If you've been, or want to be, following along, I've been spilling the not-very-scandalous ways I patchworked together $50 USD with of crypto to learn and play with. 

At the end of the last post, I'd made $45.

Five-ish to go. 

By now, I'd been feeling really cool and self-congratulatory, and was branching out my reading and learning to speculative and new, weirdo coins (AKA sh1c0ins). I'll post on these next, but they're not how I crossed the finish line for my goal.

I did that using lolli.

Lolli is juuuuust like Rakuten, a site that provides wee amounts of cash-back when you shop online, only lolli's cash-back is in satoshis (if you're noob, satoshis are the units that make up a Bitcoin, the change to the dollar, if you will). 

The lolli site (is US-only atm, and there's no app, only a browser extension or website) isn't particularly impressive looking -- tho it's no geocities or anything -- so, I was skeptical. 

But, I had to buy some underpants, jeans, and a few other things, and lolli had the sites I'd usually buy from listed. So, no harm, no foul: I registered, did my shopping using the site -- which, just like Rakuten, has you click from them to the merchant so they can add their magical tracking onto the URL

You purchase directly from the merchant's website, just like normal. In 24ish hours after you make the transaction, lolli sends you an email, and the purchase is viewable in your activity history.

And, in 30 days after that (up to 60 days), or whenever you get past the return window for that merchant, you've got fractions of a Bitcoin that you can transfer anywhere you want. 

Caveat: lolli has a $15 USD withdrawal threshold, so technically, I don't actually haaaaaaave my last $5. I'm going on some faith here, and some positive reviews, that I *will* be able to actually get my satoshis when I get to $15+. Don't worry -- I'll post loudly if I have issues when the time comes. 

There's a saying I've seen over and over, and it's solidly good advice: if you don't have the keys, you don't have the coin. 

It is entirely possible lolli will screw me over. If you're less trusting (naive?) than I am, my next post is for you. I'll share what I understand about the aforementioned sh1c0ins: fun, unguaranteed, wild west crap but, also, more within your immediate control. 

Thank you for following me through my first fifty. If you like me, tips, comments, and interpretative dances are aces.