities. As consumer and business adoption of cryptocurrency accelerates, we will further solidify our position as the leading advertising platform for Web3.

1Q22: sales leadership and Web3 partnershipsWe continue to recruit and attract exceptional talent to help scale web3 advertising globally. The company is also an attractive partner for like-minded Web3 projects that provide consumers with greater agency and ownership of their data.

To round out Q1 activities, we entered a partnership with Swash, a data union that rewards consumers for sharing anonymous browser data. Our shared Web3 ethos, including a vision for consumer data sovereignty, provided the foundation for this alliance. As our respective projects grow, there will be integration opportunities to cross-leverage audiences, including media activation through Permission DSP.  

2Q22 highlightsIn a move to enable greater interoperability and industry-wide adoption of Permission’s native token (ASK), we migrated away from our proprietary blockchain to Polygon. As a layer 2 scaling solution built on Ethereum, the Polygon network is used by over 100 million consumers worldwide. Our Web3 advertising platform benefits from the scalability made possible by Polygon’s lightning-fast speeds and low transaction costs. In addition, Polygon will enhance ASK utility by enabling interoperability with the Polygon and Ethereum ecosystems, including access to DeFi, staking, wallets, and more.

2H22 and beyondA continued exodus of Web2 talent to Web3 illustrates the market opportunity through a business lens, including the value proposition of being part of a once-in-a-lifetime movement. For deeper business insights, a16z’s State of Crypto report and Harvard Business Review highlight the case for being bullish and building in Web3.

Although advertising budgets may be whittled or paused temporarily in the short-term, the quest for high-quality consumer data continues to be paramount for brand success. Regardless of macro economic factors, brands and agencies are pressed for next-gen ad tech solutions that address challenges around cookie degradation, big tech data exploitation and  privacy legislation.  

Despite market turmoil, we remain focused on the addressing the ad industry’s evolving needs while staying true to the Web3 ethos of consumer data ownership. As brands struggle to improve personalization and engagement with consumers amid stricter privacy legislation, the ability to collect and unify data via customer data platforms (CDPs) is more important than ever. 

In 2H22, we will  be integrating a Permission CDP that will unify collected zero-party data and allow advertisers not only to build their own permissioned audiences, but will also allow them to tap into Permission’s proprietary audiences. The CDP implementation will be complete in the next few months and will dramatically bolster our offering, by unlocking more value for brands and agency partners that seek to maximize return on ad spend (ROAS).

The tokenization of data and other assets empowers us, flipping the script on big centralized platforms which have long extracted value from our data. With the advent of Web3, we have control over our data, including the opportunity to earn a share of its monetization. Meanwhile, the challenges that digital advertisers have faced in Web2 – particularly, the inability to track users and access critical user data at scale due to privacy regulations – will be solved by Web3 platforms – like ours – that enable advertisers to obtain consent from users by offering tokenized rewards in exchange for their engagement. Whether you view Web3 as an evolution or revolution, we have the tech and the talent to be the leading platform for Web3 advertising.

UPDATE as of June 26, 2023: The bridging period is now officially over. The Permission team would like to thank the community for their cooperation and support during this process. The bridge opened in May, 2022 and officially closed, as scheduled, on June 25, 2023. Users are no longer able to bridge their Permission Network Balance.

Please note that users with a Pending ASK balance can maintain their ASK in Pending. When withdrawn, it will be transferred via the Polygon blockchain and, as such, will automatically be withdrawn as Polygon ASK.

UPDATE as of April 24, 2023: Permission users and ASK holders who have not yet used the ASK Bridge to migrate their tokens to the Polygon network are encouraged to do so before June 25, 2023. Legacy ASK token balances will not be visible in the wallet page on June 25, 2023. After such date, no exchanges will be supporting the legacy ASK token on the Permission blockchain. Only the ASK token on the Polygon blockchain will continue to be supported by exchanges. Additionally, as the Permission Platform now runs entirely on Polygon, only the withdrawal of ASK tokens on the Polygon chain will be supported.

Please ensure your ASK is bridged to Polygon ahead of June 25, 2023.

As previously announced, Permission will be migrating ASK from our legacy blockchain to the Polygon Network. This is a one-way bridge for ASK holders to migrate their tokens to Polygon so that they may take full advantage of our upgraded infrastructure.

But before you begin, Permission users should navigate to their wallet and check their wallet balance. If your wallet balance is empty, then you don’t need to worry. Your pending ASK can safely stay where it is for as long as you want and will be able to be withdrawn directly onto the Polygon Network after the migration.

If you have ASK in your wallet balance, Permission suggests you migrate it over to the Polygon network. We cannot migrate your ASK for you, so you must do it yourself.

To get started using the ASK Bridge to the Polygon Network, first ensure that you have a MetaMask wallet – and download one if you don’t have it already – as it is necessary to use the bridge. Then, identify what kind of wallet you keep your ASK in and follow the associated instructions:

If your ASK is in a Permission wallet

This option is for Permission users who keep their ASK in their Permission wallet, which is accessible via their Permission account.

To begin:

1. Login to your Permission account. 
2. Navigate to the ASK Bridge, review the instructions provided, and click ‘Get Started.’ (Mobile users need to input the URL into the browser in MetaMask)
3. Select the ‘Continue’ button underneath the ‘Permission Wallet’ section. 
4. Click the ‘Add legacy Permission Network’ button and confirm in MetaMask, then continue by selecting ‘Next.’
5. Next, click the ‘Get Private Key’ button, which will direct you back to your Permission settings. In your Permission account settings, enter your password to reveal your private key. Select ‘next’ on the bridge when done. 
6. Then, import your private key into MetaMask. To do this, in MetaMask, click the account circle icon in the top right and select ‘Import Account.’ Then, copy and paste your private key into MetaMask and select ‘Import.’ Select ‘next’ on the bridge when done. 
7. Now, connect your wallet to the bridge using the MetaMask button provided. Then, confirm again in MetaMask. 

If your ASK is in any other wallet

This option is for ASK holders who do not have a Permission account, or Permission users who have transferred their ASK to an outside wallet.

To begin:

1. Navigate to the ASK Bridge, review the instructions provided, and click ‘Get Started.’ (Mobile users need to input the URL into the browser in MetaMask)
2. Select the ‘Continue’ button underneath the ‘Any Other Wallet’ section. 
3. (If you are using a hardware wallet, connect your hardware wallet to MetaMask at this time.)
4. Connect your wallet to the bridge using the MetaMask button provided. Then, confirm again in MetaMask. 

Once your wallet is successfully connected to the ASK Bridge 

1. Select the amount of ASK from your wallet that you would like to permanently transfer from the legacy Permission network to the Polygon network, then click ‘Review’ to continue. 
2. Review the details on the page, including the amount of ASK and your wallet address, then click “Transfer.”
3. You will be directed to a page that reflects the status of your transfer request. 
4. Now, hit the ‘Add ASK token To Polygon’ button and confirm in MetaMask. Then, click the “Add ASK” button to add the ASK token slot to your MetaMask.

If you have yet to transfer your ASK over because you can’t see it in your MetaMask:

1. Make sure you have added the legacy Permission Network and ASK token to your MetaMask wallet.

If you have transferred your ASK, but still don’t see it in your MetaMask:

1. Transfers may take up to 24 hours to complete.
2. Make sure you have added the Polygon Network.
3. Make sure you have added the ASK token placeholder to your MetaMask wallet.

Have other questions about the Polygon Migration? Check out our FAQ for answers to our most commonly asked questions. 

We have also created a video guide to walk you through the process.

Still having issues or other questions? Please contact support at support@permission.ai, and we will be glad to help you.

UPDATE as of June 26, 2023: The bridging period is now officially over. The Permission team would like to thank the community for their cooperation and support during this process. The bridge opened in May, 2022 and officially closed, as scheduled, on June 25, 2023. Users are no longer able to bridge their Permission Network Balance.

Please note that users with a Pending ASK balance can maintain their ASK in Pending. When withdrawn, it will be transferred via the Polygon blockchain and, as such, will automatically be withdrawn as Polygon ASK.

UPDATE as of April 24, 2023: Permission users and ASK holders who have not yet used the ASK Bridge to migrate their tokens to the Polygon network are encouraged to do so before June 25, 2023. After such date, no exchanges will be supporting the legacy ASK token on the Permission blockchain. Only the ASK token on the Polygon blockchain will continue to be supported by exchanges. Additionally, as the Permission Platform now runs entirely on Polygon, only the withdrawal of ASK tokens on the Polygon chain will be supported, and legacy ASK token balances will not be visible in the wallet page in your Permission account.

Please ensure your ASK is bridged to Polygon ahead of June 25, 2023.

The ASK Bridge to the Polygon network is now live and available to use.

As previously announced, Permission is migrating ASK from the legacy Permission Network to the Polygon Network. An ASK Bridge has launched today for individuals to port their ASK tokens over.

Please note, we currently recommend to using the bridge on a desktop instead of mobile device.

For those unfamiliar with Polygon, here is a useful explainer video on the Polygon Network. Permission is thrilled to be migrating to Polygon, as we strongly believe the move will accelerate our goal of empowering users worldwide to own and monetize their data. For those that hold ASK, we believe that this migration will allow us to expand the use cases for ASK by enabling interoperability with the Polygon and Ethereum ecosystems.

Overview

As an ASK holder, you are invited to transfer your ASK over to the Polygon Network so that you may continue to enjoy all of the benefits of the Permission Platform once the migration is complete. The transfer involves a swap between the legacy ASK token and ASK on Polygon at a 1:1 ratio.

To get started, simply navigate to the ASK Bridge and follow the prompts. We have also created a video guide and a set of instructions to walk you through the process.

To be clear, if your Wallet Balance is empty, then there is no need to migrate. ASK can safely stay in pending and will be able to be withdrawn directly onto the Polygon Network after the migration. Only if you currently have ASK in your Wallet Balance does Permission suggest that you migrate it over to the Polygon Network. We cannot migrate your ASK for you, so you must do it yourself.

Migration Details

Timeline

The Permission team is happy to share that the migration to Polygon has progressed smoothly. Since the migration period commenced in May, 2022, nearly all ASK holders have successfully migrated their tokens from the Permission blockchain to the Polygon network using the ASK Bridge.

Permission users and ASK holders who have not yet used the ASK Bridge to migrate their tokens to the Polygon network are encouraged to do so before June 10, 2023. After such date, no exchanges will be supporting the legacy ASK token on the Permission blockchain. Only the ASK token on the Polygon blockchain will continue to be supported by exchanges. Additionally, as the Permission Platform now runs entirely on Polygon, only the withdrawal of ASK tokens on the Polygon chain will be supported.

Exchanges

Naturally, we are aware that this migration to Polygon will affect the exchanges on which ASK is currently trading. Please note the below information is provided solely as a means of anticipating inquiries related to how the migration will impact ASK trading on various exchanges, and not as a solicitation or encouragement of exchange trading in any way:

If you hold ASK on these exchanges:

1. Bitrue
2. Gate.io

No action is needed on your part as they will migrate your ASK for you. Simply understand that when you withdraw your ASK from the exchange, you will automatically be withdrawing the Polygon version. Additionally, trading may be down for up to a week while they update the listing.

If you hold ASK on these exchanges:

1. Vitex
2. BitGlobal

At this time, these exchanges will not be supporting the Polygon ASK token. If you wish to migrate your ASK to Polygon, your ASK will need to be withdrawn to your Permission wallet or MetaMask and then use the ASK Bridge.

Getting Started With ASK On Polygon

Once you have migrated, your ASK can be used throughout the entire Polygon and Ethereum ecosystems! If you have never explored the depths of the wide world of crypto before and are wondering where to start, we have some info you may find interesting.

For starters, we have a blog on What Polygon Is & How To Use It. Next, you may find it helpful to watch this MetaMask tutorial if you aren’t already familiar with how it works.

Additionally, for a list of Polygon-supported hardware and software wallets, please visit this page.

You can also now transfer your ASK to the Ethereum mainnet using the Polygon Bridge. Instructions on how to use the Polygon bridge can be found here.

Still Have Questions?

Visit our updated FAQs regarding the Polygon migration for more information. And, if you still can’t find what you are looking for there, contact our support team.

For verification purposes, our official token contract address is: 0xaA3717090CDDc9B227e49d0D84A28aC0a996e6Ff

A new buzzword has been sweeping across current online discourse — Web 3.0. Mirroring the blockchain revolution, Web 3.0 has also been dubbed “the decentralized web.” The beginnings of Web 3.0 are already upon us. Change is coming — and fast. New innovations are sparking a shift in the balance of power on the Internet in favor of the consumer. Data ownership will no longer be confined to centralized institutions. Consumers will own and control their personal data.

