If you're like me, then you are frequently looking for a few legitimate ways to earn as much extra crypto as you possibly can (rather than many ways to earn a little). At some point (possibly by following shortlinks from legitimate and paying faucets), you're going to encounter adverts for apps and games that promise they'll pay you in crypto if you play/use them. However, you'll soon realise that most of them are time-wasting scams not worth the effort you put into downloading them or signing up.

While I can't give you an exhaustive list of all the apps/games that are scams, here are some signs that you might have hit upon a scam and are wasting your time. (Not all of these are definite markers, although the more you find in one place, the higher the likelihood of a scam.)

• It's made by Mintegral. I have yet to find a single game made by this company/organisation that isn't a scam.
• It's in "early access", meaning that only the developer will see comments/reviews. Developers exploit this feature/stage of making the app available so that users can't warn each other that the app/game doesn't pay out and/or is a scam.
• In order to play/use the software, you are forced to watch ads at least once every ten minutes, if not more frequently. Either that or you have to pay to remove them.
• It consumes a lot of memory and causes your device to freeze/hang or heat up, leaving you no option but to close it before making much progress.
• The app offers you a signup bonus/reward, but you can't claim it immediately.
• The creator claims it will only pay out if you download it from a specific link or advert. (As a developer, I confidently claim that that's not how software works.)
• In order to withdraw, one or more of the following criteria have to be met:
  • You have to watch many ads in succession, often within a certain time frame (for example, 100+ ads in 24 hours).
  • Your redeemable balance has to be above $10 (often $50 or $500).
  • Your progress has to be above a certain level (often 25+, 50+ or 1000+).
  • You have to supply more personally-identifying information than is strictly necessary.
  • You have to pay in to "validate" your account.
  • You have to play a challenging "mini-game" that has plenty (sometimes hundreds) of increasingly difficult levels.
  • You have a set time period in which you can withdraw certain amounts after reaching a certain level/milestone within the app/game.
  • You are charged a high percentage of your supposed earnings when you begin the withdrawal process.
  • The app has a multi-step withdrawal process and frequently shows an error message on the last step thereof, preventing withdrawal.

I recently downloaded a step tracker app that has a number of these indicators/signs showing quite clearly. That's fine (apart from being inundated with ads for crap I don't want), since I'm using it because it actually tracks my steps accurately (as opposed to a number of apps that do actually pay out if you can configure them properly, which is convoluted and difficult) and have pretty much given up on the idea of earning crypto for my perambulatory exertions.

So far, the only legitimate apps (that actually pay) that I have found are Nano Now, Vixxi and TipNano (although Nano Now and Vixxi are sadly defunct). I also use CryptoVision, although it pays very little. (I earn ~10-100x what I do on CVn with TipNano on a good day where I am able to complete at least several surveys.) I use a number of faucets, but haven't earned enough from them to make it worth my (or your) while writing which ones.

I hope that helps you decide if anything you try is worth your while to keep using. I suspect that, like me, you'll come to the conclusion that there's a lot of junk out there that just isn't worth it (and even the stuff that does pay still doesn't hold a candle to fiat farming for anyone who isn't a survey ninja earning $10+ worth of crypto a day). However, there is a possible solution: If you invest time and energy in learning Web3 development and/or technologies, you might be able to get one of the scarce jobs that pay you in crypto (or even develop an app yourself). Receiving substantial passive income in crypto off which you can live just isn't going to be a thing that happens for you any time soon unless you begin by staking a vast quantity of crypto (at least a few hundred dollars worth, likely much more) in something with a high APY (such as Cosmos or Ontology). I could well be mistaken, but I'm assuming the average Joe simply doesn't have that kind of money to pump into crypto (or isn't willing to, given the risks).

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