There are endless opportunities to make money in the crypto world. This in-depth guide will provide you with tips and strategies for profitable crypto business ideas.
Why Crypto Business Ideas Are So Important
Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology have been around for more than a decade. But it still feels like we’re at the tip of the iceberg of crypto’s long-term potential. As an entrepreneur interested in starting a crypto business, you can still become a first-mover in this space.
Crypto is gaining traction worldwide. User adoption rates are increasing, businesses are more often accepting crypto as payment, and organizations are keeping crypto on their balance sheets.
What does this mean for you? There are dozens of potential crypto business ideas and plenty of ways to make money in crypto for the foreseeable future.
Whether you’re looking for a small side hustle or a full-scale crypto business, there’s no shortage of ideas to consider. As crypto adoption rates continue to rise in the coming years, you can scale your venture and turn limitless profits.
Quick Tips For Crypto Business Ideas
Making money in crypto all starts with the right idea. Below we’ll highlight some of the top crypto business ideas that you can start right now. These business ideas are poised for growth in the foreseeable future.
Day Trading With Crypto
To be clear, this is an extremely risky business idea. So don’t put your life savings on the line here, and only trade with money that you’d be comfortable losing, as with any risky investment strategy.
But the great part about becoming a crypto day trader is that anyone can do it, and you can start with very low amounts of money. It’s an excellent opportunity for people who want to make money with crypto as a side hustle.
Getting started is easy. You just need to sign up for a cryptocurrency trading platform.
If you plan on trading long-term, then you’ll likely want to open accounts with multiple exchanges. But for beginners, Coinbase is a great option to start with.
More than 56+ million users across 100+ countries rely on Coinbase for crypto trading. You can sign up in a matter of minutes by creating an account and linking your bank account—then you can start buying and selling crypto right away.
Another cool aspect of Coinbase is the information they offer about crypto and the crypto market. They have tips, tutorials, crypto basics, and other valuable insights for new cryptocurrency day traders.
Like most crypto exchanges, Coinbase charges transactional fees when you buy and trade crypto. The rates vary from transaction to transaction, so just take this into consideration when you’re executing trades.
Start a Cryptocurrency Exchange
For those of you with big aspirations, you can create your own crypto exchange business where people can buy and sell crypto through your platform. You’ll generate revenue through transactional fees for deposits, withdrawals, trades, and transfers.
There are several different types of cryptocurrency exchange platforms on the market. So you’ll need to do some research to determine which option works best for your business.
Examples include:
- Decentralized exchanges
- Centralized exchanges
- Hybrid exchanges
- Binary options exchanges
- Clone script-based crypto exchanges
- Ads-based exchanges
- Oder book exchanges
- White label crypto exchanges
Getting started with this type of venture is a bit more complex compared to other crypto ideas. You’ll need to find an exchange software provider and payment processor in addition to raising capital and going through all the other steps required to start a crypto business.
Start a Crypto Payment Gateway
As cryptocurrency adoption rates continue to rise worldwide, there’s an increasing demand for businesses to accept crypto.
Similar to credit card processing, businesses need to go through a third-party provider to accept these alternative payment methods. That’s where you can step in and fulfill this growing need.
Whenever a customer pays using crypto through an online payment gateway, the gateway is responsible for converting that payment into fiat currency (government-issued currency not backed by a commodity) to stabilize the value. From there, the gateway routes the transaction to the issuing bank before it gets approved, settled, and ultimately routed to the merchant.
This type of crypto business makes money through transactional fees, account setup fees, and subscriptions for providing merchant services to clients.
Offer Crypto Asset Management Services
If you’ve already mastered crypto trading and developed your own strategy for success, you can use your knowledge to manage crypto portfolios for other people.
This business operates like any other financial management service with traditional investing.
Clients come to your business with money they want to put into the crypto market. You’ll determine a risk tolerance for the client based on their goals and customize a portfolio based on their unique needs.
You can offer crypto financial planning services, crypto investment advice, and financial analysis services to clients. Like many other fiat financial advisors, you can also offer cryptocurrency coaching services, providing insights to people who want to learn more about crypto investments.
If you offer these services remotely online, you can get started with little to no overhead. This sets you up to turn higher profits once your business scales.
Sell Physical Things for Cryptocurrencies Online
Lots of cryptocurrency users want their assets to be more than an investment. They want to use crypto to buy everyday products and services. The problem is that the vast majority of businesses haven’t adopted crypto as a mainstream payment method.
You can target these buyers by selling goods online in exchange for crypto. It’s possible to do this with essentially any type of product.
Start an ecommerce website and use dropshipping to avoid holding inventory or handling shipping. With this business model, the products ship directly from the manufacturer or wholesale warehouse to the customer. We’ve even compiled a list of the best dropshipping companies for you to consider.
All you need is an online exchange to facilitate these transactions. Coinbase Commerce makes this process really easy for merchants.
The platform integrates with Shopify and WooCommerce as well—both of which have solutions for ecommerce dropshipping.
More than 8,000 merchants are already using Coinbase Commerce to accept crypto for physical goods and services. You can sign up and get started in less than five minutes.
