Bitcoin ranks high as one of the most controversial inventions of modern times. Ever since it has been introduced to the public, people have been debating whether cryptocurrency holds any value in long-term endeavors or if it’s just a passing craze, due to its high volatility. Nonetheless, the more people educate themselves on the subject, the more popularity this revolutionary innovation seems to gain. And for a good reason. Bitcoin seems to have some of the answers to numerous issues posed by the medium of exchange humans have been using so far.

The strongest point this monetary system has to offer is the fact that it is an extremely fast method of payment, which in our fast-paced society, has already become a must. It eliminates the currently inescapable boundaries between the business-conducting parties. It can also be used to symbolize any property, from barrels of oil, land, money or even a vote during elections. This gives cryptocurrency a huge array of applications that go far beyond monetary trade. Bitcoin also introduces various innovative ways of programming the currency so that certain rules apply to it. For example, the unit can be programmed to return to the provider in case it is not used for a certain amount of time.

When looking at ways of investing and using bitcoins, there are multiple interesting roads to go down, and that highlight the originality and newfound advantages of this currency from arbitrage to online gambling. However, as with any investment method, there are some with a higher risk than others. Let’s take a look at the most popular ones that exist so far and what options they provide users.

Starting a Bitcoin Faucet

This method of investing your bitcoins is one of the easiest on the list, as it also involves less risk, although it is not 100% free from it. It requires building a website that rewards people accessing it with bitcoins. The faucet can be monetized by using advertisements, affiliate links or even donations.

Some profitable ways of earning money with a bitcoin faucet include affiliate programs, banner advertising and captcha solving.

Of course, like any investment, a bitcoin faucet comes with some associated risks. One of these could be limiting profits to a minimum because the visitors that end up on the site are simply looking for ways of avoiding ads altogether and when this is the primary source of income, it can turn into a bit of a problem.

The main thing to keep in mind is that the site should have good quality content to offer its visitors to keep them interested and to keep traffic high, for example, it could offer news or information about bitcoins or modify the received bitcoin amounts according to the price of Bitcoin.

Lending Bitcoins

The main advantage online lenders see, compared to traditional lending services such as banks, can be seen in the cost department. Because they don’t need to pay for staff and offices, these kinds of enterprises ca afford to offer lower interest rates to their customers.

Multiple bitcoin lending platforms can allow you to borrow or lend cryptocurrency for a specific interest, and depending on the strategy you use, you stand to make a profit of anywhere from 10%, up to 14% per year, as an investor.

This method is a little riskier than the aforementioned one, and this is because it has more potential for fraud, and although it is not as high as with other methods of investment, it is still worth mentioning. To reduce the potential of scams as much as possible, platforms have implemented manually approved submissions, which is a step in the right direction.

Bitcoin Arbitrage

This method implies buying bitcoins for a low price and selling them at a higher cost, thus making a profit.

In this case, one of the greatest general advantages of bitcoins could be this method’s downfall. Bitcoin is an incredibly fast-changing currency. However, verification is still in effect for each transaction and having multiple proceedings to verify could take time, during which the exchange rates could shift, leading to a less profitable result.

Of course, the more you educate yourself on this matter, the more chances you have of making a profit, so don’t expect to hit it big on the first try. Success in this field definitely requires experience.

Some examples of more popular exchanges to arbitrage between are Coinbase, BTC-E, Bitfinex, and Bitstamp.

Cloud Mining

This is a way of earning bitcoins without using a bitcoin mining software of hardware. This process is also sometimes called cloud hashing, and it basically implies remote cloud mining.

There are various ways of cloud mining currently available: hosted mining, virtual hosted mining and leased hashing power, which seems to be the most popular, because it does not require a dedicated data processor, and it eliminates the usual problems bitcoin miners face, like electricity-related issues, bandwidth, etc.

The risk of fraud does not go away in this case either as there can never be a definite guarantee against it when discussing any form of transaction.

An important element to keep in mind while handling cryptocurrency is that bitcoins are worth only as much as the confidence people place in them. Therefore, their value cannot be exactly determined over time, like that of material possessions, valuable metals or land, regardless of certain influential or even environmental factors, like electricity, for example. Ever since Bitcoin emerged on the scene, its value has greatly fluctuated, being dependent on the amount of people using it. Nevertheless, cryptocurrency is quickly becoming recognized as a form of payment by many giant companies, some of which include Amazon, Tesla Motors, Victoria’s Secret and even Kmart. It seems like the Bitcoins are here to stay, make their mark on modern society and change the way we understand trade and investments altogether.