“I want to invest in crypto but I don’t have enough money”.
That was our readers’ number 1 problem.
But you can make it in crypto, even with $0. Most just don’t know how.
So in this in this article we are going to share a step by step guide – showing you how to make your first $10k in crypto.
Step 1 – Join the Community ($0)
From networking, to finding your own alpha group, to spotting trends and opportunities, joining the crypto community is the essential first step. As you progress, make sure to continue joining communities that align with what you are doing. So what are our exact next steps here?
1️⃣ Focus on one ecosystem. Identify a hot ecosystem by looking at user metrics, hype on social media, and unique fundamentals. Tools such as Nansen can assist in this process.
2️⃣ Join discord channels and telegram groups for the largest projects within that ecosystem. You can use the market cap of assets within that ecosystem or user metrics from platforms such as Nansen to identify what these are.
3️⃣ Build your alpha network. You will be able to achieve a lot more with a network than on your own. The key here is to provide value in the communities you have joined. If you’re not sure how, here are some examples of things you can share on project discords, telegrams or your own social media:
- Detailed, written project reports (you can use our framework below!).
- Technical analysis on a coin.
- A user guide. Record yourself using a protocol and share with the community.
- Answers. Look for questions on project discords or telegrams and answer them.
For those asking, “ok but how does this actually make me money?”:
Those who provide value are noticed by projects who may offer a part or full time role. This can provide a source of income worth more than $10k.
Community members will share their alpha with you in return. They may tell you to check out an opportunity or you may notice a buzz surrounding a specific topic. They may even tell you about alpha communities they are a part of, such as the Inner Circle.
Step 2 – Bounty Airdrops ($0-$500)
A bounty airdrop is where projects offer tokens in exchange for help with their marketing campaigns (for example retweeting one of their posts). These are the easiest to find and are guaranteed but are low value. This makes them the perfect place to make our first $500. To find them use tools such as CoinMarketCap’s Free Airdrops page or Airdrops.io.
Step 3 – Retroactive Airdrops + Bounty Airdrops ($500 – $1,500)
Retroactive airdrops, granted to those who have used a protocol, are harder to find and are not guaranteed but can be worth $1000s. Just this month, Aptos users earned $3,000 and required $0 capital to do so. But this is just one example of a valuable airdrop. Others include:
- Uniswap: Tokens worth $12,000 were distributed to anyone who had interacted with the protocol.
- ENS Domains: Distributed 25% of their token supply to anyone who had purchased a domain. “Low tier” recipients received an average token amount worth $15,000.
- 1Inch: The average amount of $3,000 was distributed to anyone who had carried out more than 4 trades.
We can use our $500 to start testing protocols and earning these kinds of airdrops. To find these opportunities:
1️⃣ Identify recent airdrops in hot ecosystems you found as part of step 1. Join those communities and engage with it’s members. They are likely to know where to look next and if you provide value, will be happy to share.
2️⃣ Keep an eye out for hot ecosystems / projects that don’t have a token. As you follow the steps in this guide you will research and test a number of projects. If they don’t have a token, look for any news or announcements. They may have expressly ruled out releasing a token however they may also have hinted at an airdrop in the future.
3️⃣ Share your own airdrop alpha. As you find these opportunities – share them in the communities you are a part of. The more alpha you share, the more alpha will receive in return.
Step 4 – Retroactive Airdrops only ($1,500 – $10,000)
After $1,500, bounty airdrops become less useful so we recommend focusing only on retroactive airdrops.
Step 5a – Invest in Early Stage Opportunities ($1,500 – $10,000)
At $1,500, we have enough capital to make meaningful gains on early stage investments. To find these:
(1) Identify a hot ecosystem. Look for trending layer 1 and 2 coins, consider rapid increases to user metrics such as number of transactions, assess the fundamental strength of an ecosystem and assess hot narratives.
(2) Use basic analysis to filter through opportunities: Consider market cap. volume and use case to create a short list of opportunities within your chosen ecosystem. Coin Market Cap has all the relevant information
(3) Carry out a detailed analysis using a research framework:
1️⃣ Operations
- Technology and use case: What problem is the project trying to solve and does it actually solve it?
- Competitive landscape: Are there any other projects that solve the same problem?
- Roadmap: Is there a detailed roadmap with evidence the team is adhering to it?
- Security: Does the project have audits and has it been maliciously attacked before?
2️⃣ People
- Team: Does the team have the experience to execute their vision?
- Third Parties: Are any top tier investors / advisors involved?
- Community: How big is the community on social media and do they seem more interested in the project’s solution or the token price?
3️⃣ Tokenomics
- Utility: Why does the token need to exist?
- Incentives: Are there any incentives to hold the token (such as staking rewards)?
- Fairness: Are the tokens being distributed fairly or do the team / early investors hold most of the supply?
Step 5b – NFT Trading ($1,500 – $10,000)
$1,500 is also enough to start trading NFTs. Because of their fundamental differences we recommend focusing on step 5a OR step 5b. To make money:
(1) Minting competitions: Enter competitions that can earn mintlist allocations for new projects. To find these yourself, use sites such as nftscoring.com and mintyscore.com. Additionally, remember to continue joining appropriate communities as they will also help you identify opportunities.
For example, just last week, Art Gobblers launched with a floor price of over $20,000. The mint was free, but a spot on the mintlist had to be won. Our Inner Circle Members were first told about the project months before launch and were given detailed instructions for strategies to win the competition.
(2) Solana NFTs: NFTs on Solana are significantly more accessible to those with smaller portfolios. Identify the hot trends and ecosystems by using Nansen’s free NFT index data. Create a shortlist of projects within that ecosystem and carry out a detailed analysis (using a similar framework to the above).
04/11/2022 – Nansen NFT Index
- Using this we can identify that Art NFTs have outperformed the rest of the market in 2022 by a significant margin.
Making Your First $10k
Follow these steps and anyone can make their first $10k.
But, it won’t be easy. Each step requires countless hours of study and practical experience. Everyone will make mistakes and many will lose it all before finding success.
So what can you do to make your journey quicker? What if you don’t have any spare time during the day? What if you just don’t want to spend months learning from your mistakes before seeing any success?
For those people – we created the Inner Circle. Our goal is to help anyone reach their financial goals through crypto, even if they don’t have enough money, even if they don’t have enough time.
Join today and receive:
- Airdrop report: Instant access to our top 20 predictions (monthly updates)
- Investment reports: Early stage opportunities without hours of research
- Exclusive TA / FA: From our experienced team
- Inner Circle Discord: Experienced users share their strategies to build crypto wealth