I’ve been getting to grips with the Steem ecosystem and wanted to contribute what I’ve been doing/investigating, including which apps/sites I’m using. I’m going to spread this over several posts as I’ve ended up writing a lot more than I thought I would. Stay tuned for Part II later this week. Sorry if these topics have been covered before but I felt it was a good place to start my blogging journey :)
Mundane tasks for little return, annoying popups and tabs, auto-playing video ads, and selling your details/soul.
If these words don’t send shivers down your spine and you are looking for a way to pass your precious time by earning a small trickle of Steem then EarnCrypto may just be for you. Now don’t go running! I know survey/task sites have a bad rep and for good reason and EarnCrypto is no different in that regard. I’m telling you now, you will not be making your Steem millions by using this site. But if you are like me and relatively new to the Steem ecosystem and looking to increase your Steem Power a little then it is perfect; albeit a little frustrating at times.
Warning
Before I begin I want to warn you that this site is designed
specifically to harvest your data and sell it to third-party
businesses. If this sort of data collecting worries you then stop now.
Even if you are not bothered there are some precautions you can take.
Make a new email with Gmail. This is free and means that you do not need to register with your primary email. All junk mail will be sent to the new email instead. You need access to the email to click on activation/acknowledgement links sent by both EarnCryto and some of the offers/registrations if you are going to sign up to those. Notes on these later.
Use an incognito window to access the site and use it. This will not stop the site from tracking your usage, location and data during your session. However, it does mean that almost all of the crap, cookies, session storage and trackers that the site may store in your browser should be flushed out once the window is closed.
Keep a straight head on and make sure you read exactly what the site wants you to do for each task. Some tasks come with big risks such as downloading apps to your mobile/desktop which I would advise against.
First, you must sign up
The sign-up process is pretty straightforward, requiring an email, username and password. Make sure you use a secondary email if you don’t want your primary email flooded with spam once you have joined. Although it features a very basic design the site is pretty intuitive to navigate. The main areas you will want to access often are the Earn Steem dropdown in the menu and your profile details/settings which are located in a drop-down on the top right. Sitting next to that is your current earnings.
First, you will likely wish to switch your earnings over to Steem. To do this click your profile name and select ‘Balances / Set main coin’. This page allows you to select from a long list of cryptocurrencies the site allows you to earn. Find Steem and click the ‘Set Main’ button next to it and you are done. Steem Dollars are also available to earn if that is your thing.
How to earn
Now you are all set to earn that sweet Steem to add to your Steem Power. EarnCrypto utilises a points system, you earn points which are then converted into your chosen cryptocurrency. At the time of writing 1 point will get you 0.030 Steem or 0.011 Steem Dollars. There are several ways to earn points including filling in surveys, performing tasks/jobs, downloading apps, watching videos and inviting friends to EarnCrypto. Although they all earn relatively small amounts there are different risks/timescales involved with each task.
Below you can find a quick run through of each task and my opinion on if it is worth the time/risk to complete. Please note these opinions are bias and made through my own experience with the site. Your results may vary.
Take Surveys
Pretty much what it says on the tin. You spend time filling in surveys and upon completion you receive points. There are tons to complete with varying point values from 3 points to 100+. This sounds great but there are some caveats. To earn the points you must complete the survey and submit the results. The problem is a lot of the surveys tend to kick you out halfway through because you suddenly ‘do not fit into the survey criteria’. This can be frustrating, especially if you have already spent a good 5 to 10 minutes on the survey. I found the surveys with lower points rewards were less likely to do this, but there was no consistency. Surveys tend to range between 5 to 20 minutes to complete and will ask for details including your age, gender, postcode, employment and living details and opinions on a variety of subjects.
Risk: Medium (Some sensitive data is requested in some surveys)
Time vs. Earnings: 6/10
Watch Videos
This requires you to watch videos on a partner site for the specific amount of time or other criteria. This is active watching, you will need to click the play button when new videos load so there is no opening a tab and letting it run in the background. I have not been able to earn any points this way yet. The offer I currently have is to watch videos and for every ad and one video watched I get 0.2 points. So far there has been lots of videos to watch and only 1 or 2 ads loading. Another offer is to watch videos and get 0.4 points per 20 mins of viewing.
