Cryptocurrency Affiliate Programs (2021)

Cryptocurrency Affiliate Programs: Introduction

The popularity of cryptocurrencies has arguably never been higher. The prices of many coins have surged. This is likely due to institutional and business investors adding their weight to retail investors.
According to statista.com the market capitalisation of all crypto currencies rose from around $10 billion in 2013 to $758 billion in 2020.

At the time of writing (mid February 2021) the crypto market has now reached a valuation of $1.58 trillion.
No matter what your opinion on crypto assets as a whole. It seems clear to me that there is an opportunity here to offer value to customers looking to purchase crypto and associated services.
There are a growing number of affiliate programs in the space. This list should give you enough ideas on how to monetise a cryptocurrency blog.

How to Make Money With Crypto Affiliate Marketing

There are a number of areas that you could target with your blog:

• Exchanges

• Courses

• Hardware

• Mining

• Others

Promoting exchanges is probably one of the more obvious opportunities. It will probably be best to target just one specific exchange to promote to your audience. I think it would be a little odd to promote more than one exchange unless a particular coin is only available on specific exchanges.
Crypto is still a relatively new asset class and most people would be unfamiliar with how it works. You could promote courses that teach the finer points of crypto and blockchain technology. Your audience will be better educated and more confident when they come to start trading.
Hardware wallets are a way of storing crypto in a more secure manner.
Mining hardware/software is also still an option for certain flavours of cryptocurrency. Bitcoin mining is probably beyond the vast majority of people these days. It is still possible with Ethereum (until they switch over to proof of staking anyway).
There are some other options to consider including advertising networks and casinos.

Are There Any Downsides to Crypto Affiliate Marketing?

The biggest one is that you may well fall under the Google YMYL rules which will make it more difficult for your site to rank. Depending on the products you decide to promote you may also need to be more careful with the types of disclaimer that you use. Make sure you highlight the risks involved in trading in cryptocurrencies.
As with any affiliate marketing project you should do your own due diligence with regard to the companies and products that you promote. When dealing with the wealth or health sectors this is even more important.

Crypto Exchange and Trading Platform Affiliate Programs

Avatrade/AvaPartner

If you sign up with AvaPartner you will receive commissions when you refer customers to their Avatrade brokerage service. In addition to crypto Avatrade also offers Forex and CFD trading.
Unfortunately commission rates are only available to those who successfully sign up for the program. You can view their affiliate agreement before signing up

Binance

One of the most well-known crypto exchanges that gives access to pretty well every major crypto currency that someone might want to trade. I have used this site myself on a couple of occasions although looking at the Trustpilot reviews I might hesitate before using them again. More than half of the reviews are giving them 1/5.
They offer a basic commission of 40% (of the fees paid by the trader). If you managed to refer more than a thousand new traders to their platform then your commission rate would rise to 50%.
There are a number of catches however if you look in the small print. You need to have sent a minimum of 50 users and at least 10% of your referrals must have made a minimum of one trade.
There are a number of possible ways you could be approved including being a social media influencer with 5000 or more followers. Having a market analysis website with a minimum of 5000 daily visits. Running a crypto current fund or being in charge of a crypto community with at least 500 members.

BitBuy

A Canadian based exchange with commissions ranging from 20% up to 40%. Don’t bother trying to access the website if you are outside Canada! Don’t bother applying for the program if you have less than a thousand monthly visitors to your property!

BitFinex

One of the larger and better-known exchanges. As an affiliate you could earn as much as 55% Commissions. Customers can also arrange loans with their crypto as collateral or earn money by staking.

BitFlyer

Offering a straightforward commission of $5 for every new customer acquired. Their program is run through Impact.

BitMEX

BitMEX is another trading platform. It offers you the opportunity to use significant leverage in your cryptocurrency trading.
The commissions you receive will increase depending upon the number of referrals you have made.

Users Referred	Commission %
< 1000	10%
> 1000 and < 10000	15%
> 10000	20%

BitPanda

You can invest in more than 30 different digital assets using their desktop or mobile exchange. You can also dip your toe into gold investment.
BitPanda pays a 20% commission on fees it receives from your referred customers.

BlockFI

I’ve included blockFI under the exchange section as you can perform those types of transactions. They appear to lead with their interest earning product as their main feature. They also offer loans backed by your crypto. Affiliates could earn as much as $500.

ByBit

Offering a generous 30% commission on referrals and an additional 10% if the people you referred managed to sign up any affiliates under them.

Cex.io

Another exchange that is offering a 30% commission on their fees. They have paid out over $2 million to their affiliate partners. Customers can purchase a variety of digital coins using Visa or MasterCard. They also offer options for staking and margin trading.