Under Web 2.0, a few tech giants dominated the social arena, holding unfathomable amounts of power — and personal data — over and of the general public. Web 2.0 cemented an extreme lack of privacy in the online world. Users were forced to accept the terms and conditions offered to them if they had any desire to participate in digital social connection and stay up-to-date with their peers and within their careers.

In reality, online privacy has always been an illusion. The evolution of the digital advertising landscape ensured this, with tracking cookies and data collection leading to advertising practices that, as a baseline, require copious amounts of personal data to function. The vast majority of websites ignore “Do Not Track” requests, and the tech giants that dominated Web 2.0 all claimed to be fully compliant with the European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) California Consumer Privacy Act when it was unveiled (despite the fact that it was created to reign them in) by arguing that they fell into the category of “service providers.” These circumstances left individuals totally powerless to accept the fact that their data was being collected, sold and repurchased en masse without their ability to have any say in the matter.

So how will Web 3.0 change this? One of the main tenets of Web 3.0 is to put power back into the hands of consumers. Since privacy regulation is largely ineffective and complete anonymity is clearly an illusion, we should be looking to Web 3.0 for a more practical approach — data ownership and compensation. We can expect increased transparency, more individual control over personal data and heightened personal sovereignty. The days of dehumanizing consumers are ending. People are sick of it, and companies are starting to take notice. Scandals over the past few years have caused individuals to lose trust in big tech, leaving consumers feeling powerless.

This year, Facebook reported its first ever decrease in monthly active users, leading to a 26% drop in its shares in a single day. They blamed Apple’s iOS privacy changes and decreased advertiser budgets that utilize Facebook’s services. This is no coincidence. The giant is finally faltering, thanks to its own disenchanted users. Users are at the end of their ropes when it comes to rampant data exploitation, and this is one of the main reasons the ideals of Web 3.0 have begun to roll in.

Changes have already begun to blossom. With Apple’s iOS 14.5, published analytics data showed that up to 96% of users will opt out of tracking when given the chance. The days of buying data en masse from data brokers and collectors are drawing to a definitive close. Most browsers already block tracking cookies automatically, with Google Chrome announcing their plans to deprecate the software come 2023.

Still, online privacy remains more or less a farce. The data that has been collected is still out there, and it’s not going anywhere, not while it still has value. Federal legislation regarding consumer privacy has not been passed, and neither the GDPR nor CCPA has not proven strong enough to drastically change the landscape for the big players, though the enforcement of GDPR especially has resulted in several large fines.

But as is frequently said, if the cost of noncompliance is merely monetary, then it’s not illegal — just expensive. And money is something big tech has no shortage of.

The question remains: How will businesses and advertisers be able to survive online when consumers are automatically hesitant? The manifestation of individuals taking control of their data means that brands will have to take steps and leverage new technology to create direct, long-term relationships with consumers and offer value in exchange for data.

Asking permission and compensating individuals for their data, especially when their data is being utilized to encourage spending, is a practical and reasonable approach. Consumers have long seen their data appropriated with no real benefit to them, which is part of the reason that opt-out rates are so high. However, 79% of consumers have stated they are willing to share their data in exchange for a reward. Therein lies the answer: opt-in value exchange. In Web 3.0, the reward offered may take many shapes, but in light of developing blockchain technology and growing public interest, it seems cryptocurrency will be at the forefront of the new Internet. Data marketplaces are likely to soon become obsolete. Brands that want to succeed will need to acknowledge their consumers as human and cultivate direct relationships. The recent rise in first-party consumer data platforms (CDPs) has made this increasingly evident. Asking consumers directly for permission to use their data and providing value in exchange for it is the way forward.

Web 3.0 will continue to recognize that the notion of online privacy is not reflective of reality. However, it will do this in a way that puts control back into the hands of consumers and not only recognizes but takes into account the effects of historical online data practices. Overall, this is likely to lead to increased satisfaction on both ends, of the consumer and the advertiser. Consumers feel respected and humanized, while brands are able to more effectively build relationships with their target audiences and collect permissioned, first-party data. Digital advertising in Web 3.0 will certainly be a space worth watching.

This article originally appeared on Media Village and was guest authored by Permission’s CEO Charlie Silver. Click here to view the full article.

UPDATE as of June 26, 2023: The bridging period is now officially over. The Permission team would like to thank the community for their cooperation and support during this process. The bridge opened in May, 2022 and officially closed, as scheduled, on June 25, 2023. Users are no longer able to bridge their Permission Network Balance.Please note that users with a Pending ASK balance can maintain their ASK in Pending. When withdrawn, it will be transferred via the Polygon blockchain and, as such, will automatically be withdrawn as Polygon ASK.

UPDATE as of April 24, 2023: Permission users and ASK holders who have not yet used the ASK Bridge to migrate their tokens to the Polygon network are encouraged to do so before June 25, 2023. Legacy ASK token balances will not be visible in the wallet page on June 25, 2023. After such date, no exchanges will be supporting the legacy ASK token on the Permission blockchain. Only the ASK token on the Polygon blockchain will continue to be supported by exchanges. Additionally, as the Permission Platform now runs entirely on Polygon, only the withdrawal of ASK tokens on the Polygon chain will be supported.

Please ensure your ASK is bridged to Polygon ahead of June 25, 2023.

Migration FAQs

How do I migrate my ASK in my Permission wallet?The ASK Bridge is now available for users to port their ASK to the Polygon Network. Read these Bridge Migration Instructions or watch this How-To video. 

Does this mean I can send my ASK directly to my Ethereum wallet and then port it to Polygon?No! Do not try to use the official Polygon Bridge until after you have ported your tokens over using the ASK Bridge. Only after you have swapped your legacy ASK tokens for Polygon ASK tokens using the ASK Bridge can you then use the Polygon bridge.

How do I migrate my ASK that is being held on a hardware wallet?You can connect your hardware wallet to MetaMask and then interface with the ASK bridge through MetaMask by following these instructions.

What happens to my legacy ASK on the Permission blockchain?It is burned. This is a one-way bridge, so there is no going back.

How long do I have until the migration period is over?

Please ensure your ASK is bridged to Polygon ahead of June 25, 2023.

After June 25, 2023, no exchanges will be supporting the legacy ASK token on the Permission blockchain. Only the ASK token on the Polygon blockchain will continue to be supported by exchanges. Additionally, as the Permission Platform now runs entirely on Polygon, only the withdrawal of ASK tokens on the Polygon chain will be supported. 

I can’t migrate my ASK that is stuck in pending, what do I do?Don’t worry. You can keep your ASK in pending for as long as you want, and it will be just fine during the migration.

After my ASK is bridged to Polygon, how will it be supported?For information on support for ASK and other Polygon tokens, please see Polygon’s documentation about supported hardware and software wallets, etc.

ASK On Polygon FAQs

Can I send my ASK directly from my Polygon wallet to an Ethereum wallet?No. You have to bridge ASK back to the Ethereum Network first for it to show up in your wallet on the Ethereum Network. If you send it directly to an Ethereum address, it may show up in the Polygon wallet for that address, but not all Ethereum wallets support Polygon, so be careful!

Can I transfer my ASK to the Ethereum Network?Yes! Just be sure to use the Polygon Bridge to transfer the ASK to the Ethereum mainnet before trying to send it anywhere else.

Why can’t I find my ASK in my MetaMask wallet?Chances are it is one of two things: First, make sure you are on the Polygon Network by clicking the dropdown at the top of your MetaMask and selecting Polygon Network – or click here if you don’t have the Polygon Network setup on your MetaMask yet. Second, make sure that the ASK token placeholder is added to your MetaMask account. If you continue to experience issues, please contact permission support here.

Exchanges FAQs

Please note the below information is provided solely as a means of anticipating inquiries related to how the migration will impact ASK trading on various exchanges – this is not a solicitation or encouragement of exchange trading in any way:

How do I migrate my ASK that is being held on an exchange?If you hold ASK on these exchanges:

1. Bitrue
2. Gate.io

No action is needed on your part as they will migrate your ASK for you. Simply understand that when you withdraw your ASK from the exchange, you will automatically be withdrawing the Polygon version.

If you hold ASK on these exchanges:

1. Vitex
2. BitGlobal

These exchanges will not be supporting the Polygon ASK token. If you wish to migrate your ASK to Polygon, your ASK will need to be withdrawn to your Permission wallet or MetaMask and then use the ASK Bridge.

How do I migrate my ASK that is being held on an exchange?Yes, depending on the exchange, trading may be down for up to a week while they update the listing.

General Polygon FAQs

What is Polygon?Polygon is an interoperability layer two scaling solution for building Ethereum-compatible blockchains. Polygon effectively transforms Ethereum into a full-fledged multi-chain system. This multi-chain system is akin to other ones such as Polkadot, Cosmos, Avalanche etc. with the advantages of Ethereum’s security, vibrant ecosystem and openness.

What is MATIC?The Polygon network uses the MATIC token for gas fees, governance, and staking via a proof of stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.

How do I get MATIC?MATIC may be acquired by purchasing it on exchanges, and it is available on many. You may also receive small quantities of MATIC by using a Polygon faucet.

What is Layer 2?Layer-two is a secondary framework or protocol that is built on top of an existing blockchain system. The main goal of these protocols is to solve transaction speed and scaling difficulties.‍

How does Polygon Work?Being a layer-two scaling solution, Polygon uses a Proof of Stake (PoS) system of validators for asset security, and staking is an integral part of the ecosystem. Validators on the network stake their MATIC tokens as capital collateral in order to become part of the PoS consensus mechanism. Validators receive MATIC tokens in return.

Can I use ETH to pay for transactions on Polygon?No. All transactions on the Polygon Network require MATIC to pay the gas fees. However, you will need some ETH to transfer your tokens back to Ethereum mainnet, if you wish to do so.

Do I get a new Polygon wallet address?No, your Polygon wallet address will be the same as the address that you use for your Ethereum mainnet wallet.

How long do Polygon transactions take to execute?Transactions on the Polygon Network are very fast as new blocks only take 2 seconds to confirm.

Can tokens on the Polygon Network be transferred to Ethereum?Yes. To move assets from the Polygon Network to Ethereum mainnet, just use the Polygon Bridge.

How long does it take to transfer tokens using the Polygon bridge?Bridging tokens to the Polygon Network can take around 7 minutes. Bridging tokens back from the Polygon Network can take around 6 hours. However, when bridging your ASK from the legacy Permission Network to the Polygon Network, it may take up to 24 hours.

How do I use the Polygon Network?You use it much in the same way that you use any token on the Ethereum Network, however there are a few key differences. For more information, please click here.

More questions about Polygon?Visit the Polygon FAQ page.

UPDATE as of June 26, 2023: The bridging period is now officially over. The Permission team would like to thank the community for their cooperation and support during this process. The bridge opened in May, 2022 and officially closed, as scheduled, on June 25, 2023. Users are no longer able to bridge their Permission Network Balance.

Please note that users with a Pending ASK balance can maintain their ASK in Pending. When withdrawn, it will be transferred via the Polygon blockchain and, as such, will automatically be withdrawn as Polygon ASK.

UPDATE as of April 24, 2023: Permission users and ASK holders who have not yet used the ASK Bridge to migrate their tokens to the Polygon network are encouraged to do so before June 25, 2023. Legacy ASK token balances will not be visible in the wallet page on June 25, 2023. After such date, no exchanges will be supporting the legacy ASK token on the Permission blockchain. Only the ASK token on the Polygon blockchain will continue to be supported by exchanges. Additionally, as the Permission Platform now runs entirely on Polygon, only the withdrawal of ASK tokens on the Polygon chain will be supported.

Please ensure your ASK is bridged to Polygon ahead of June 25, 2023.

Permission is proud to announce our partnership with Polygon and the migration of ASK to the Polygon blockchain.

Polygon is known as the preeminent Ethereum scaling solution, having received widespread adoption with 7,000+ Dapps and 100M+ unique users. It is fully interoperable with Ethereum and enables much faster and cheaper transaction processing than Ethereum mainnet.

The decision to migrate away from Permission’s proprietary blockchain is an important one. We are confident doing so will advance our mission of bringing data ownership and personal sovereignty to millions through a Web3 advertising system that enables advertisers to “ASK permission” and interact with users and their data on a consent basis. Moreover, the move to Polygon will significantly expand ASK accessibility by enabling interoperability with the Polygon and Ethereum ecosystems, including access to DeFi, staking, and more.

We believe that the migration to Polygon will be a very positive development for the Permission community, as it will allow us to achieve greater utility, liquidity, and decentralization as well as enable us to accelerate and expand the use cases for ASK in ways which would have been exceedingly burdensome and resource-consuming on our own blockchain.