There are no merchant fees to accept crypto using this platform. But you’ll be charged transaction fees to convert your crypto into fiat currency.
Offer Legal or Accounting Services to Crypto Investors
This crypto business idea is only for entrepreneurs who fall into specific categories. In short, it’s for attorneys and accountants.
As a crypto legal specialist or a CPA specializing in crypto, you can charge significantly higher rates for your services. That’s because you are filling a niche category that not every lawyer or every accountant can serve.
For example, as a crypto CPA, you can offer tax advice to crypto investors or handle bookkeeping services for crypto day traders. Crypto attorneys can help their clients navigate the waters of the ever-changing laws and regulations surrounding cryptocurrencies.
It’s safe to assume any prospective client seeking these types of services has deep pockets. So you won’t be dealing with crypto beginners with a $500 balance in their exchange accounts. Instead, you’ll be helping top investors look for ways to save tens of thousands of dollars—meaning you can charge premium prices for your expertise.
Cryptocurrency ATMs
As crypto grows in popularity, there’s an increasing demand for people who want to withdraw crypto for cash.
Many bitcoin ATMs also allow users to buy bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies using cash or debit cards though the machine. This feature works well for those of you who are also starting a crypto exchange.
The biggest difference between a bitcoin cash kiosk and a traditional ATM is that the crypto kiosks don’t connect to bank accounts. Instead, they connect users directly with a crypto exchange platform.
Crypto ATM transaction fees range anywhere from 5% to 25%. So there’s plenty of money to be made in this space.
Crypto Freelance Writing
Here’s an indirect way to make money in the crypto industry for people who don’t want to risk their money buying or selling virtual coins. You can use your research and writing skills to publish crypto-related content on the web.
There are tons of potential opportunities to make money in this space.
First, you can write for existing online publications looking for crypto news articles, crypto blogs, and more. You can also help those sites with crypto SEO, crypto marketing content, crypto email newsletters, and anything else to help drive traffic to their websites.
Alternatively, you can start your own crypto blog and generate money through ads, affiliate marketing, and more. You could also write and sell ebooks online about the crypto space.
You can make a lot of money as a crypto writer, especially if you’re comfortable writing technical copy like tutorials and whitepapers. Since many laypeople don’t fully understand cryptocurrencies, there is always a need for great writers who can break down and explain these topics to the masses.
Sell Online Crypto Courses
People are searching the web every day for crypto information. This holds true for beginners and experienced crypto investors alike.
You can answer these questions by creating a crypto website and offering online courses to visitors. Courses can be delivered as live webinars, pre-recorded training videos, or a combination of the two. You can also offer written resources, like a knowledge base.
This business idea is great for those who already have a basic foundational understanding of how crypto works. But really, anyone can start this type of crypto business by conducting research and repurposing that research into an online course.
If you’re pre-recording courses and selling them online, the potential profits are essentially limitless. You’ll only be paying for the fees associated with running a website, plus your time to create the courses.
Long-Term Strategies For Crypto Business Ideas
Beyond the initial idea, there are a few big-picture strategic factors you need to keep in mind as you’re launching a crypto business. These require a bit more time and effort to see the payoff.
Narrow Your Focus to a Specific Target Market
Trying to form a business that meets the needs of any crypto user isn’t realistic. There are high school students buying and selling crypto for $20 to $50, and there are investors with millions in the crypto market.
So do your research and decide who you want to target and why.
There’s nothing wrong with targeting crypto beginners. While these users might not be investing or trading as much, there will be a ton of prospects in the coming years as crypto adoption rates rise worldwide.
Alternatively, you can focus on a specific niche within the larger crypto market. Look back to the example of BearTax that we discussed earlier. That business specifically targets crypto traders who need help with tax documents.
Your target market might change over time. So this is something that you’ll need to keep an eye on as crypto trends evolve in the future.
Be Prepared and Set Realistic Expectations
Every business has risks. But crypto businesses can be significantly riskier than others.
This is especially true if your business is directly involved in the exchange of crypto in any way, shape, or form.
You need to prepare yourself for considerable swings in the market and set limits for yourself. What will you do if there’s a 50% plunge in the coin you’re holding? How will you handle crypto bear markets?
Just look at Bitcoin—it was trading for nearly $20,000 in December 2017 before dipping to less than $4,000 just one year later in December 2018. Bitcoin was worth over $60,000 in the spring of 2021 before dropping close to $30,000 just months later.
Have contingency plans in place and limit your risk just as you would with traditional investing.
If you’re expecting to launch a crypto business today and retire on the profits next month, this business probably isn’t for you. Plan for the long-term, and prepare yourself for big swings on the path to success.
Next Steps
Once you’ve settled on a crypto business idea that you want to pursue, you’ll need to consult with an attorney before you get started. A lawyer will help you assess the risk associated with your venture and ensure you set things up in a way to limit your liability.
Check out our guide on the best online legal services for assistance here. Many of these platforms also offer business formation services, so you can use them to officially launch your crypto business.
Launching a website for your crypto business needs to be high on your to-do list as well. Our in-depth reviews on the best website builders will steer you in the right direction.