Changelly

Offering some of the best rates around at up to 60% revenue share. You can trade in more than 170 different crypto assets. With an excellent trust pilot score of 4.4 it would appear that Changelly are worth further investigation.

ChangeNow

Another exchange but on this occasion it offers a service that doesn’t require an account. Their service is built for simplicity and speed and claims an average transaction time of 2 minutes. You are also able to buy crypto using fiat.
Unfortunately no mention is made of the commission rates.

Coinbase

One of the most well-known crypto exchanges. Unfortunately you will only earn commissions for the first three months after referring a new customer although they do pay 50%.
If you have customers that are new to crypto then they can even earn small amounts by reviewing some of the training materials.

Coindirect

Allows users to trade more than 40 different crypto currencies using a variety of funding methods. For every user you refer you would earn a 20% commission for the life of their account. According to their site, sellers tend to have a higher trading volume and therefore would generate you more commission.

Coinhouse

Offering a generous 35% commission but only for the first year. If you managed to get someone to sign up to their premium plan then you would earn an additional €50. Would cost the user €468 per year or they would need to invest €50,000.

Coinmama

Coinmamas affiliate commission is towards the lower end of the spectrum at 15%. However it is payable for the lifetime of the user.
They don’t have many crypto assets listed for purchase and at the moment it looks like you are only able to sell Bitcoin through Coinmama.

CoinMetro

Offering the usual exchange features along with copy trading and margin trading. You can earn 40% commission on trading fees for direct referrals and an additional 10% for any people that they refer.

Coinsquare

Coinsquare will pay you a generous 45% commission. The Canadian company only offers 10 different digital assets at the moment. So for the more experienced trader it might not be a great fit. If you and your audience are based in Canada then this still might be a good option though.

Crypto.com

In addition to the normal exchange services, crypto.com offers a number of Visa cards which can earn you rewards in the form of their token. Affiliate payouts are in the form of their own token. You will earn $25 worth when someone signs up for one of their Visa cards and they will receive $25 worth if they stake.

Deribit

Users can trade cryptocurrency futures and options. Bitcoin and ethereum can be traded with up to 100 times leverage. It should be pointed out that any time you use leverage you massively increase your risk. Leverage is great when you make a winning trade but can be disastrous if you’re on the wrong end of a trade.
For the first six months you would receive 20% of any commissions paid by people you have referred. After that your commission rate would drop to 10%.

eToro

You’ve probably seen the advertising campaign featuring Alec Baldwin. eToro offers an interesting method of trading. You can find traders to follow and then set your account to copy their trades.
With eToro you can trade many markets, not just crypto.
Unfortunately their affiliate page doesn’t give much away with regards to commission structures.
Their Trustpilot rating of 1.8 does give cause for concern.

Exmo

With Exmos referral program you can be looking forward to 25% of the commissions paid by people using the exchange.

Kraken

One of the oldest and largest exchanges Kraken handles a wide selection of digital currencies. You can expect to earn a 20% commission.

KuCoin

KuCoin offers the usual crypto purchasing and trading options. They have in the past offered an affiliate scheme but it would appear that scheme is no longer running.
They do currently have two different affiliate programs. One is called the global affiliate program. I think this would be restricted to people who have a significant following in the crypto space.
They also appear to offer an affiliate program for their futures product. This is an even more risky product since you are dealing with derivatives of cryptocurrencies. It looks like you could receive as much as 60% commissions and 10% on the second-tier.

LocalBitcoins

This is a portal where you can arrange to exchange bitcoins. They use an escrow account to reduce the risk of any issues. You would earn a 20% commission on the fees that users have to pay. If you happen to refer both the buyer and seller in a particular transaction then you would earn 40%.

Liquid

A cryptocurrency exchange which offers leverage trades. You also have the ability to earn commission on your crypto holdings that you keep on the exchange.
Affiliates receive commissions of up to 30%.

Okex

Featuring a wide variety of training materials to bring beginners up to speed. This exchange offers futures and options trading as well as standard crypto swaps. Currently offering 40% commissions to affiliates.

Paxful

Similar to LocalBitcoins. Paxful allows you to do peer-to-peer exchanges of bitcoin. You could make 50% of the fee from customers you refer directly and even 10% from customers referred by people you previously introduced.

Paybis

With a Trustpilot rating of 4.5 Paybis are clearly doing a lot right. With availability in 180 countries and the option to buy 10 different cryptocurrencies.
You can earn 20% of the commissions that Paybis charge customers you have referred.