Permission chose Polygon specifically for several reasons:

1. Security – Security is paramount for any crypto project, and Polygon is similarly dedicated to ensuring that all tokens which use their network are absolutely secure, including ASK.
2. Cheap & Fast Transactions – Another crucial point for us was that our members remain able to send their ASK quickly and for minimal gas fees, which Polygon excels at. This will also enable the Permission platform to achieve scalability. 
3. Layer 2 – Permission believes that the future of crypto is on Layer 2. By expanding to Polygon first, ASK is maximally positioned to benefit from the utility of the Layer 2 network as it grows.
4. Ease Of Integrations – Because Polygon is ERC20 compatible, it will allow us to easily integrate with nearly any wallet, exchange, or project.
5. Size Of Ecosystem – Members will now be able to experiment with ASK in many of the 7000+ apps that exist within the Polygon ecosystem, including DeFi.
6. Passionate Community – We were thrilled to see that, just like Permission, Polygon has an incredibly passionate community. This makes us all the more confident that we will receive a warm welcome as we seek to expand our ASK family.

An $ASK Bridge to the Polygon Network will be available to $ASK holders and Permission users starting in early May, 2022. Using this bridge, users may port their $ASK to the Polygon Network, and subsequently to the Ethereum network as well, if they wish. More details on the bridge will be provided as the migration approaches.

Overall, Permission intends to position ourselves alongside Polygon as the ecosystem grows, and we are excited at the prospect of the ever-increasing utility of ASK as we work to expand its interoperability within the larger crypto ecosystem. Stay tuned for more updates on this matter. 

We are excited to share the news with our community that we have created the Permission Association to be seated in Zug, Switzerland. We are thrilled that the protocol will be relocating to “Crypto Valley” and joining a vibrant blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem across Switzerland and Lichtenstein — with Zug at its epicenter.

About the Permission Association

Permission has incorporated the Permission Association (“the Association”) in order to further decentralize the Permission Platform, which includes technologies and applications that enable individuals to own, control, and monetize their data. The Permission Platform, powered by Permission’s native token, “ASK,” advances data ownership and personal sovereignty by fostering a transparent data economy and enabling a fair value exchange between advertisers and consumers.

The mission of the Swiss-based Association is to develop, empower and expand the Permission Platform in a decentralized, independent way. The Association’s objectives include providing financial and non-financial support to the Permission Platform to further expand its decentralized protocols and applications in Web 3.0.

Additionally, the assembly of the Association is able to pass resolutions on the governance decisions for the Permission Platform. Permission users can become Members of the Association and have a voice when it comes to core technology governance decisions. Permission’s goal is to further increase the level of decentralization in the future by increasing the number of Members within the Association.

Our Decision to Associate in Zug, Switzerland

Known across the globe as “Crypto Valley,” Zug has in recent years become one of the most crypto-friendly jurisdictions in the world. The Kanton of Zug’s decentralized system, favorable tax framework, stable political environment, and mature and respected regulatory infrastructure have attracted some of the world’s most well-known blockchain projects. In Zug, Permission will no doubt be well-positioned for accelerated development, networking, and financing opportunities that will support ecosystem growth.

Permission Association Board of Directors

We are honored to announce the formation of an exemplary Executive Board to serve as founding members of the Permission Association. Charlie Silver is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Permission.io and will serve as the Board President. Patrick Storchenegger is a member of the foundation council of the Ethereum Foundation and owner of PST Legal, a law firm specializing in Swiss and international tax law, corporate law, commercial law, blockchain, and beyond. Raffaela Piraino serves as the Chief Financial Officer of the Energy Web Foundation and its related entities, and has served as CEO of several successful companies. This board possesses a wealth of priceless experience and interdisciplinary knowledge that will guide the Association and its goals into a successful future.

Looking Forward

To advance the goal of further decentralizing the Permission network, the Association’s immediate initiative is to enable Permission’s migration from its proprietary blockchain (“the Permission Blockchain”) to Polygon, the preeminent Ethereum scaling solution. The migration will require that a new ASK token be issued on the Polygon blockchain, replacing Permission’s current native token on the Permission chain.

Permission’s migration to Polygon recently received regulatory clearance from the government body responsible for financial regulation in Switzerland. The Swiss regulatory authority has answered a ruling request from Permission (also known as the “No-Action letter” process) pursuant to which the ASK token classification as a utility token under Swiss law was confirmed. Therefore, Permission’s planned token swap has achieved regulatory compliance under Swiss law.

Polygon’s infrastructure and scaling solutions will be core to decentralizing and growing Permission’s platform, which allows advertisers to “ASK permission” and interact with users and their data on a consent basis. The move to Polygon will significantly expand ASK accessibility and utility by enabling interoperability with the Polygon and Ethereum ecosystems, including access to DeFi, staking, and more.

Once the migration officially commences, a bridge will be available to all ASK holders and Permission users to port their ASK to the Polygon Network.

We are immensely excited for what the future has to hold. Stay tuned, as we will soon be releasing an updated roadmap and additional details about the migration to Polygon.

Permission is delighted to announce that the ASK digital currency will be listed on Gate.io, one of the top ten cryptocurrency exchanges globally with over ten million registered users. ASK will begin trading on Gate.io on February 17, 2022, with an ASK/USDT pairing.

The exchange offers spot, margin, futures and contract trading in addition to DeFi products through Hipo DeFi, custodial services through Wallet.io, investments through Gate Labs and its dedicated GateChain platform. Users can participate in a number of activities with ASK, including a liquidity mining rewards program where they can earn for providing liquidity for ASK. 

“It has been an exciting year for the crypto industry, and we are looking forward to having ASK be more readily available to crypto enthusiasts globally through our partnership with Gate,” said Charlie Silver, CEO of Permission.io. “ASK is the currency of permission, and we look forward to expanding ASK’s visibility while continuing our mission to empower consumers to own and earn from their data.”

Global privacy regulations, ad blockers, and ever-changing ad tech trends are calling for a new and improved advertising model-one built on consent and value exchange. Permission.io enables a global tokenized ad system whereby consumers can securely grant permission and monetize their data across the web, and marketers can build loyalty and trust while achieving better return on their ad spend.

Permission is delighted to announce a new partnership with Amasa. Aligning with Permission’s mission to empower users to own and earn from their data, Amasa is a Web 3 and DeFi platform that enables users to capture and capitalize on the wealth-building potential of micro-income streams and DeFi.

In this collaboration, Amasa users will be able to combine their Permission income with other background streams, then amplify this combined value via DeFi. Permission and Amasa will collaborate on technical integration opportunities to maximize income potential for users, and Permission looks forward to expanding its network of like-minded projects through Amasa’s Web 3 platform.

“Partnering with Amasa is right in line with our shared vision of truly empowering people to own and earn from their data – this connection serves to speed up the process for consumers who are now producers in Web 3” says Bobby Petersen, Permission’s VP of Marketing.

About AmasaBy building the world’s first micro income stream investment app, Amasa is working to inspire mass adoption of Web 3.0 platforms that reward participants for their gaming, time, energy, attention, content, data and interactions.

While traditional finance solutions offer very low or even negative interest on their savings products, the crypto industry is always coming up with new ways to earn money.

In addition to investing and trading, the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector offers an excellent alternative to generating passive income through numerous ways, such as yield farming and cryptocurrency lending.

Today, we will introduce you to staking, a popular activity both in the DeFi and broader digital asset space. Staking crypto not only allows you to put your coins to work and earn rewards but also helps secure the networks of various blockchain solutions.

In this article, we will explore what crypto staking is, how it works, where to get started, as well as the potential risks and revenue you can generate with the activity.

What Is Crypto Staking?

Crypto staking refers to the activity in which a user locks coins in a wallet for a certain period of time to secure the network of a blockchain based on a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism (or its variant, i.e., Delegated-Proof-of-Stake).

In terms of blockchain security, the network will choose a user who has staked his coins to validate the next block either randomly or by utilizing various factors (e.g., the amount of tokens staked).

In exchange for maintaining the ecosystem, users who stake their coins earn rewards, which is usually the combination of the cryptocurrency included in the block they validated and the fees associated with the transactions they processed for users.

What Is the Difference Between Crypto Staking and Mining?

It’s important to talk about the difference between crypto staking and mining. While both activities have the same purpose – to secure the network, generate new blocks, and validate transactions – they use two distinct approaches to achieve this goal.

Cryptocurrency mining is present mostly in Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchain networks (e.g., Bitcoin), where validators (called miners) are required to leverage their computational power to solve complex mathematical puzzles to validate blocks.

For this, they purchase specialized hardware (e.g., ASICs and GPUs), which they operate continuously to compete with other miners to secure the reward for each block.

The higher the hash rate (computational power) in a PoW network is, the better it can protect against both internal and external threats, such as 51% attacks and malicious nodes.

As you can see, this is a rather energy-intensive process, which the PoW consensus algorithm has been long criticized for.

On the other hand, PoS blockchains do not require validators to utilize physical hardware or computational hardware to secure the blockchain. Instead, validators lock up their coins in their wallet via staking. Simply put, they guarantee the network’s safety with their money.

While this significantly reduces the energy consumption of the blockchain, staking is a similarly efficient mechanism in protecting users as mining blocks via the PoW algorithm.

In terms of investment, staking can be a more attractive method for users as it doesn’t feature the high upfront costs of mining (where you have to purchase the equipment first to get started) while providing a more predictable revenue stream (in a similar way as a savings account or a government bond).

Furthermore, staking has a well-established infrastructure within the crypto space. As a result, plenty of services offer an easy, flexible way for users to stake their coins. This contrasts with cryptocurrency mining, which requires miners to possess the technical knowledge and skills to maintain their equipment.

How Does Crypto Staking Work?

Now that you know the basics, let’s see how crypto staking works in practice.

First, it’s important to mention that staking is present in the crypto space in two different forms.

We have already taken a look at the first, where validators lock up their coins in their wallets to secure blockchain networks based on the PoS algorithm.

The process works as follows:

1. A user deposits cryptocurrency into a supported wallet or staking service.
2. The user selects the period (e.g., one month) he/she seeks to stake coins and utilizes the service to lock them up in his or her wallet. Alternatively, some solutions allow flexible staking, where users are free to withdraw their crypto holdings at any time without a mandatory lock-up time.
3. After the lock-up period ends (or, in the case of flexible staking, the user is satisfied with the rewards), the staking provider releases the user’s coins and distributes the earnings after deducting the fees for providing the service (usually a percentage rate subtracted from the profits).
4. The user is free to withdraw, spend, or re-stake the coins to generate more rewards.

The second type, called DeFi staking, is utilized not for safety purposes, but to offer a desirable user experience on certain decentralized exchanges (DEXs) that feature non-custodial atomic swaps between cryptocurrencies.

Unlike centralized exchanges, these DeFi solutions called automated market makers (AAMs) feature an entirely decentralized process for swapping coins. However, as they lack the order books of centrally-operated services, AAMs have to acquire liquidity from their users to facilitate efficient trading.

For that reason, they incentivize their users to supply both tokens of a trading pair at a 1:1 ratio in a liquidity pool. These rewards are usually offered in the platforms’ native coins after liquidity providers (LPs) have staked a special type of cryptocurrency called LP token.

LP tokens represent the users’ share in a liquidity pool, which they can redeem at any time for the tokens they supplied to the protocol along with their rewards.

By staking LP tokens, users lock the liquidity they provided to a specific platform for a certain period. Since this is a beneficial scenario for the service provider, it makes sense for the protocol to offer staking rewards for LPs.

Now let’s see an example for DeFi staking:

1. A user connects his wallet to a DeFi AAM protocol and deposits DAI and ETH at a 1:1 ratio (1 ETH and $3,485 DAI based on October 11 prices) in the DAI/ETH liquidity pool.
2. As the next step, the protocol issues the amount of DAI-ETH LP tokens that represent the user’s share in the pool and distributes them to his or her wallet.
3. The user locks the DAI-ETH LP tokens on the protocol for 30 days to earn native token rewards from the service provider.
4. After 30 days, the user redeems the DAI-ETH LP tokens for his or her original tokens as well as to claim any staking and liquidity provider rewards (e.g., a share of trading fees from the pool).

As you can see, no matter the staking type you choose, the process is similar in both cases and rather straightforward. And, while the mechanism is utilized to achieve different goals for the platforms, it serves the same purpose for stakers: to generate profits.

How Much Staking Rewards Can I Earn?

Besides its simplicity and lack of upfront costs, staking has become so popular in the cryptocurrency industry because it’s an excellent way for users to generate a passive income.

Staking rewards vary by the coin, which can range from anywhere from 1-2% to as high as 150% annually, especially if we take compound interest into account (when you maximize your gains by continuously re-staking or reinvesting your profits along with the principal sum).

In most cases, cryptocurrencies with larger market caps offer lower annual percentage yields (APYs) than smaller coins.

For example, while Ethereum (ETH) and Cardano (ADA) features 5-6% APYs, smaller-cap digital assets like DefiChain (DFI) or the Mirror Protocol (MIR) allow stakers to earn a yearly 70-75% after their coins.

