There are many opportunities to earn referral commission in the crypto space - after all, rewarding the community for sharing is the fastest way to market a new product. But not all of them are really attractive and some of them are downright frauds.

Some pay you their referral commission in their own token, which may or may not ever be worth anything.

And some pay out such high commissions, that everyone and their mother spams us with their referrals links - regardless of whether the product is actually worth recommending or not. In most cases the product is not worth it and the commission and referral structure actually becomes the product —> most often that's a Ponzi scheme.

I do like referral rewards, as long as they are a “bonus” and don’t become the main motivation for recommending something.

Rewards are part of the sharing economy, and I think it’s fair to receive a financial Thank You for bringing in new customers and add value to a business.

If you care about your reputation and your relationship with your friends and followers, it’s important to only recommend products or services that you have either tested and used yourself, or can authentically recommend for other legitimate reasons.

Below are 4 of my favorite ways to earn crypto from referrals - because a - they are really useful products or services, and b) they pay the referrals rewards either in Bitcoin or in other legitimate cryptocurrencies that are actually worth something.

Also - in most cases they reward the new person for joining, too (instead of only the affiliate), so they are actually incentivized to click on a referral link rather than just downloading the app directly.

1. Emberfund

This is my favorite crypto app, which I recommend to all my clients, who don’t have a lot of money to invest and who don’t really know which coins to invest in.

Emberfund allows you to benefit from the expertise of experienced crypto traders by investing in their crypto hedge funds - all while keeping your private keys!

This is unique in the crypto space! There are other investment apps, but they require you to send them your funds and give them full control. With Emberfund, you keep the control over your money at all times! You can watch a tutorial here on how it works.

Emberfund pays you 1% of what your referees deposit in a portfolio - up to a maximum of $500!!

2. Lolli

Lolli is a browser extension that allows you to earn rewards in Bitcoin when you shop online. It’s like collecting loyalty points or air miles, only that’s it’s actual Bitcoins! This is amazing and will help so many people - not only to get onboarded to crypto in an easy way, but also to begin accumulating some Bitcoin, especially if they don’t have any money to invest.

Even though it’s only available in the U.S. for now - I am super excited about this! As you know - small bits of Bitcoin can turn into a LOT of money over time!

Since I do not live in the U.S. I haven’t been able to use this myself yet. But judging by what I’ve read about them, and interviews I watched with the founders - I do feel comfortable recommending them. By using a referral link, both the affiliate as well as the new users earn $5 once the new user starts shopping.

I can’t wait for them to expand beyond the U.S.!!

3. Brave Browser

Everything about the Brave Browser is a passive income opportunity: whether you earn from ads, from your followers supporting you in a Patreon-like style, or from sharing your referral link.

You get paid in BAT tokens in all three cases, which can really add up. Since this browser has already millions of active users, I also believe the token will continue to increase in value.

I don’t know what the latest is, but I do believe Brave gives new users a little welcome gift when they sign up through a referral link.

4. Earn

Earn allows users to complete mini tasks in exchange for small amounts of Bitcoin. In most cases it’s answering 3-question surveys. All you need is to sign up to mailing lists within Earn.com - according to your expertise - and whenever a marketer or researcher sends an email to that list, you will receive it and have a chance to respond and earn.

It used to be very busy during the ICO hype of 2017/18 and has been quite dead for me over the past few months, to be honest. But it could be different for you, if you’re subscribed to different lists than I am. Also, I believe it will pick up again in the future, the more companies see the value of it and begin using it. It has been acquired by Coinbase last year, so I guess they have a plan for it :)

Earn pays you $1 in BTC for each referral, which can add up.

5. Exchanges & Wallets

Coinbase.com is one of the most popular exchanges because they give the affiliate and the new user $10 once the new user makes their first purchase.

I personally do not recommend Coinbase, because I don't use it myself. I much prefer Cryptopay here in Europe.

Cryptopay is super fast and reliable and has great customer service. They also have a prepaid card (not in all countries), which let's you spend your Bitcoins in the real world, should you want to. By using a referral link, the new person gets 25% off of the card fee, and the affiliate receives 10% of all the fees Cryptopay charges the new user in the future.

Almost every crypto exchange offers a referral bonus. The most popular altcoin exchange is Binance, and it's my personal favorite, too. Out of all the altcoin exchanges I trust them most. Like Cryptopay, Binance will also pay the affiliate a small percantage of the trading fee charged to the new users they referred.

I can imagine that there might be a very attractive referral programme for users in the U.S. once Binance.us launches.

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There are many many more ways to earn crypto from referrals, but I've only listed the ones here that will pay out affilate commissions in a currency that you can actually benefit from *now*, and not at some point in the future when they are listed at more exchanges.

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Anja Schuetz helps absolute beginners to become confident crypto investors and create a Plan B for their financial future. She is the author of How To Stay Safe in the Crypto Space and offers - a crypto safety guide for beginners - and has lots of free educational crypto resources on her website.

She also consults as a Customer Communication & Operations Manager for blockchain start-ups.

Follow Anja @connecteconomy on Twitter | Youtube | Publish0x