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Bitcoin Faucets are simply websites, networks, or programs that offer users a small amount of bitcoin each time they carry out simple tasks or activities. Now, these tasks would include
- Watching product videos
- viewing advertisements
- solving captchas and puzzles
- even playing games
Just simple and easy tasks. Bitcoin faucets are generally treated as a simple reward system, but it’s more than that.
Before knowing what a Bitcoin faucet is, let’s start with the terminology first. A Faucet can be termed as leaking water, drop by drop, from a tap gradually that does not make a significant change in a short time; that is, if you put something under the faucet for some time, the pot or vessel might not get filled with it. But what could happen if you put the same pot under the faucet for a day or a week, it would get full or even overflow with water. This is precisely how a bitcoin faucet works. The only difference here is that you get satoshi instead of water.
What are satoshis? — Satoshi’s are possibly the lowest value of a bitcoin, just like a dollar can be divided into hundred pennies as the latter is the smallest unit of the former; similar to this a bitcoin consists of one million satoshis. Satoshis is named after the guy who said to create bitcoin.
As the definition goes, each time a user completes the given simple tasks, he would get satoshis as a reward. But what would someone do with the millionth part of bitcoin, right? Well, then consider the leaking faucet analogy that stated that even drop after drop could lead to a pot full in the long term. Similar to this, these satoshis, which the user receives as a reward, could add up over time.
When Bitcoin Faucet emerged?
Bitcoin faucet launched after a year after the real Bitcoin launched. And what was the name of the first bitcoin faucet? Well, it was self-titled as the Bitcoin Faucet itself. The first Bitcoin faucet is currently one of the highest-paying faucets. When the first bitcoin faucet was launched, the bitcoin itself was worthless and unknown; as a result, nobody used it.
The founder of Bitcoin Faucet, Gavin Andreesen, was one of the few people who recognized the potential and worth of bitcoin very early. Being a software engineer, he was fascinated by the idea of a decentralized, self-governing, and encrypted virtual currency, and he assumed that the cryptocurrency would go somewhere. While Gavin had no intention to make the highest paying bitcoin faucet, it became one as there was no competition.
How does Bitcoin Faucet Work?
Usually, bitcoin faucets are easy to use as it makes you perform only several easy tasks such as entering the bitcoin wallet’s public key address, clicking some buttons, and you are good to go to receive the coins. More complex activities lead to higher rewards. Numerous faucets are easy and legal, but the rewards in such bitcoin faucets are so meager that they could hardly make you rich or fulfilled.
What’s the purpose of the Bitcoin Faucet?
Initially, bitcoin was available in abundance compared to its users as there were no opportunities available for crypto trading, investment, or exchange due to the absence of exchange platforms. Early adopters of bitcoin, such as first bitcoin faucet founder Gavin Andresen devised new ways for people to learn about crypto.
The first bitcoin faucet ever in 2010 was created that paid 5 Bitcoin for just clicking images. At that time, bitcoin was worth a penny, which 5 BTC today would cost about $150,000. As crypto and bitcoin became popular, bitcoin faucets followed along, and the rewards fell to the bottom as possible.
Pros and cons of Bitcoin Faucet
Bitcoin faucets have several pros and cons that need to be considered before their acceptance. The biggest pro of bitcoin faucets is that they are free, as there is no other way by which you could receive free crypto.
Other than that, such faucets can be an easy way to start with bitcoin or such cryptocurrencies. You don’t need to make an actual investment. Take part in a faucet, earn some crypto and start your crypto journey.
Usability or faucets are also simple that don’t require much knowledge or special abilities. They don’t even need any vital information about the trading of crypto for using a faucet.
Cons are also there with bitcoin faucets as with their popularity and wide acceptance, many bad actors also entered the space and started performing malicious activities. The first con is that the reward amount is very small, which could be as little as a satoshi that could cost 1 penny for 33 satoshis.
Doing the same work for a more extended time, which will get you rewards of just a few cents, might not seem worth it for a long time. Instead of doing such work, maybe you would like to consider some skill-based creative stuff to invest your time.
Other than the above-mentioned issues, the general risks related to cryptocurrencies also apply to faucets. Such cons include scams, phishing attempts, or such ways of stealing attempts, funds, or the identity of users. Some of the faucets also resulted in infecting users with malware. Before entering the lure of free money in bitcoin faucets, users should consider the red flags.
Popular Bitcoin faucets
Today the popularity of bitcoin faucets resulted in the emergence of numerous faucets working well in the field. It includes FreeBitcoin, Faucetcrypto, Coiniply, Rollercoin, and many more.
With a background in journalism, Ritika Sharma has worked with many reputed media firms focusing on general news such as politics and crime. She joined The Coin Republic as a reporter for crypto, and found a great passion for cryptocurrency, Web3, NFTs and other digital assets. She spends a lot of time researching and delving deeper into these concepts around the clock, and is a strong advocate for women in STEM.