Furthermore, rewards can also vary by the platform or service you utilize for staking. For example, while Binance and Everstake offer a 5.54% APY on ADA, some pools only feature a 3-4% ratio.

The reason for the variance in rewards may be due to two factors.

First, all of these services operate staking pools where they combine the locked coins of users to increase their chances to become validators and gain rewards.

At the same time, many PoS-based blockchains choose a validator for a block based on the amount of staked cryptocurrency. This means that the larger the pool, the greater chance it has to produce blocks and the better rewards it can generate for users.

Second, the commission service providers deduct from user profits can greatly impact one’s staking rewards. While some pools operate without fees, others charge 3-12%, and there are also platforms with extraordinarily high rates (30-50%).

For that reason, it’s crucial to research both the coins and the staking providers to generate the best staking rewards.

Is Staking Crypto Safe?

In general, crypto staking can be considered a safe activity within the digital asset space. However, it definitely comes with certain risks.

Unlike crypto lending, where lenders mostly earn revenue on stablecoins – digital assets pegged to one or a basket of other financial instruments (e.g., USD, EUR) to stabilize its price movements – staking predominantly involves locking up “standard,” non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies.

For that reason, the coins you dedicate to staking are subject to the high volatility associated with the cryptocurrency asset class (especially if you stake small-cap coins). As they can increase and decrease in value in short periods, this increases the risks of stakers.

These risks increase if you choose a staking service where users must lock up their coins for a specific period as you won’t be able to liquidate your crypto holdings in the case of a sudden market crash or another price movement (even if it’s favorable).

However, if you choose a flexible staking provider with no mandatory lock-up periods, you can mitigate your risks.

That said, volatility is not the only risk that comes with staking. For that reason, you should also be aware of the following factors:

1. Counterparty risks: You can choose to stake your coins either on a centralized service where the provider stores your crypto holdings on your behalf or via a decentralized, non-custodial solution. If you choose the former, you should know that the platform is in custody of your private keys, which provide access to your coins. For that reason, you face increased risks of a loss in case of a successful hacker attack or an “internal” exit scam, unless the provider features the necessary security measures and guarantees.
2. Smart contract bugs: If you stake coins as a liquidity provider on a DeFi protocol, you should be aware of the risks of smart contract bugs. Since these platforms use smart contracts to operate, a small issue in the code can lead to grave consequences for users. Therefore, you should always ensure that you use a reputable platform that features audited smart contracts.
3. Slashing: Staking services handle all the technical parts of staking for you, including operating a blockchain node and validating blocks. However, suppose the provider is dishonest or fails to maintain a 100% uptime. In that case, some networks punish it by refusing to distribute rewards for a block or even slashing all its cryptocurrency stake. In the latter case, all users who have staked crypto via the service would lose their locked-up tokens.

Based on the above information, staking can be a high-risk activity. However, that is only true if you fail to do your own due diligence.

For example, you can significantly decrease your risks by staking your coins via a secure wallet through a reputable provider that features a long-standing history of continuous uptime and honest activity as part of a non-custodial solution.

Where to Start Staking Coins

Earlier on, we discussed the process you have to follow to stake your coins.

Now, you only need to choose the platform and method you will use to generate rewards after your cryptocurrency holdings.

For this, you can select between four different solutions:

1. Cryptocurrency exchanges: Crypto exchanges provide one of the most convenient ways to stake crypto as you don’t have to move your holdings to other wallets or platforms to generate rewards. While this can come in handy when network transaction fees are high, this is a custodial solution that involves increased counterparty risks.
2. Staking service providers:Like crypto exchanges, staking-as-a-service providers offer easy access to staking across numerous blockchains. However, these also involve custody over users’ funds.
3. Crypto wallets: Many cryptocurrency wallet providers allow their users to stake their coins directly from their wallets without an intermediary. As a result, they don’t face the counterparty risks of custodial services while offering the same level of convenience (and similar reward rates).
4. Manual staking: This is maybe the most complex method to start staking, which is a possibility for advanced users. Here, you operate your own node and stake your coins on your own. While this offers you the most freedom, it requires the necessary time and technical expertise to run your machine as well as a higher upfront investment for many blockchains (as there is usually a minimum amount validators have to meet).

It is also important to mention cold staking, where you generate a passive income via a wallet (e.g., a hardware wallet) that is not connected to the internet. For that reason, it’s probably one of the safest ways to earn revenue with the activity.

Staking: An Easy Way to Earn Rewards on Your Crypto Holdings

Crypto staking is a widely popular activity, where you can easily generate extra revenue on your digital assets without significant upfront investments.

As it only takes an initial deposit and a few clicks to get started, staking is a great way for both beginners and advanced crypto users to earn coin rewards.

At the same time, long-term investors can utilize staking to put the cryptocurrency they hold to work to maximize their profits.

In terms of risks, staking is generally a safe way to earn crypto. However, users must do their own due diligence as well as select reputable (ideally non-custodial) providers and coins with larger market capitalizations to minimize their risks.

Stories of free flights, incredible deals, and “just used my points” are common these days. And for people who aren’t into loyalty programs, those who manage to travel so much on a low budget almost have this mystical aura about them. How do they do it? What do you mean she got a free flight and 4-star hotel for nothing?

Loyalty programs are designed to get you to come back to businesses, and they can be cumbersome and draining if you’re in too many or don’t choose the right ones, but if you know how to play the game, you can save yourself thousands of dollars on purchases you would have made anyway.

One of the keys to winning in loyalty programs is staying on top of the latest offers and loyalty programs. And while points and cash back programs have dominated the space for years, we’re going to show you how to both make the most of existing loyalty programs and show you what the future of loyalty programs looks like — that way you can stay on top of things.

Let’s go!

Common Types of Loyalty Programs

Since loyalty programs are any sort of program that rewards customers for purchases, consistency, engagement, referrals, etc. There are a lot of types.

Here are a few of the most popular:

1. Points programs like credit card or hotel points
2. Subscription programs like unlimited monthly coffee, Regal Unlimited, or Amazon Prime
3. Referral programs like The Hustle’s referral system
4. Tier-based programs like Chick-fil-A
5. Cashback programs like Capital One’s Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card
6. Perks programs like Kroger’s gas discount
7. And many more!

There is an abundance of loyalty programs these days. So the trick isn’t finding them, it’s deciding which ones to use.

Why Should You Join Loyalty Programs?

When used correctly, loyalty programs save (or give) you more money than you would have had without them.

For example, if you spend $500 a month on groceries, have a credit card that gives you 2 points (worth a cent each) for every dollar spent, and pay off your credit card in full each month, you would get an automatic $10 back each month for doing exactly what you do anyway.

Or take credit card bonus fees. If you’ve been saving up for a new entertainment system that costs around $3,000, and instead of paying cash you signed up for a new credit card that had a “sign-up offer” that gives you $600 in points after spending $3,000 in the first two months, you could get $600 back on a purchase you were already going to make.

By optimizing your spending around the highest value programs whose points or rewards can be used on purchases you were already going to make anyway and strategically utilizing sign-up bonuses, you can save thousands of dollars over a few years, pay for flights, get free hotel rooms, and more.

It takes a bit of work to get set up and switch at the right times, but it’s still well worth the effort you put in.

The 6 Best Loyalty Programs You Should Consider Joining

Again, loyalty programs are designed to get you to spend more, but if you’re aware of that fact, you don’t have to.

By only joining programs that directly impact your existing spending, you can minimize the temptation to overspend / nullify the value of your rewards.

With that in mind, here are some of the best loyalty programs out there. We’ve included a diverse list — that way you could feasibly make a good decision by just going with all of these. These options are more useful when starting out than 5 different airline programs, for example.

Note: These are based off of NerdWallet’s 2021 Winners, personal experience, and other misc. research. The program details below were accurate at the time of the writing but may not remain the same.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

Ideal for casual domestic flyers who like to take one other person on their trips.

While you won’t be able to fly anywhere, anytime, the rewards system of Alaska Airlines is fantastic. If you make $2,000 of purchases within 90 days, you get 40,000 bonus miles (around $440) and the Annual Companion Fare, which can drop a ticket for a friend down to $99 + fees. Add in rewards based on miles instead of cash and 3x miles for all Alaska Airlines bookings, and you can see why people love this loyalty program.

Reward Currency: Alaska Miles

Key Aspects:

1. Reward based on miles flown instead of cash spent, which rewards smarter booking choices
2. Can transfer points to Emirates and Cathay Pacific and other partners to 1,000+ destinations
3. $75 annual fee
4. 3 miles for every $1 on Alaska Airlines flights, 1 mile for $1 for all other purchases
5. Free checked bags for up to 6 guests on the same reservation
6. No foreign transaction fees

Amazon Prime

Best for frequent online shoppers who want quick deliveries.

You may not think about Amazon Prime as a loyalty program, but that’s because it is so good at what it does that it escapes the label. Amazon does everything they can to make you lose money by not being a part of Prime (assuming you shop at Amazon regularly).

From Prime video, to free shipping, to lower prices in Amazon, using Amazon and not having Prime doesn’t make any sense, and that’s the point.

Reward Currency: None

Key Aspects:

1. Free two-day shipping on Prime eligible items
2. Prime discounts
3. Early access to deals
4. Prime video streaming
5. Pay monthly at $12.99 or yearly at $119

Chick-fil-A

Good for anyone who eats Chick-fil-A more than 2x a month.

Chick-fil-A, regardless of your opinion of fast food and their enterprise, is a brilliant business. They are superb at cleanliness, timeliness, consistency, and rewarding their customers.

Their loyalty program is legendary and has some really clever mechanisms to keep you coming back. So if you get down with Chick-fil-A at least more than 2x per month, then check it out.

Reward Currency: Points

Key Aspects:

1. Three Tiers: Member, Silver Member, Red Member
2. Points are rewarded for cash spent
3. Birthday rewards
4. Has giveaways for downloading the app and signing in consistently
5. Mobile ordering through app makes pick-up easier
6. Higher levels let you give away your gifts to others
7. The higher level you are, the more points you earn per $1
8. Higher levels have more say on the menu items Chick-fil-A releases

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

A good “jack-of-all-trades” travel card for people who tend to fly on different airlines and use different hotels.

Capital One’s Venture Rewards Credit Card has been a big player in the credit card points game for a bit. The points are easy to earn and use, and you can transfer or spend your points on just about anything.

Reward Currency: Miles

Key Aspects:

1. 60,000 mile bonus after spending $3,000 in the first month (~ $600 value)
2. 2 miles per dollar spent on anything and everything
3. $95 annual fee
4. Best value when you redeem for travel

Permission

Good for anyone who wants to get paid for doing what they already do on the web.

Here’s the deal. Almost everything you do on the internet involves and leaves data, but since the dawn of the internet, YOU haven’t been paid for the use of your data. Meanwhile, huge internet companies have made massive fortunes off of your information.

Permission prescribes to a simple but radical idea: shouldn’t you get paid for your data?

And the best part? You don’t have to change any of your habits. You join Permission, and companies reward you with crypto in return for your time and attention. It’s that simple.

Reward Currency: ASK

Key Aspects:

1. A new type of loyalty program driven by crypto rewards
2. A browser extension that lets you earn crypto based on your existing searches and habits
3. Earn crypto for engaging with ads and content
4. Is expanding its reach to become the backbone of loyalty programs everywhere everywhere, making it easier and more flexible for earners to redeem across brands.

Start earning from your data (for free)

Regal Unlimited

Great for any movie buffs who see more than 2 movies a month.

This is Regal’s answer to the spectacular fall of MoviePass. For ~$20/month you can watch as many movies as you’d like and earn on concession purchases. Since movies cost between $12-15 these days, if you go to at least two movies a month, you’ll be saving money.

Reward Currency: Crown Club Credits

Key Aspects:

1. Different tiers open up more and more theaters, but the middle tier for $20/month is usually more than enough.
2. Earn credits on all purchases that can be redeemed for free tickets and food. Pay for your friends’ tickets to rack up points!
3. Unlimited movies per month, including new releases.
4. Fees can apply for booking less than an hour in advance.

How to be a Loyalty Program Pro

Here are some tricks of the trade from loyalty program pros.

Make sure the annual fees make sense for your spending.

If you aren’t going to earn more in points than the annual fee, don’t go for it. That would just mean more unnecessary bills. It’s easiest to get hit by unnecessary annual fees when you have a lot of cards, so make sure whichever ones you have you’re actually using!

Note many credit card companies will cancel or reduce your fee if you call them to cancel shortly after noticing an annual fee charge.

Ditch the cash.

The more you spend on your card, the more points you earn. Cash should become a last resort — it’s a pointless transaction!

Maximize your earnings by choosing which card to spend with on particular categories.

Some cards earn you more on food. Other more on flights. Know which cards are best spent where so you can maximize your earnings.

