How to make money with crypto: a 2.3 percent staking yield and four other routes

There are three ways to make money with crypto: through price gains when buying and selling, through ongoing income such as staking and lending, and through coins you are given in return for doing something, for example in airdrops. None of these routes is a safe income. Ongoing income is smaller than many advertising promises suggest, and it is usually outweighed by the coin's price. Staked ether recently yielded around 2.3 percent a year at the provider Lido on a seven-day average. A 3 percent drop in price is enough to wipe out that annual return.

This guide shows you the five common routes, what they realistically deliver and which risks you take on. There are no promises here. For each route, you will find the costs that usually sit in the small print and the points where investors most often lose money.

Making money with crypto: price gains, ongoing income and free coins

Before you choose a route, a simple distinction helps. A price gain arises when you buy a coin more cheaply than you later sell it. Ongoing income arises when you put a coin you already own to work and receive a reward for it, for example through staking or lending. Free coins arise when a project a...