Risk: Low
Time vs. Earnings: 3/10
Earn Offers
These are extremely varied and require anything from signing up to different sites/apps to visiting a site and clicking on a banner or following a link. Personally, I would avoid ANYTHING that requires you to sign up to additional sites or provide personal information to random websites. Occasionally some offers simply required me to visit a site, click a banner and search for a flight. These tasks paid between 0.2 to 0.5 points and were relatively quick to complete. If you see any like this (they tend to be flight/hotel comparison links) then snap them up. Just avoid anything that requires you to register. Be careful of some offers that redirect to pages that ask for your mobile number, they send messages that will charge to your phone bill. Always read all the small print before clicking submit.
Risk: High (if you provide your personal details), Low (if you stick to banner click tasks)
Time vs. Earnings: 7/10
Crowdflower Tasks
You must register with an email and phone number to use this feature. The link in the email produces a warning by google saying it is not trusted. The payout is about 0.58 points per task and tasks take a long time to complete. I was asked to draw a box around products in a way that was a little unclear and each of these tasks has between 10 to 30 images to complete to gain a measly 0.58 points. With unclear instructions, the site is quick to penalise you when you apparently get it wrong and revoking points for the other images you have completed. Just avoid.
Risk: High
Time vs. Earnings: 1/10
Data Entry
This one is a good one to do if you are quick at typing and have a good eye. You are asked to type data, usually emails, addresses and business names that appear in an image into a text field. Think Captcha login fields but for data entry. It is slow going and you are actually working for you Steem, but if you have some spare time and don’t mind sticking your headphones and filling out data for a little while then this will be right up your street. This has a separate point system called PP, with 200PP converting to 1 point in EarnCrypto. Each correct piece of data you submit provides 10PP (0.05 EarnCrypto points/ 0.0015 Steem).
Payment for this task is not as quick as other tasks. You PP is converted to EarnCrypto once a day for the work completed the day before, but you do earn bonus points if you managed to submit a lot of data that day. Tasks are not unlimited and you need to get in there quick if you want to perform a lot of work.
Risk: Low
Time vs. Earnings: 7/10
Install Apps
Avoid like the plague, or do it at your own risk. Anything that requires you to download anything to your phone or desktop for points should be avoided. The fact that they offer huge amounts of points to do this shows how risky it is with many apps asking for credit card details or in-app purchase before you are entitled to your reward.
Risk: Very High
Time vs. Earnings: 0/10
Invite Friends
Again this one is pretty simple, refer your friends through social media or by sending a link and receive 10% of their earnings. This one really depends on how annoying you wish to be. I assume the site owners are hoping you plaster message boards and chats with your link to encourage as many people to sign up as possible. I have not tried this one as I despise this sort of advertising for things that don’t really bring that much value to strangers.
Risk: None (May cause social conflicts)
Time vs. Earnings 2/10
Withdraw Steem
You can withdraw your Steem whenever you want once you have met one of the following criteria:
You have earned your first 100 EarnCrypto points (3 Steem)
You have earned your first 40 EarnCrypto points (1.2 Steem) and submitted your PayPal details as identity proof.
Submit you Paypal details at your own risk. I did so I could test how long withdrawing takes for this article and so far have not had any red flags but I cannot guarantee you have the same mileage.
Once you have completed one of these requirements you are free to withdraw your earned Steem whenever you wish. You just require your Steem username and to decide how much you wish to withdraw. Earn Crypto charges a fee for smaller withdrawals which varies for each currency. At the time of writing there is a 0.010 Steem fee for Steem withdrawals under 33.205 Steem and 0.010 SBD fee for Steam Dollar withdrawals under 12.334 SBD. When you submit a withdrawal request you are required to confirm by email, so make sure you use a real email to sign up.
Final Thoughts…
EarnCrypto is not going to make you rich, once you begin weeding out the ‘too good to be true’ offers, your earning potential over time decreases rapidly. But if you are looking for a little extra Steem power then EarnCrypto is a great place to look. It took me a little over half a day since joining to earn 1.388 Steem while I was working from home. Just make sure you keep your wits about you, avoid giving away too many personal details and be prepared for a full junk folder.