Choose loyalty programs that fit into your existing habits

The point of loyalty programs is to get you to spend more, but you can outwit them by only choosing cards that complement your existing spending habits. If you already fly multiple times a year, there’s no reason not to earn from them, but if you don’t already shop at Nordstrom, maybe you don’t need their card.

Get your credit score to above 720

Most loyalty programs and good credit cards with rewards require decent credit. If you aren’t above 720 yet, put the time and work in to get there before going down the loyalty program rabbit hole.

Do not go into debt over points

No points are worth suffering from the atrocious interest rates on credit cards. Whatever you do, do NOT carry a balance! This excludes particular people with good handles on leverage, but anytime you rack up interest you are cutting right back into your point profits and likely going in the red.

Take advantage of welcome bonuses

Welcome bonuses are critical to earning from rewards programs. Line up your big purchases with a new card to earn big.

Stack points

Use your best food-to-points credit card to plug into your Chick-fil-A rewards program. Use your favorite flight card for Regal Unlimited — find as many ways as you can to stack your favorite cards and programs.

Avoid opening a bunch of credit lines before big purchases

Credit card churning and loyalty programs can mean opening up more lines of credit, which can negatively affect your score. If you’re going to buy a house or car in the near future, you may want to hold off.

Respect the 5/24 rule

While not official, many credit card companies begin to be more cautious with users who open up more than 5 cards in two years (or 24 months), so it’s best practice to stay at or under this split.

Amazing Resources for Credit Card Churning

When you join multiple programs, things can get a bit confusing. Here are some tools and resources that will help you make the most of your programs.

1. NerdWallet — one of the best rewards blogs out there
2. AwardWallet — track all of your programs and points in one place
3. ThePointsGuy — amazing blog for travel point optimization

The Best Loyalty Program is a Universal Loyalty Program

The new era of loyalty programs has arrived

Imagine an internet where every single online transaction, across any brand, in any store, earns you a single type of reward currency that you can spend on more products, or trade for other global currencies (including dollars).

That is the future of loyalty programs. A world where the myriad of points, miles, cashback dollars, and rewards dissolves into a single reward currency that everyone is familiar with. One wallet, one currency, across an unlimited number of brands.

Brands will still be able to create their own unique incentives founded in this currency. And users can earn more whenever they want by engaging in specific actions encouraged by brands, like voluntarily engaging with ads or giving a company more information about themselves.

So if you’re a user who wants to get paid for your data, or a brand looking to add in the ASK cryptocurrency to your incentives, now is the time.

See what we’re all about.

The world of cryptocurrency is a bit like the Wild West. There are rumors, a lot happening underground, and occasional but increasing government interest. People are looking for gold, and companies are looking to sell the shovels.

The result is a regulatory haze and technical fog that hangs over crypto, making it a bit difficult to figure out how to earn crypto easily and reliably. We get it, and that’s why we’ve taken the time to compile a list of sound ways to earn crypto by watching videos. Those videos are usually ads, but there are some interesting projects that go beyond advertising as well.

What makes a good cryptocurrency earning app?

Here’s what we were thinking through when making our choices.

1. Reliable payouts
2. Good UX/UI
3. Good earning potential

Crypto is a rapidly evolving space, and new opportunities appear all of the time. So while we do stand by this list, it’s a good idea to keep a pulse on the crypto world through the news and social media to identify new opportunities as they arise.

And here are the most legitimate ways we’ve found to earn cryptocurrency by watching videos:

Coinbase Learning Center

Coinbase is one of crypto’s most widely used and trusted crypto exchanges. One aspect of their onboarding is the opportunity to earn crypto by learning about individual crypto currencies through their course videos. You get paid in the relevant cryptocurrency and can have it deposited directly into your coinbase wallet, at which point you can transfer or do whatever you want with it.

Their video courses cover a variety of cryptocurrencies including:

1. Clover Finance
2. The Graph
3. BarnBridge
4. AMP
5. Stellar Lumens
6. Compound
7. Balancer
8. Ampleforth Governance Token

And many more.

You can earn more than $50+ in various cryptocurrencies, so the payout is really good, but it’s ultimately a finite source. There are only so many videos, so you take a few hours, get your crypto, and get out.

If you’re new to crypto, the education is worth watching either way. It’s a complicated sector, and starting slowly and with an education-first mindset is the best way to prevent poor investments.

Try Coinbase Learning Center

Coinmarket Cap Learning Center

Another option that functions in a similar way to Coinbase is the Coinmarket Cap Learning Center. Coinmarketcap has different videos and requires you to take a short quiz afterward, but the payouts and educational value are also high.

Here are some of the courses they offer:

1. Toko Token
2. IoTex
3. SushiSwap
4. Polkastarter
5. Plasma Finance

As you’re going through these, try and see which tokens you think have the most potential. These courses are essentially ads and pitches, after all. If one seems particularly promising, you could bankall of the coins you earn from these courses and trade them for the one or few cryptocurrencies you think are most promising.

Try CoinmarketCap Learning Center

Odysee

Odysee is positioned as an answer to Youtube’s and other major information platforms’ censorship and aims to be a decentralized educational and content resource.

Creators can post their videos on Odysee without any fear of censorship, and users can earn LBRY, their token, by watching and interacting with videos. When you watch a video on Odysee, both you and the creator earn crypto. This rewards you for your data and engagement while encouraging creators to continue to release videos on Odysee.

Whether or not earning cryptocurrency on Odysee is worth your time partly depends on if you believe in the LBRY crypto itself.

This is their mission:

First and foremost, LBRY is a new protocol that allows anyone to build apps that interact with digital content on the LBRY network. Apps built using the protocol allow creators to upload their work to the LBRY network of hosts (like BitTorrent), to set a price per stream or download (like iTunes) or give it away for free (like YouTube without ads). The work you publish could be videos, audio files, documents, or any other type of file.

If you think something like LBRY could compete with (or work alongside) a service like Spotify to enable artists to earn more from their music, this could be an interesting choice.

Earn Crypto With Odysee

Permission

Permission.’s mission is to give data ownership back to the people. Broadly speaking, this means rewarding you with crypto for any online interaction that involves your data. It’s your data, after all, and if companies want to use it, they should pay you for it.

We’re just getting started with our Web 3.0 revolution, but one example of our mission in practice is our Permission.io browser extension.

The Permission.io browser extension helps you earn cryptocurrency as you surf the web. After you install the extension on Chrome, if you search for something and a relevant video ad is available, we notify you of the option to earn for interacting with that video.

For example, if you were into skateboarding and typed “new skateboards,” and a rewarded ad featuring a skateboarding apparel or board company is available, you could be notified with a video ad that essentially says, “Hey we make skateboards. Wanna check it out?” And then if you do, you earn $ASK crypto for watching the video and even more if you end up buying the board from them.

And the best part? You don’t have to change any of your existing habits. They’re non-intrusive, opt-in ads.

PlayNano Online

While somewhat polarizing due to its price and relationship to the BitGrail $195 Million hack, the Nano community is vibrant, enthusiastic, and has created many ways to earn Nano.

Nano is aimed at being a decentralized currency and hopes to eliminate middlemen that charge transaction fees and tack on other hidden costs. Imagine instant wire transfers between countries for free — that’s the type of world Nano is aiming to build.

PlayNano, specifically, is a project that lets you earn Nano by watching videos, playing games, completing surveys, and other activities.

Like the other options here, it depends on how much you believe in Nano, but if you do, then this is definitely a good option.

Earn Crypto With PlayNano

The bottom line on earning cryptocurrency by watching videos

With the exclusion of a few companies like the online exchange courses and Permission.io browser extension, earning cryptocurrency by watching videos isn’t a smooth landscape yet. Most of the payouts are very low, and you are still subject to the whims of the crypto market.

These are the best options we know of, but you should still do your research, see which cryptocurrencies you think have the best chance of succeeding, and spend your time watching videos that let you earn those currencies.

BTC is the most popular cryptocurrency in the world, and while you won’t earn a ton from these apps, if you find some that fit into your existing habits and the price of bitcoin continues to rise, then they may be worth your time.

What Makes a Good Bitcoin Earning App?

When thinking through what makes the ideal bitcoin earning app, we focused on these criteria:

1. Trustworthy and transparent. There’s a lot of fraud and abuse in the crypto space, so knowing that there is a legitimate business behind the app is important.
2. Low payout floors. You don’t want to have to wait forever for a payout, so the lower the floor to cash out, the better.
3. Good UX and UI. Apps like these need to be easy to use and enjoyable. The payouts are so low that there’s no room for frustration or wasted time.
4. Reliable payouts. Nothing matters if you can’t actually get paid after you’ve put the time in. All of these apps have reliable cash-out options.
5. Active community. An active community plays into trust and ensures that the company will continue to be incentivized to improve the app and accompanying services.

With that in mind, here’s a shortlist of our favorites separated by category, and we have longer explanations farther down.

The Best Bitcoin Earning Apps

1. StormX for shopping
2. FeaturePoints for surveys
3. Alien Run for getting addicted to earning
4. Bling’s Bitcoin Games for general gaming
5. BitforTip for answering questions

And here’s a bit more detail on each of these apps. Each of these are available on iOS and Android, and as you go through this list, try and see which ones you can fit into your existing habits.

1. StormX: Best Bitcoin Earning App for Shopping

StormX takes the familiar online cashback model where brands give the referral company cuts of the sales and then that company gives you (the buyer) some of that split and augments it with cryptocurrency payouts.

With StormX, you can earn by shopping on their 750+ partner store, getting anywhere from 0.5% to 87.5% back in crypto. They work with legitimate stores as well, including Lego, Sega, Doordash, Samsung, Microsoft, and more.

You can also earn more crypto by HODLing your crypto in their membership program, playing games, and filling out surveys. Then, you can cash out with Bitcoin, Ethereum, or STorm.

StormX is best for people who already do a good amount of online shopping. For example, if you have kids who love LEGOs and games, you could do all of your Christmas shopping through StormX and get a free crypto kickback.

2. FeaturePoints: Best Bitcoin Earning App for Surveys

FeaturePoints pitches itself as the solution to earning from your downtime. A.k.a. those minutes when you’re stuck in line or bored at the doctor’s office. While surveys are the main way people earn on this app, you can also shop with partners, download free apps, and watch videos — all of which can be turned into cashback via PayPal, gift cards at specific retailers, or turned into Bitcoin.

They also have a cool referral program where you earn from every friend that signs up and continue earning every time they earn — for life.

If you find yourself running a lot of errands or don’t mind filling out a quick survey when pinged by a notification, then FeaturePoints could be good for you. I wouldn’t set aside specific hours to invest into FeaturePoints since the payouts are so low, but if you casually answer questions every few months or so you may be able to cash out a few bucks into Bitcoin.

3. Alien Run: Best Bitcoin Earning App for Addictive Gaming

If you like to game and wouldn’t mind a small amount of Bitcoin to go with that time, then check out Alien Run. It’s a genuinely fun game with a good mix of easy and difficult levels, and new missions are released daily.

The app has a lot of ads, though, and the payouts, like all of these apps, are low. So if you already game and genuinely enjoy Alien Run, then sure, why not, but if you’re downloading Alien Run only to earn Bitcoin, then you have better options.

4. Bling Games: Best Bitcoin App for General Gaming

Bling is a game developer that has a variety of simple games you can play to earn Bitcoin including Bitcoin Blast, Bitcoin Blocks, Bitcoin Food Fight, and more. You create one central account that is linked to all of their games and collectively earn while playing. The games are well-built and have fun multiplayer options, but you have to watch an ad after every game and the payouts are low.

Our advice is similar to Alien Run. If you already play games like solitaire, Candy Crush, or 2048, then you’ll probably enjoy these Bitcoin games, and swapping your play time to one that earns you a small amount of Bitcoin could be worth it.

5. Bitfortip: Best Bitcoin App for Being Helpful

Bitfortip definitely needs work and is hit by a lot of spammers, but we’re including it because there’s still an active community and it’s an interesting idea. You can think of BitforTip like Quora but you’re paid for your answers with small amounts of BitCoin.

For example, you may hop on the site and see that someone asked: “How easy is it to replace spark plugs in a Honda Civic?” along with an attached BTC reward amount. If you have mechanical expertise and could answer it, you can “win” the associated BTC tip for that question.

Bonus: The “Earn While Your Browse” App

Permission’s Browser Extension helps you earn $ASK crypto for browsing and engaging with relevant brands online.

For example, let’s say you’re into building gaming computers, and you’re looking for a new solid-state drive. If you search for a SSD and one of our partners has one they think you would like, your extension will ping you with the option to watch a relevant ad. If you choose to do that, then you’ll instantly earn the displayed amount of $ASK. And then, if you dig the SSD and buy it, you’ll get an even larger $ASK payout. Plus, if you’d prefer to own BTC instead of $ASK, you can choose to trade it for bitcoin on an exchange.