Plus500

As they make clear in their advertisements CFDs can be risky investments. However for experienced traders they can be a useful tool.
They offer a smart link tool. This automatically refers visitors to a suitable landing page (language, currency and device used).
There appears to be little information regarding the amount of commission payable.

Poloniex

Another large and well established exchange where you can trade futures and on margin. Their affiliate program is currently offering a 20% commission.

Rain.BH

For those bloggers with an audience in the Middle East, Rain offers an opportunity to promote a cryptocurrency exchange. Based in Bahrain they pay $25 for each new referral.

StormGain

Crypto exchange which pays out bonuses via a loyalty program and allows you to earn up to 12% interest on crypto that you store at the exchange. Their affiliate program will pay you commissions of up to 15%.

Trastra

Trastra offers a payment card which is linked to your crypto wallets. This allows users to spend their crypto directly if they wish.

You will receive €5 for every card activated by visitors from your site. In addition you will receive 0.2% of crypto exchange volume for the first six months.

YouHodler

As well as offering crypto exchange functionality Youhodler also lets you earn interest of up to 12% on holdings you store on the exchange. They also offer crypto loan facilities where you put up collateral in the form of crypto coins.

Wallets

Abra

This program is currently closed to new entrants but I have included it so you can keep it on your radar for the future. Assuming this program reopens you could be earning $25 by promoting their mobile wallet.

Celsius

The Celsius ambassador program offers affiliates as much as $100 commission. The Celsius wallet pays interest on certain crypto holdings. It also allows users to take out loans against their crypto holdings.

KeepKey

Offering a whopping 25% commission rate. This would appear to be the winner amongst the wallet affiliate programs if you’re basing your decision purely on the commission. However the wallet is only priced at $49 compared with their competitors who have more expensive options.

Ledger

One of the major players in the hardware wallets niche. Unfortunately their customer database recently got hacked. None of their customers’ crypto holdings were affected however. If you sign up for their affiliate program you can expect to receive a 10% commission.

PrivacyPros

This is an interesting option as you are effectively getting access to the Ledger, Trezor and Keepkey affiliate programs all in one. They pay affiliates 15% commission on products available through their store. They also stock Billfodl wallets.

Trezor

For the serious investor in cryptocurrency a hardware wallet is a must. Trezor are among the best in the business. Their wallets can support over 1300 currencies.
As an affiliate you will earn between 12% and 15%.

Mining

CCG Mining

You will receive a payout of 6% on cloud mining contracts and 3% on all other products sold through your affiliate link. The amount of money on offer from crypto mining obviously varies with the value of the coins. At the moment with many coins at their all-time highs mining is much more attractive.

eBay

This might seem like a surprising choice but eBay is actually not a bad place for someone to purchase crypto mining rigs. It is often difficult to source the components that you need to build a mining rig. When crypto prices are high and everyone is looking to jump on the bandwagon it can be difficult to source parts. eBay give people an opportunity to purchase used equipment to get their feet wet.

eBay currently pays a commission rate of 4%.

Hashflare

Hashflare offers a cloud-based mining solution which will pay affiliates a 10% commission. They currently have five different currencies available to be mined. Bitcoin, Ethereum, ZCash, Dash and Litecoin
They have an impressive 26% conversion rate.

ParallelMiner

ParallelMiner sells cryptocurrency mining rigs. They will pay you a commission of 5% of sales for referred.

Others

3Commas

Users of 3Commas can create automated trading bots to work on some of the largest exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase and Bittrex. Affiliate’s will earn 25% which could increase to as much as 40% should your visitors sign up and also refer their friends.

A-Ads

According to their website A.ADS is “The first crypto advertising network in the market”. You could earn approximately 10% of the amount spent by advertisers you refer to them.

AirDropAlert

If you have an audience of business customers then this program might be of interest to you it pays 5% commission.

BitBond

Strictly speaking this is a website for tokenising assets such as securities. You can earn 5% commission on any investment made through your link. If you managed to earn more than €5000 then payment can be made in a variety of crypto currencies rather than as a bank transfer. Note that US and Canadian citizens are not eligible to invest so you need to target potential customers from other countries.

BitCoinIRA

IRAs are retirement accounts for US citizens. As an affiliate you could be earning up to $75 for every new client that signs up to BitCoinIRA

BitStarz

A bit of an unusual one. BitStarz Is a crypto casino. It allows you to fund your account with bitcoin and other altcoins. You can then play a number of casino games. Will pay affiliates commissions of up to 40%. This is based on casino profits.

