What is a crypto faucet?

Ever wonder how much time you spend online watching those annoying ads that pop up at the most inconvenient times? What if you could turn that time into a rewarding opportunity? Enter crypto faucets—platforms that periodically give users small amounts of cryptocurrency.

But don't assume crypto faucets will make you a millionaire. Yes, you can make some money, but realistically, they won't make you rich. Instead, the original idea of crypto faucets was to spark your interest in cryptocurrency so that you would eventually start interacting more with it, either through trading or investing. This remains the case today, although many crypto faucets have since expanded into standalone businesses. There are even some web2 platforms that come with crypto faucets to reward users.

A crypto faucet is a website or app that rewards you with cryptocurrency for completing simple tasks. These tasks might include watching ads, taking surveys, or completing quizzes. Some faucets don't even require you to complete a task; you simply need to prove you're human by completing a captcha.

But remember, crypto faucets are called "faucets" because the rewards you receive are very small, like the drip from that leaky kitchen faucet you've been meaning to fix for a week.

If you've ever played online games, you've probably heard of the concept behind cryptocurrency faucets, except the rewards might not be cryptocurrency. For example, when you run out of energy, lives, gems, or other in-game resources in an online game, you often have the option to watch ads or videos to earn more rewards. The mechanics of cryptocurrency faucets are essentially the same.

Some cryptocurrency faucets are designed to generate awareness and curiosity about a particular cryptocurrency. Others are more like simple businesses based on advertising revenue, like mobile online games. In fact, even some non-cryptocurrency and web2 platforms use cryptocurrency faucets to attract users (such as the web browser Brave).

There are also crypto faucets designed specifically to provide gas fees to new users, such as the Optimism ETH faucet. This faucet provides users with 0.002 oETH to cover gas fees on the Optimism Layer 2 network. However, it does require users to first bridge 1,500 USDC to Optimism using the faucet.