And this browser extension is just the beginning. Permission’s browser extension is part of our mission to take back data ownership from the internet barons and help users all over the world start earning from the data. If you think you should earn for the data you’re already giving away for free, then you should join us and start earning $ASK.

What You Need to Know About Bitcoin Earning Apps

The unfortunate truth to bitcoin earning apps is that the payouts are extremely low.

With the exception of the Permission browser extension, all of the apps we found pay such small amounts, often amounting to fractions of a cent or minuscule amounts of Bitcoin (typically Satoshi), that the time you spend on these apps can almost always be better spent doing something else that would allow you to buy even more bitcoin.

For example, instead of spending 5 hours a week getting pennies on the dollar on these apps, you could teach a skill online, collect recyclables, sell baked goods, or do any other number of small side hustles that you could directly invest into Bitcoin instead. If saving or investing is your goal, this would be a much more effective route.

Your best bet is to fit these apps into your existing life instead of spending what feels like “extra time” on them. Gaming when you’re stuck in line, completing surveys in doctor’s offices, and answering questions when you’re bored are good examples of this.

Then, every few months or so you’ll have a few bucks you can put toward your BTC balance.

Earn Crypto Without Changing Your Habits

Why aren’t you already earning for the data you’re giving away with every move you make online?

Surf the web like normal and earn crypto along the way. With Permission’s Browser Extension, earning from your data is finally easy.

Shopping online has come a long way, and when it comes to saving money online, you’ve got plenty of options. Honey is one of the most popular coupon browser extensions on the internet, but it is far from the only one. There are tons of services you can try, each with their own spin.

To save you some time figuring out which one is best for you, we’ve compiled a list of 6 other money-saving apps like Honey, along with some ideas on how to make the most of these apps.

We’ll start with a reminder of what Honey does and then get into our favorite alternatives.

What Is Honey?

Honey is a plugin for all major browsers that helps users save money while online shopping by automatically searching and applying any relevant coupon codes when checking out.

When you have the extension installed, you receive notifications during the checkout phase on any eligible store. If you hit accept, Honey will automatically search their massive database of online coupons and apply the best one. They also have coupon codes and exclusive deals that can be used to earn “Honey Gold,” which are points you accrue over time and can be redeemed for gift cards.

To be clear: Honey is a great extension, but people have reported bugs and sometimes take issue with the data it collects (which is something probably all of these extensions do), so having other options means you can either use a combination and/or find one that is better suited to your needs.

How to Choose the Best Coupon Browser Extension

Once you dig into the world of cost-saving extensions and apps, one thing becomes clear: most of these apps function and behave very similarly.

With that in mind, the best choice is actually a combination. Because these extensions and apps cover different retailers and strike timed deals with stores, the best deals can change at any point. For example, some may be better for finding deals on clothing than on software or for getting more back-to-school deals in August, etc.

That being said, if you’re prioritizing cashback opportunities, it may be best to invest more in a single platform instead of spreading out your earnings across multiple services. Diversifying too much can increase the amount of work it takes to earn & may hold you back from crossing different redemption thresholds (some apps won’t let you cash out until you earn a certain amount).

And finally, if you’re using these extensions as an exercise in budgeting, remember that these apps exist to get you to buy more. It may seem like you’re saving cash, but if you just end up shopping more than you used to, then it’s a net negative. If you aren’t concerned with that and are comfortable building them into your existing shopping habits, then they can be fantastic.

1. Capital One Shopping (formerly WikiBuy)

Capital One Shopping, which used to be Wikibuy, is the most direct competitor to Honey. They provide almost the same experience, with automatically applied coupon codes, price alerts, and more.

How Capital One Shopping Works

Capital One Shopping helps you shop online, which in turn lets Capital One get more transaction fees and collect useful data about you. Anytime you’re looking at products online, the extension will search thousands of other retailers to see if there are any other places you could buy it for cheaper and/or if a coupon code is applicable.

You’ve got options with Capital One Shopping, too. You can download the browser extension and get a lot of value from it, but you can go even deeper by picking up the mobile app as well. This lets you get mobile alerts on shopping deals and check if there are deals on in-store items as well.

Pros of Capital One Shopping

1. Free
2. Easy-to-use browser extension
3. Trending deals and featured offers
4. Shopping credit for shopping like normal
5. Price drop alerts on products you want
6. Mobile app can check in-store items as well
7. Automatically applies coupon codes during checkout like Honey
8. Backed by an active and large company, which usually means faster bug fixes and more deals.

Cons of Capital One Shopping

1. Mobile app user experience isn’t great but is improving.
2. They collect a lot of private information about you.

Where to Download

Download Capital One Shopping here.

2. Rakuten

Rakuten is incredibly popular, and it’s no surprise why. This one-stop-shop service works with retailers to bring you exclusive cashback deals, negotiates coupon deals for its members, and has partnerships with thousands of retailers from Amazon to Target.

How it Rakuten Works

Rakuten gets a kickback for every purchasing user they send to retailers, and then they share that kickback with you. You become eligible for these cashbacks by clicking from Rakuten into whatever retailer you’re shopping from.

The typical user experience with Rakuten involves seeing an extension notification and clicking through it to earn from it OR getting in the habit of going directly to Rakuten’s site to see if there are deals on items you’re thinking about buying. For example, if you know you’re looking to grab a Nintendo Switch for your nephew this Christmas, you could go to Rakuten with that in mind to see if there are any relevant kickbacks.

Pros of Rakuten

1. Free
2. Earn anywhere from 1-40% cashback on almost anything purchased through Rakuten.
3. Thousands of retailers
4. Get paid out in cash
5. In-store earning opportunities
6. Easy browser extension
7. Mobile app

Cons of Rakuten

1. Quarterly payouts
2. Sometimes the best products at retailers aren’t eligible for cashback.
3. Have to get in the habit of going from their site or extension to a retailer.

Where to Download

Download Rakuten here.

3. Karma (formerly Shoptagr)

Karma is another extension and app you can use to get price drop alerts, automatically apply coupons, make wishlists, and organize future purchases.

How Karma Works

The secret to Karma’s success is in their tech — their predictive analytics bot helps consumers make better shopping decisions prior to purchase, whether by opting for a better price, applying coupons, or letting you know to wait until the price drops even more[*].

The best way to use Karma is to set up what you know you’d like to buy in advance and then wait as price drop alerts roll in. For any of you out there who like to start shopping for actual Christmas after Christmas in July, then this is right up your alley. You can set up your wishlist, organize your future purchases by category, and wait for that ping. Then you’ll know it’s the best time to pick it up!

Pro Tip: combine these alerts with CamelCamelCamel’s Amazon price history (alternative #6 in this list) to see if the deal is as good as Karma is saying it is.

Pros of Karma

1. Free
2. Wishlist for out-of-stock items
3. Price drop alerts
4. Organize future purchases by category
5. Coupons automatically applied
6. Extension works on Chrome, Mozilla, and Safari
7. Pays out in PayPal
8. Mobile app

Cons of Karma

1. Not as many stores as other options
2. App and extension can be a bit buggy.
3. Sometimes the best products at retailers aren’t eligible for cashback.

Where to Download

Download Karma here.

4. Piggy

Piggy focuses exclusively on cashback opportunities from partner retailers. While it doesn’t have the resources and depth some of the other options listed have, it can still be useful to have in your cashback mix.

How Piggy Works

By acting as a highway hub for shopping traffic, piggy can cash in on affiliate relationships and pass some of that cash back to you. All you have to do is download the extension and wait to get pinged as you shop. If you do, then you have the option of buying through Piggy and earning cash back.

Pros of Piggy

1. Free
2. Convenient browser extension
3. Automatic coupons
4. Get paid via check.

Cons of Piggy

1. $25 cash out floor.
2. Not as many retailers as other options.
3. Not well designed.

Where to Download

Download Piggy here.

5. RetailMeNot

While RetailMeNot doesn’t have as many retailers as Capital One or Rakuten, they get their own exclusive deals and opportunities that are definitely worth keeping an eye on. They also release their own buying guides and offer advice on how to get the most out of your experience.

How RetailMeNot Works

Similar to Rakuten, RetailMeNot is best to use with a plan in mind. Apart from the extension, your best bet is to subscribe to RetailMeNot’s newsletter and check their website out periodically for any exclusive offers.

Once you see something that’s on your “dream” or “to-buy” list, you can snatch it up while the offer is good. Alternatively, you can just go to RetailMeNot to see if anything on sale catches your eye!

Pros of RetailMeNot

1. Free
2. Automatically applied coupons
3. Exclusive deals
4. Mobile app

Cons of RetailMeNot

1. Only supported on Chrome
2. Not as many retailers as some other options
3. Site design isn’t as sharp

Where to Download

Download RetailMeNot here.

6. The Camelizer

The Camelizer is the browser extension for long-time Amazon price tracker CamelCamelCamel, and it’s a fantastic resource for seeing just how good that new “sale” is. For example, if you’re shopping a Summer sale in July, you can see if last year’s prices in the Fall were better than what you’re seeing now.

How The Camelizer Works

CamelCamelCamel is free for any user, and it’s best to use alongside the other options above. Consider CamelCamelCamel your coupon “hype manager.” In other words, it’s the voice of reason when an extension pings you with another AMAZING deal.

Because you can see just how good the deal is by comparing previous prices (assuming it was sold on Amazon), you can know if this is the sale to buy on or if you should wait for the next one. You can get all of that info by just clicking into the Camelizer on any Amazon listing. You can also set up specific price drop alerts on any items you know you want to buy as well.

Pros of The Camelizer

1. Free
2. Top price drops for best Amazon deals
3. Awesome price history graphs
4. Good for seeing how good a sale really is
5. Works on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, and Safari

Cons of The Camelizer

1. Design isn’t super friendly
2. Is exclusive to Amazon
3. No cashback or earning potential

Where to Download

Download The Camelizer here.

The Bottom Line on Apps Like Honey

Many of these apps function similarly, and each of them has different exclusive deals and events. So again, the ideal solution is actually a combination. Download a few of these extensions and compare them whenever you’re shopping to see what the lowest price is.

The best thing you can do when using these apps is get in the habit of checking these out before you actually order. In other words, once you know you’re going to buy something, take another 5 minutes and see if you can save some cash through these sites and apps! If you make this a buying habit, you’ll definitely save some dough.

Wherever you go, you will get bombarded with tons of ads on the internet.

While many of them provide value, the massive amount of advertisements can easily become disturbing for users as they try to enjoy their favorite activities in the digital world.

In fact, some publishers place so many ads in their apps and websites that it prevents users from enjoying the actual content.

Fortunately, using an ad blocker is an excellent way to remain (nearly) advertisement-free on the web.

In this article, we will explore what an ad blocker is, how ad blocking works, its benefits and downsides, as well as the actual methods to prevent advertisers from ruining your online experience.

The Problem With the Current Online Advertising Landscape

Before we dive into our topic, let’s first take a look at the problem ad blockers are meant to solve: the disturbing and intrusive nature of the current online advertising landscape.

Before the age of the internet, people encountered ads mostly in newspapers, on TV, radio, and billboards.

While the average person was exposed to between 500 advertisements a day during the 1970s, this number surged to a daily 5,000 by 2007.

With the rise of digital advertising, we now see an estimated 4,000-10,000 advertisements every day, which can be quite overwhelming.

And it’s no surprise.

It’s super easy for businesses to create, place, and show an ad to internet users by utilizing the advertising platforms of tech giants like Facebook and Google, which dominate the digital ad space.

Interestingly, even though the pandemic caused a huge hit to the online advertising industry, online ad spend still managed to grow by 1.7% in the US in 2020. In fact, Statista predicts worldwide digital advertising revenues to surge from 2019’s $333.8 billion to $491.1 billion by 2025 with a 5.67% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR).

Due to the current nature of the online advertising landscape, consumers have developed strategies and mechanisms to cope with the massive amount of ads they encounter.

Much to the chagrin of advertisers, consumers are interacting with less and less ads, decreasing the return on investment (“ROI”) for advertisers, i.e., making advertising dollars spent less profitable for advertisers.

