{"id":57738,"date":"2023-05-04T05:57:05","date_gmt":"2023-05-04T05:57:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/?post_type=definition&p=57738"},"modified":"2024-05-15T14:06:19","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T14:06:19","slug":"crypto-faucet","status":"publish","type":"definition","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/crypto-faucet","title":{"rendered":"Crypto Faucet"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is a Crypto Faucet?<\/span><\/h2>\n

A crypto faucet is a website or application that awards registered users with small amounts of cryptocurrency<\/a> in exchange for completing a simple task such as viewing an ad or participating in a short survey. Essentially, crypto faucets<\/a> are a marketing strategy that crypto platform owners use to introduce new users to a specific cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n

History<\/span><\/h2>\n

The first crypto faucet was created by software developer Gavin Andresen in 2010 to promote Bitcoin. New users who visited his Bitcoin faucet website<\/a> could solve a simple captcha<\/a> once a day to prove they were not a software robot (bot<\/a>) and receive 5 free Bitcoins <\/a>each day.<\/p>\n

Andresen initially funded the faucet with his own personal Bitcoin holdings to encourage Bitcoin adoption. As Bitcoin’s value increased, however, it became increasingly challenging for Andresen to fund the faucet (even with community help) and in 2012, it was shut down.<\/p>\n

Following Bitcoin’s initial success, other crypto operators began to create faucets to promote their own digital currencies<\/a>. As cryptocurrency adoption became more widespread, those operators found themselves facing the same sustainability issues that Andresen had to deal with.<\/p>\n

One popular solution was to partner with pay-per-click (PPC<\/a>) and cost-per-impression (CPI<\/a>) advertising networks and use a portion of the revenue to fund faucet rewards. To keep participants engaged, advertisers began to incorporate gamification<\/a> elements in their ads to make the user experience (UX) more enjoyable.<\/p>\n

How Crypto Faucets Work<\/span><\/h2>\n

To use a crypto faucet, participants first have to register and perform a quick, easy task such as:<\/p>\n