In the winter of 2024, I was woken up by a text message at 3 AM — it wasn’t a work message, but a notification from my DeFi wallet saying 'Today's earnings have arrived': 38.7 USDC quietly lying in my account, equivalent to three times my daily salary. At that moment, I suddenly realized: in the crypto world, money can truly 'work for you 24 hours a day.'

1. Staking: Turning coins into 'digital bank deposits'

This is the most brainless passive income method in the crypto world, equivalent to storing coins in a 'decentralized bank' to earn interest:

  • Ethereum staking: Locking ETH into the Beacon chain, earning 0.003 ETH daily (current APY is about 5.2%), 32 ETH can be a 'node landlord', earning an extra 1.5 ETH monthly (worth 4,500 dollars);

  • Tron TRX staking: No need to understand smart contracts, one-click staking on exchanges, stable APY of 6-8%, earning 50 dollars monthly with 10,000 TRX, equivalent to an extra 'digital rent'.


I’ve seen the most ruthless case: a programmer who hoarded 200 ADA in 2021 earned 80 ADA from staking, directly buying a Tesla — staking isn't about getting rich quickly, but it’s great for 'waking up to money'.

2. DeFi lending: Being the 'hands-off manager' in the crypto world

Lending coins to others, earning interest + fees, it's even better than a pawn shop in real life:

  • USDT lending: Lending stablecoins in Aave and Compound, stable APY of 4-6%, earning 4,000 yuan monthly from 100,000 USDT, 10 times higher than bank wealth management;

  • NFT lending: Pledging a Bored Ape to borrow stablecoins for trading, while also earning NFT rent (for instance, BAYC monthly rent is 2 ETH), equivalent to 'using other people's money for trading while collecting rent from your own NFT.'


In last year's bear market, I earned 12% returns from lending, which was three times more than holding coins — earn stablecoins in bear markets and mainstream coins in bull markets; you can profit in both up and down markets.

3. Liquidity mining: Equipping coins with an 'automatic money-making engine'

Putting coins into liquidity pools on exchanges or DeFi platforms, earning trading fees + platform token rewards:

  • Uniswap mining UNI: Depositing ETH and USDC, earning 0.5 UNI daily (worth 30 dollars), and also getting 0.3% of trading fees;

  • PancakeSwap mining CAKE: Depositing BNB and BUSD, APY as high as 20%, earning 1,600 dollars monthly from a 10,000 dollar principal, equivalent to 'finding a 24-hour side job for your coins.'


Be careful not to touch 'meme coin mining pools'. I once mined on a certain shady platform, and the coin price plummeted by 80%, with fees not even covering the gas cost — choose mainstream platforms to earn 'visible money'.

4. Airdrop harvesting: Plucking the 'wool rain' from project parties

Early participation in new project testing, receiving free token airdrops, with potential returns of thousands of times:

  • Arbitrum airdrop: Early interactive users earned an average of 20,000 dollars, and some made 400,000 dollars with 20 wallets;

  • zkSync testnet: Transferring and interacting with contracts, now waiting for the airdrop, with expected single-account earnings of 5,000 dollars +.


I summarized the 'three principles of harvesting wool': only harvest projects with financing, keep screenshots of every operation, and don't use main funds — last year, I earned 300,000 from airdrops, which is higher than my salary.

5. NFT leasing: Let digital collectibles 'help you make money'

Renting out NFTs to others, earning rent + appreciation, for example:

  • Game NFT leasing: Renting out Axie Infinity pets to players, earning 0.1 ETH in rent daily, equivalent to 'digital pets working for you';

  • Domain leasing: Renting out .eth domains to project parties, earning 1-5 ETH in rent annually. My friend's 'bitcoin.eth' domain has an annual rent of 8 ETH (worth 24,000 dollars).


The most exaggerated is BAYC leasing: top NFTs have monthly rents as high as 5 ETH (15,000 dollars), which is even more expensive than renting luxury cars in real life — your avatar might earn more than your car.

The threshold for ordinary people's 'laying down to earn': 3 essential truths

  1. Don't touch leverage! The core of passive income is 'stability', and leverage liquidation can return you to square one overnight;

  2. Choose 'mainstream coins + mainstream platforms': ETH and BTC staking are the safest, Uniswap and Aave have the most stable fees;

  3. Turn 10% of your funds into 'money-making tools': for example, using 10,000 dollars in principal, earning 500 dollars/month from staking, equivalent to 'having an extra side job'.


Now in my wallet, 30% of funds are staked to earn interest, 20% are in DeFi lending, 10% are harvesting airdrops, and the rest are hoarding mainstream coins — my monthly passive income is stable at 8,000 to 15,000, more reliable than working.


The most counterintuitive truth in the crypto world: true 'passive income' doesn’t rely on wild fluctuations, but on letting your coins 'work like employees 24 hours a day'. Starting today, take out 10% of your coins, try staking, lending, and harvesting airdrops — after three months, you’ll find an extra 'digital worker' in your wallet.

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#被动收入 #DataFi #BTC