Consumers can hardly be blamed for wanting to distance themselves from online ads; indeed, they face numerous issues with the current state of digital advertising, including:

1. Disturbing user experience: Imagine being bombarded by ads while reading this article with banners placed on the sides, the top, and the bottom of the page, as well as after every second or third paragraph. And, to make it extra annoying, imagine having to avoid the dreaded pop-up, which websites increasingly use despite the fact that pop-ups irritate about 73% of internet users, according to a HubSpot survey.
2. Interrupting primary activities: In addition to being annoying, some ads even interrupt internet users’ primary activities. Take YouTube ads before videos or promotions in smartphone games as examples, which keep consumers waiting before they can access the publishers’ content.
3. Slowdowns and battery drainage: While trackers and banners are being loaded, large numbers of unoptimized ads can appear and take their toll on applications’ and websites’ performance. According to an Opera study, a website is 51% slower on average when ads are displayed than with blocked advertisements. In addition to performance issues, the firm revealed that ads can also drain the battery life of devices by nearly 13%.
4. Security concerns: In the past few years, malvertising has become a real issue for internet users. Malvertising refers to spreading malware and viruses via online advertising and was responsible for roughly 1% of the ad impressions in May 2019. In addition to infecting user devices, cybercriminals also use digital advertising to attract victims with fraudulent schemes.
5. Lack of privacy: Have you ever visited an ecommerce store without making a purchase just to later encounter the same business’ ads on social media? Besides advertisements, most websites and platforms on the internet use web trackers to collect, store, and share data about the visitors’ online activities. As a result of exchanging user information with third parties, advertising networks know everything about you, diminishing your privacy on the web.

What Is an Ad Blocker?

An ad blocker is a software solution capable of preventing advertisements from showing for the user while browsing the web or utilizing an application.

Contrary to their name, most ad blockers do not actually block advertisements. Instead, they stop ads from downloading on your browser by disabling requests that include advertising-related content.

As a result, users can enjoy a mostly ad-free experience with enhanced security, privacy, and device performance without being exposed to intrusive content.

How Do Ad Blockers Work?

Ad blocking software solutions use simple filter lists containing URLs to identify and block advertisement-related content on websites and applications.

In web browsers, ad blockers work in the following way:

1. Upon visiting a website, the ad blocker checks its filter list to see whether the site is included.
2. If the search returns positive results, the ad blocking software blocks requests to external content, which prevents the advertisement from getting downloaded and shown on the page.

Instead of completely disabling the request, other ad blocking services replace the advertising content with something else after identifying it.

No matter the method used to disable advertisements, filter lists play a key role in the ad blocking process.

For that reason, filter lists are regularly maintained and updated by both the creators and third-party communities independent of the developers.

Most ad blockers allow users to whitelist the ads of different websites, services, and applications. By doing so, they can support the creators, prevent possible ad blocking-related page issues, or unlock the content of publishers that use ad block walls.

Many ad blockers provide protection against all kinds of intrusive content, such as advertisements, malware, and web trackers, across many applications, web browsers, and devices.

At the same time, some ad blocking software solutions can only disable unwanted content in specific apps and devices.

How Do Ad Blockers Make Money?

Not all ad blockers are created equal, as some are more effective in providing a distraction-free experience to users than others.

An excellent way to determine an ad blocking solution’s efficiency is by examining the service provider’s business model.

Ad blockers can make money in multiple ways, with the most popular methods including:

1. Free: Some ad blockers function as open-source apps that are available to users for free. While they are maintained by the community, free solutions often finance their development via donations. A good example of this business model is uBlock Origin. However, strangely enough, the project’s creator doesn’t accept any donations. Instead, the developer decided not to create a dedicated website or a forum for the ad blocker in order to cut the maintenance costs.
2. Paid service: Instead of resorting to the community’s help and donations, many ad blocking software solutions offer services in exchange for an upfront payment or a subscription fee.
3. Freemium: Freemium is a popular business model among software solutions, and multiple ad blockers use it. Here, users can utilize only a part of the features for free. Optionally, they can pay a one-time or monthly subscription fee to access more powerful ad blocking functions.
4. Whitelisting some of the ads: Certain ad blockers use a rather controversial business model. While they offer their services for free to users, the creators whitelist a share of ads that allegedly follow “acceptable” advertising practices. However, some ad blockers offer whitelisting services for advertisers in exchange for a payment or a cut from their ad revenue.

Why Do You Need an Ad Blocker and What Benefits Does it Offer?

An ad blocker is a must-have for those who want to enjoy an advertisement-free experience in the digital space.

Ad blockers offer the following benefits to users:

1. Improved user experience: Users can achieve a distraction-and intrusion-free experience on the internet by using an ad blocker to eliminate advertisements. As a result, they can conveniently browse the web or use their favorite apps without worrying about getting bombarded by advertisers’ offers.
2. Enhanced security and privacy: Most ad blockers have built-in features to detect, spot, and block malicious and fraudulent ads on the internet. In addition to eliminating malvertising, users can also enjoy increased privacy by disabling web trackers. Furthermore, ad blocking is an excellent way to protect children from inappropriate advertisements on the web.
3. Faster page load times: Ad blockers can improve browsing speed and application performance by getting rid of bloated and unoptimized ads. While users have access to a more seamless experience, businesses can also benefit from the lower bounce rates achieved via faster page load times.
4. Optimized battery life and mobile data usage: As ads take a heavy toll on device batteries, preventing them from loading can save energy and achieve better runtimes. The lack of ads can also reduce the mobile data usage of consumers.
5. Potential savings on impulse shopping: By eliminating ads, the number of offers internet users encounter will significantly decrease. They can take advantage of this to reduce their unnecessary expenses, refrain from impulse purchases, increase their savings, and limit their chances of getting targeted by fraudulent companies.

What Are the Possible Downsides and Limitations of Ad Blocking?

As with every software, ad blockers have some limitations and downsides, such as:

1. Broken content: Since ad blockers disable all advertising and tracking-related content of a website, it can lead to an unwanted experience on some occasions. When the app blocks an important request, the site may display broken content to the user.
2. Inability to access content: As some publishers still utilize ad block walls, refusing to disable ad blocking software can prevent users from accessing certain apps and websites.
3. Can’t block all ads: Unfortunately, although they can block most advertisements, ad blockers can’t provide a fully ad-free experience to users. Furthermore, the number of unblocked advertisements increases for ad blockers that adopt the whitelisting business model.
4. Lack of support for content creators: Some content creators use digital advertising exclusively to monetize their solutions. Using an ad blocker without whitelisting them could reduce their revenue and limit their growth.

How Does Ad Blocking Impact Publishers and Advertisers?

According to Statista, ad blocking penetration was expected to surge from 2014’s 15.7% to 27% by 2021 in the United States.

In fact, ad blocking solutions were adopted much faster, with the technology’s penetration reaching 27% by February 2018 among US users.

Since many users are blocking ads on their devices, it has a major impact on advertising networks and businesses.

The good news for advertisers is that they don’t have to pay a dime for advertisements targeting ad block users (as they don’t get shown at all).

However, as a significant share of consumers have opted out of receiving ads from advertisers on the internet, this also means that businesses have a smaller audience to target.

At the same time, publishers are hit harder by ad blocking tech as a part of their visitors won’t interact with the ads displayed on their platforms, causing a revenue loss for the firms.

However, ad blocking impacts giant digital advertising networks (e.g., Facebook Ads, Google Ads) the most.

The more users install ad blockers, the fewer impressions and interactions advertisements get, decreasing the revenue networks make by connecting publishers and advertisers.

Countermeasures From Publishers

As ad blocking means a significant threat to the digital advertising industry’s current state, many publishers and networks have decided to take steps against ad blocker solutions.

One of the most popular ways publishers have used to reclaim their lost revenue is automatically detecting ad blockers upon user website visits.

When an ad blocker is detected, a publisher may decide to display a message to the user to convince him to disable the software.

However, others have taken a more harsh stance by installing an ad block wall that denies access to the site’s content until the user disables its ad blocking software.

While the latter method seemed to work initially, researchers discovered that 74% of users would leave a website with an ad block wall set up.

Due to these methods’ lack of success, businesses have joined initiatives like Acceptable Ads and the Coalition for Better Ads that require both publishers and advertisers to apply a variety of pro-consumer and user-friendly digital advertising standards.

By showing only heavily optimized ads to users, publishers of these initiatives can get their advertisements whitelisted as ad blockers participating in the programs.

What Are the Best Methods to Block Ads?

In this section, we have collected the best methods you can use to block ads in the digital world.

Let’s see them!

1. Browser Extensions

Examples: uBlock Origin, Adblock Plus, AdBlock

One of the most popular ways to block ads is by installing the software via a browser extension.

Here, the user visits its browser’s add-on store and sets up the ad blocker as a free extension.

Upon successful installation, the ad block browser extension will screen content for trackers, advertisements, and malware. After applying the filter lists, the ad blocker tells the browser whether to allow or disable an element.

Based on the rules the solution uses, it can leave whitespace where the ad would be normally displayed, replace it with other content, or just simply hide the element.

As a result, users can get rid of most ads while surfing the web via the browser where the ad blocker extension is installed.

On the other hand, since it’s a browser extension, the ad blocker doesn’t have access and can’t block unwanted content in other apps installed on the device.

2. Ad Block Browsers

Examples: Opera, Brave, Firefox Focus

Ad block browsers are internet browsers with built-in ad blocking capabilities.

They work very similarly to ad block browser extensions as they can effectively disable advertisements on the web.

While users don’t have to worry much about installing an extension to eliminate ads, browsers with built-in ad blocking features are often well-optimized and feature better performance than extensions.

It’s also important to mention privacy browsers. Instead of blocking ads, these solutions disable web trackers to ensure a high privacy level for users.

3. Mobile Ad Blockers

Examples: Wipr, 1Blocker, Blokada, AdAway

According to Statcounter, mobile devices have accounted for 55% of the internet traffic compared to desktop’s 45% in April 2023.

With smartphone devices taking the lead, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that mobile ad blocking has become popular among users.

In fact, while desktop was standing at 236 million, active mobile ad block users grew to 527 million by Q4 2019, according to PageFair’s 2020 AdBlock Report.

In addition to the web, mobile users encounter many ads within the apps they have installed on their devices.

For that reason, they can install an ad blocker for iOS or Android to disable ads both on the web and in applications.

As a side note, since browsers do not support extensions on some mobile devices, ad block browsers have become increasingly popular on smartphones.

If you want to learn more about mobile ad blocking, we recommend taking a look at the following Permission.io articles where we compared the best iOS and Android ad blockers.

4. Cross-Device Ad Blockers

Examples: AdGuard, NextDNS

Some ad blocking solutions offer protection against advertisements across multiple devices.

As a result, users can access apps and browser extensions on desktops, tablets, and smartphones to get rid of unwanted content with a single solution.

With a package of apps and browser extensions, cross-device ad blockers utilize various methods to eliminate advertisements.

On the flip side, cross-device ad blocking support is often a paid service without the option to access the service for free.

5. DNS Filtering

Examples: AdGuard DNS, DNSCloak

An effective method to block advertisements is via DNS filtering.

DNS stands for the Domain Name System that is responsible for matching domain names with IP addresses, allowing users to access content on the web without remembering the technical details and a confusing list of numbers.

The process works similarly to calling a friend. Instead of memorizing his number every time, you have it saved in your smartphone contacts so you can call him with a single tap. This is the exact reason why the DNS is often referred to as the “address book” of the internet.

With DNS filtering, the user connects to a DNS server configured to block access to either IP addresses or domain names seeking to display ads to the user. In addition to advertisements, DNS filtering also protects users from web trackers and malicious content.

When an app or a website sends an unwanted request, the modified DNS server refuses to reply with an IP address and instead sends a null response.

Similarly to browser extension-based ad blockers, the DNS filtering method also uses blocklists to identify and disable undesirable content. For that reason, the service provider must update the filter lists often to prevent advertisers from bypassing the DNS server.

Since DNS filtering blocks all unwanted requests coming from the web, this method can effectively provide system-wide protection against ads to internet users.

6. VPN

Examples: NordVPN, Surfshark

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are popular tools that allow users to disguise their online identity and encrypt their internet traffic.

To achieve that, the network redirects the user’s IP address through a configured remote server operated by a VPN host.

As a result, the VPN server becomes the source of the user’s data, helping to hide the data he or she sends or receives online from Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other third-parties.

Since VPNs allow users to connect to servers in numerous countries and locations, they can use such solutions to bypass geo-blocks and access regional content on the web.

In addition to all the above, multiple VPN solutions feature built-in ad blocking to eliminate malware, trackers, and online advertisements.

While this method works similarly to DNS filtering, VPN ad blockers offer a one-stop solution to eliminating unwanted content and in apps across all devices connected to the user’s network.

However, for ad blocking to work, the user’s devices have to be continuously connected to the VPN network.

For that reason, it’s essential to test the performance of the VPN solution to avoid traffic-related issues and ensure a seamless user experience.

7. Hardware Devices

Examples: Pi-Hole

In the above sections, we have introduced software-based solutions to block advertisements on the web and in applications.

Now let’s examine a method that uses a hardware device for the same purpose.

Currently, the only viable hardware ad blocker on the market is called the Pi-Hole, which uses a Raspberry Pi to block advertisements on the network level.

For that, users have to configure the Raspberry Pi as a Pi-Hole, setting up a local DNS server that filters all content coming through the network and disables requests related to malware, advertisements, or web tracking.