Brave/BAT

BAT (Basic Attention Token) has had a referral program the beginning of 2018. At the moment this program has been stopped however I have included it in case it restarts.

CloudBet

A cryptocurrency casino based in the Netherlands. Offering both sports and casino games play bet will pay out 30% commissions to affiliates.

Coinigy

This site is aimed more at professional traders rather than someone looking to make the occasional investment. Through Coinigy they can access 45 different exchanges. They can also get a variety of other information such as any orders that they have placed, balances and any accounts that they have linked to Coinigy.
Every referral you make to Coinigy that signs up would earn you $15

CoinPayments

This is a system for merchants to offer crypto as a possible payment mechanism for their products.
Should you manage to sign up any merchants to this program you will receive a 25% commission of any fees during the first five years of their membership.

Cryptohopper

This offers an automated trading bot to carry out crypto trades based on rules that you set up.
You can earn between $1.90 and $9.90 depending on the level your users sign up for. In addition you would earn up to 15% of commissions.

CryptoTab

A Chrome browser extension that allows users to mine crypto while they serve the web. Their commission structure pays an astonishing 10 levels. Although the amounts involved quickly diminish two very small percentages.

CryptoTrader.tax

You can earn a 25% recurring commission when you direct your visitors to cryptotrader.tax. This is actually an important aspect for any crypto trader. Despite governments being very anti-cryptocurrency they are then quick to tax you on any profits that you make. A bit hypocritical, I think so.

HaasOnline

An advanced automated crypto trading bot. The average commission made by affiliates is $72. Their plans are priced in bitcoin and at the time of writing their cheapest plan would cost $260 for three months.

IvanOnTechAcademy

Affiliates can earn 30% commission by referring their visitors to this training course. It is designed for someone looking to enter the block chain industry. The monthly plans start from $22 and rise $117.

Koinly

If you’re looking to help in calculating taxes due on your crypto profits then Koinly might be able to help. Works with tax rules of 20 different countries so not just restricted to the United States.
There are three commission tiers depending upon the number of people you have referred. You would earn 20%, 30% or should you achieve more than 500 referrals 40%.

LiveTrader

LiveTrader is an automated bot trading solution. They offer monthly plans at $19, $49 and $99. Currently there is a 50% discount on a user’s first monthly fee. You would earn 30% recurring on their monthly subscription.
The platform works with all exchanges so your visitors wouldn’t need to change their exchange of choice.

Lolli

This program is only available in the US. Lolli is a Chrome browser extension that earns you commissions while you shop online at certain stores. For purchases you make at partner stores you would receive between in your wallet. Their affiliate program will pay you up to $10 per user.

MBitCasino

It was only while researching this article that I realised there were so many crypto casinos. As I’ve always seen crypto more as an investment I wouldn’t think to gamble it. It would appear a lot of people think otherwise. As an affiliate you would earn a 35% revenue share.

Olimob

Olimob are a CPA network that will find the best offers for your crypto related traffic.

RealT

You can earn 2% on all RealTokens sold if you sign up to the RealT affiliate program.
RealT offers a way to buy fractional ownership of property using the block chain to tokenise the asset. I’ve actually invested some of my money in a UK-based fractional property ownership scheme. Although it wasn’t based on the block chain it was a very similar idea.

Unstoppable Domains

This is an attempt to apply block chain technology to domain registration. At the moment all domains are registered with ICANN. This is obviously a single point of failure. A block chain solution would be preferable to many people. Affiliates are paid 20% commission on referred customers.

Wirex

This card can be configured to allow you to pay with crypto wherever you see the Visa or MasterCard sign. Anyone signing up for the card can also earn crypto rewards.
As an affiliate you would earn $5 every time you refer someone who buys $100 worth of crypto. You would then earn an extra five dollars if someone you have referred uses the Wirex card in a store.

xCoins

xCoins allows users to buy bitcoin with credit cards, PayPal or via their bank account. The commission rates are in two tiers. Customers referred directly by yourself would earn you a 15% commission on fees they generate. You would also earn 3% on any customers that have signed up under them.
Should this monster list not contain anything of interest then you could take a look at:

http://www.bitcoinaffiliate.net/

This lists a total of 81 different affiliate programs. I have covered a lot of them in this article.

Conclusion

The percentages on offer seem quite high, don’t forget that you are receiving a percentage of the fees with most of these affiliate programs.
You could still earn significant amounts because people may well invest thousands or tens of thousands.
When you are dealing with financial products there will be an extra level of scrutiny from potential customers. Regulators may also take an interest.
You should make it clear that there are risks involved when trading in cryptocurrencies. Even more so when trading in derivatives of them.

James