Interestingly, the Pi-Hole replaces any pre-existing DNS server (including the ISP’s) on the user’s network with its own, allowing the device to block ads on devices like smart TVs that software-based ad blockers normally can’t reach.

While Pi-Hole is a free and open-source ad blocking solution, users have to purchase the necessary kit (e.g., a Raspberry Pi or another compatible device) to protect their networks against advertisements.

Also, as users have to manually configure the device to set up a Pi Hole, they have to possess at least minimal technical knowledge.

In terms of ad blocking, Pi Hole’s protection against unwanted content only works when the user is connected to his home private network (or the location where the device is installed to block ads).

Ad Blocking: The Key to a Distraction-Free Internet

Ad blocking is an excellent way to disable annoying advertisements, intrusive trackers, and malicious content. As a result of ad blocking, you can have a seamless, distraction-free experience while browsing the web or using your favorite apps on your device.

Additionally, ad blockers also improve your device’s performance, enhance your privacy and security, as well as limit your data and battery usage.

With that said, consider supporting your favorite content creators by whitelisting their advertisements via such an ad blocking solution.

An Alternative Solution to Preserving Privacy and Security

Meet Permission, the next-generation, blockchain-powered advertising platform that allows users to decide whether and how businesses can interact with their data and target them with ads.

In exchange for consenting to view an ad (which involves volunteering their time and data), users get rewarded in ASK cryptocurrency for engaging with advertisers and participating in their campaigns on Permission.

Users are free to hold, transfer, exchange, or spend their ASK rewards directly at Permission.io’s REDEEM store. Instead of forcing people to view their offers, advertisers on the Permission.io platform display relevant, personalized content exclusively to users who have given their permission to do so.

As a result, advertisers will experience increased engagement and ROI while building fruitful, long-term relationships with a loyal customer base.

Create an account at Permission!

‍

Are you looking to earn crypto without spending money to get some?

If yes, then you are in the perfect place.

In this article, we will explore Bitcoin faucets, one of the oldest and easiest ways to earn BTC for free.

After you learn what it is, we will discuss how to pick a great one, as well as provide you with a list in which we have collected the best Bitcoin faucets to get some free satoshi in 2021.

Let’s dive in!

What Is a Bitcoin Faucet?

A Bitcoin faucet is a website or an application that gives away small amounts of BTC in exchange for completing small, easy tasks.

Such tasks can range from completing surveys, solving captcha, viewing advertisements, playing games, or watching promotional videos about products or services.

Crypto enthusiasts coined the “faucet” name for such solutions, as the BTC rewards users can claim are so small that they can be characterized as tiny drops of water leaking from a faucet.

This is the reason why the Bitcoin rewards distributed via faucets are measured in satoshi, the smallest unit of the cryptocurrency equaling 0.000000001 BTC ($0.000036 at the current Bitcoin price).

Since the rewards are small for every Bitcoin faucet, you shouldn’t expect to get rich with such solutions.

As the popular phrase goes: “there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” This is especially true for the cryptocurrency industry.

While it’s possible to earn Bitcoin with faucets or other ways without investing funds, you still have to give something in exchange to get crypto.

In terms of BTC faucets, in most cases, you have to dedicate time to complete the small tasks given by the service provider. And, as another popular saying goes: “time is money.”

So, before jumping right into getting some free sats with a crypto faucet, it’s important to keep this in mind.

Interestingly, the history of Bitcoin faucets dates back to 2010, when early adopter and software developer Gavin Andresen decided to give away free BTC to kickstart the adoption of the cryptocurrency.

Until it was operating, Andresen gave away 19,700 BTC (worth $709 million right now) to spread awareness about crypto and blockchain technology.

While Andresen required users to solve a captcha only, it’s not a sustainable business model for most Bitcoin faucets (Andresen’s faucet has been defunct since early 2013).

For that reason, the BTC faucets operating today usually rely on third-party advertisements, affiliate marketing, and other sources of channels to remain profitable.

And this is the exact reason why most of them require you to do small tasks.

What Makes a Great Bitcoin Faucet?

Now that you know what a Bitcoin faucet is, let’s see what factors you should take into account when choosing one to use.

Before you jump right into earning some free BTC, you should consider the following:

1. Claim amount: One of the most important factors when looking to make money is the actual sum you can earn. Each time you use a BTC faucet, you should check the claim amount to estimate your potential earnings. As a rule of thumb, the more complex a task is, the more satoshi you can get.
2. Timer: Each Bitcoin faucet features its own timer that refreshes in certain periods, which can range from a few minutes to several days.
3. Withdrawal method: Bitcoin faucets usually distribute rewards via standard BTC wallets (they keep your funds in micro wallets until reaching a certain threshold).
4. Minimum withdrawal: Since service providers have to pay transaction fees after each crypto payment, they set minimum withdrawal amounts to save money on transfer costs.
5. Referral fee: Many Bitcoin faucets feature their own referral programs that allow you to earn a commission in exchange for inviting other users to the platform.
6. Reputation: While there are many legitimate Bitcoin faucets on the market, some are operated by fraudsters. For that reason, it’s crucial to choose a reputable provider that NEVER asks you to provide sensitive personal data or deposit cryptocurrency in order to earn money.

Next, you will find a list of the 5 best Bitcoin faucets currently on the market.

Let’s see ’em!

1. Cointiply: The Best Overall Bitcoin Faucet

Average claim amount: 200 satoshis per hour

Cointiply is among the most popular Bitcoin faucets on the market.

Founded in 2018, Cointiply is a feature-rich platform that offers one of the highest rewards, with average claims ranging around 200 satoshis per hour.

Featuring partnerships with numerous advertisers, Cointiply allows users to earn free BTC by completing tasks, such as participating in surveys, watching videos, playing browser games, and clicking on ads.

As soon as you reach 35,000 satoshis, you can hold your BTC in your micro wallet to earn 5% interest on your coins (you can even deposit more to increase your returns).

In addition to getting loyalty bonuses for logging into your account each day, you can earn reward points after “leveling up” by completing a certain number of tasks.

Furthermore, as its name suggests, Cointiply allows users to try their luck to increase their rewards by up to 61 times via a sci-fi-themed multiplier game.

Also, Cointiply pays a 25% commission after your referrals’ faucet rolls, while you can claim 10% of their earnings from offers and 0.25% of the coins they utilized to play the multiplier game.

The minimum amount is 50,000 satoshi to withdraw BTC directly to your wallet on the platform.

2. Bitcoin Aliens: The Best High-Paying Bitcoin Faucet

Average claim amount: 4,000 satoshis per hour

With the average claim amount being at 4,000 satoshis every hour, Bitcoin Aliens is among the highest-paying crypto faucets out there.

In addition to paying high sums, Bitcoin Aliens also offers a fun experience for users.

Instead of clicking on ads or answering surveys, Bitcoin Aliens rewards users in Bitcoin, Litecoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) for playing games.

Most of Bitcoin Aliens’ games are available exclusively on Android, with the Temple Run-style Alien Run game being the only exception, which is available on both the App Store and Google Play.

However, you should keep in mind that Bitcoin Aliens makes money by collecting data while playing games on your smartphone.

According to the project, they have given away 1,090 BTC (worth around $40 million) since 2014 while featuring over 2.5 million users.

The minimum withdrawal amount for a direct transfer to your wallet is 30,000 satoshis for BTC, 10,000 satoshis for BCH, and 100,000 litoshis for LTC.

3. Bitcoinker: The Best Bitcoin Faucet for Sats Stacking

Average claim amount: 7 satoshis every 5 minutes (up to 100,000 satoshis)

With a long-standing history, Bitcoinker is a BTC faucet that offers users the easiest way to earn free coins by simply completing a captcha.

While the average payout is very small, Bitcoinker has a 5-minute timer, which means that you can use it to stack sats up to 12 times an hour.

Furthermore, Bitcoinker simulates a dice roll each time you solve a captcha with the potential to win 100,000 satoshis in every five minutes (although there’s a very low chance to achieve that).

While Bitcoinker offers a 10% commission after your referrals’ claims, the platform rewards you for being active with the option to receive up to a 30% bonus on your payouts if you maintain your seniority status for over 151 days.

The minimum withdrawal amount is 20,000 satoshi, which the platform automatically transfers to your BTC wallet on the first day of every month (when you are eligible).

4. BTC Clicks: The Best Bitcoin Faucet for Affiliates

Average claim amount: 1 satoshi per ad click (every 20 seconds)

BTC Clicks is also among the oldest crypto faucets on the market.

Similar to Cointiply, BTC Clicks also generates revenue via advertising. For that reason, you have to click on ads to claim free coins.

While each ad click rewards users only 1 satoshi, you can double your earnings by paying a subscription fee to become a premium user.

One of the best features of BTC Clicks is the platform’s high affiliate commission rate, which allows users to earn up to 160% (80% for standard users) of their referrals’ payouts.

The minimum withdrawal amount on BTC Clicks is 10,000 satoshi, which is sent instantly to your Bitcoin wallet after reaching the threshold.

5. Satoshi Quiz: The Best Bitcoin Faucet for Quiz Takers

Average claim amount: Up to 10 satoshis per minute

For those who love taking quizzes while stacking some sats, Satoshi Quiz is a no-brainer.

The platform displays a quiz every minute, which you have to answer correctly to have a chance at getting some BTC.

However, you not only have to answer it correctly, but you also have to be fast, as Satoshi Quiz distributes rewards to the first three users solving the quiz successfully (60% goes to the first, 30% to the second, and 10% to the third).

There are also daily, weekly, and monthly awards where users can win 100, 250, and 1,000 satoshis, respectively, with the prizes being distributed among the top 10 quiz takers.

On Satoshi Quiz, you get 10 lives every hour, from which you will lose one each time you answer a question incorrectly. If you run out of lives, you can either wait for the next hour to start or send a tweet to the project to get an additional five lives.

In addition to the main game, you can also participate in solo challenges where you have to answer 10 questions correctly to win 100 satoshis. However, unlike with standard quizzes, you need to pay a participation fee here.

The minimum payout on the platform is 11,000 satoshi. At the same time, Satoshi Quiz offers an affiliate commission of 20% for one year after a user invited by you registers a new account on the site.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. How do bitcoin faucets work?

Bitcoin faucets make money via advertising, affiliate marketing, and product promotions.

For that reason, most BTC faucets require users to complete small tasks, ranging from something as simple as solving a captcha to visiting certain links and watching promotional videos.

Before completing a task, most crypto faucet services require you to register an account and provide your wallet address.

After that, you can solve a small task to claim BTC, which will be transferred to a micro wallet until you accumulate the minimum amount of satoshi required to withdraw it to your wallet.

When that happens, the Bitcoin faucet will (either manually or automatically) transfer your earned BTC to your standard, third-party wallet.

It’s important to note that each Bitcoin faucet features a time-lock that restricts coin claims to certain periods (e.g., every five minutes).

2. Are bitcoin faucets worth it?

If you are looking for a get-rich-quick scheme or a ludicrous money-making opportunity, then Bitcoin faucets are not worth your time due to the limited amounts of BTC you can earn.

However, for those of you seeking to stack some sats or try cryptocurrencies for the first time, Bitcoin faucets could be a good choice.

That said, you should keep in mind that while you don’t have to spend money to get some BTC via faucets, you still have to dedicate time to complete tasks to earn crypto.

3. Are crypto faucets safe?

In general, reputable crypto faucets are considered safe as they operate via a viable business model through advertising and affiliate marketing.

On the other hand, there are also BTC faucets operated by fraudsters seeking to acquire your personal data or cryptocurrency funds via various schemes.

For that reason, it’s crucial to do your own due diligence before using a crypto faucet to choose a legitimate service and ensure your funds’ safety.

4. What is the highest paying bitcoin faucet?

Among reputable Bitcoin faucets, the highest paying solutions include Bitcoin Aliens and Cointiply, where the average claims are 4,000 satoshis and 200 satoshis per hour, respectively.

If you are lucky and hit the jackpot with your dice roll, you can earn as much as 100,000 satoshis on Bitcoinker.

Also, if you are an excellent (and super fast) quiz taker, then you have the potential to increase your BTC earnings on Satoshi Quiz.

Finally, if you have the time and patience, you can earn up to 180 satoshis per hour by clicking on ads every 20 seconds on BTC Clicks.

Bitcoin Faucets: An Easy Way to Stack Sats

With their history dating back to 2010, Bitcoin faucets provide an excellent opportunity for users to earn some free coins.

However, since the rewards are very small, you shouldn’t expect crypto faucets to provide a viable income. Instead, you will find BTC faucets most useful if you’re looking to dabble in crypto or stack some sats without spending any funds.

In any case, due to the fraud that often targets those in the crypto industry, we highly recommend doing your own due diligence to stay safe and pick a reputable service provider to earn free Bitcoin with a faucet.