Today, we will discuss some of the tried and tested ways to make money online as a web3 developer.
Be a web3 freelancer
Freelancing is one of the best options a web3 developer can choose to make money. There is a very high demand for talent in the blockchain industry compared to the supply as it’s relatively new. Apart from that you also get the freedom to work globally.
How to start?
It’s usually very helpful if you have some kind of previous experience in Javascript/Nodejs, Python or Go as currently, these are the most popular languages to interact with web3 clients. Apart from that, you must also learn solidity, the de-fact language of smart contracts which are the backbone of Web3. That’s why most blockchains are adapted/adapting to be EVM compatible like Binance smart chain, Polygon etc.
As web3 advances, we may soon see new blockchains supporting standard programming languages like rust, python etc. but for now, learning solidity will get you covered with most of the EVM compatible blockchains.
Where to start?
Although there are lots of platforms available like Freelancer.com, Upwork.com and many more, we would like to recommend Fiverr.com. This is because unlike Upwork or Freelance we as sellers don’t have to bid on clients’ requests instead clients place an order with you. Because of this, there is no upfront cost associated with listing a gig which is very helpful for a beginner. However, they do charge a 20% commission which seems reasonable as you pay only when you get an order.
One thing to keep in mind before starting our freelance journey on Fiverr as a web3 developer is that we should have a strong portfolio of DAPPS that you can showcase to your potential clients to gain their trust and let them know you are the right fit for the project.
Struggles
It might take some time to get our first client and so we need to have patience. Also, we need to pay attention to SEO while creating a gig so that it ranks higher on Fiverr search.
One good thing about Fiverr is that it also has a Buyer request section where buyer posts their requests and we can bid on them for free.
Sell digital products
Another great opportunity for a web3 developer to make money is to develop web3 related digital products. These can be WordPress plugins, smart contract scripts, projects etc and sell them online. This is because web3 is relatively new and less competitive and also its demand will be increasing and so you can benefit from being one of the first movers in the space.
How to start?
To make a good product that sells we need to research thoroughly for ideas upon which we can build on. For that, it is always helpful to be associated with the community members of various projects like on Twitter/Reddit/Telegram etc.
Maybe we anticipate that there will be high demand for an inbuilt token swapping feature for WordPress websites in the future. So we can build a WordPress plugin for that and sell it.
How to monetize?
We can sell our digital products or assets on platforms like Envato. It is the leading marketplace for creative assets and creative people to sell their digital assets. Although there is no listing fee, however, they charge a hefty chunk as author fees which is a thing to be kept in mind.
Struggles
It may take a while before we start getting sales. Therefore we have to be creative in selecting which product we develop and list as developing a product ain’t easy and usually involves a high initial time investment.
Write web3 related blogs
Knowledege increases by sharing but not by saving
keeping this phrase in mind one can start sharing their web3 skills through technical blogs. As we know web3 is relatively new so more people will be looking for web3 related content on the internet.
How to start?
Although we can create our own custom designed website from scratch, that would require a lot of time and money. Therefore it’s always a good idea to start with something like WordPress since it has a lot of free themes available saving you time and money. Of course, we will still need to pay for a server and a domain which are cheap these days.
After we have set up our website the next important thing we have to do is keyword research to get a glance at what people are searching on the internet related to web3 so that you can create something around that.
How to monetize?
Valuable content will attract visitors and once we start gaining visitors we can apply for Google Adsense. Apart from that, we can also add relevant affiliate links of our favourite products to our articles.
Struggles
Writing good blogs isn’t easy either. In the beginning, you may feel very enthusiastic but after delivering a few blogs many will procrastinate as that enthusiasm dies as time passes by. Therefore the key thing to being successful is to be consistent and keep your patience and never lose hope because sometimes it may take a long time before you start seeing any result.
Provide web3 based API as a service
Another option to make money as a web3 developer is by deploying web3 API as a service on our server. Now, web3 is not replacing web2 entirely any time soon and so developers on web2 may want to access various web3 features without having to directly interact with the web3 stack but via an API which is a huge opportunity for you as a web3 developer.
How to build a web3 API
To decide which or what API we should design, we need to do some research to increase the chances for our API to succeed. For that, we can read different articles, watch different videos, look at the API marketplaces, look at forums etc.
We also have an article on best practices for building an API here.
Where to monetize our services?
Although you can sell your API on your website, it’s not a recommended approach for beginners as it will be very hard for your API to get exposure. Currently, there are not a lot of marketplace options available but there is one that is leading the market is Rapid API. For that, we simply have to create an account and add our API. Although there are no listing fees on the rapid-API marketplace, it charges a 20% commission on the subscription amount. Which isn’t a bad deal considering you have a much higher chance of success. In addition to that, it also takes care of payment stuff so we can only focus on building our API.
Struggles
Deploying an API interface to web3 not only requires development time but also an upfront investment for running servers. Although there are a few free options available, a problem with those is that they provide limited resources. Therefore it is usually recommended to invest in servers for high traffic API. Our 2 best recommend VPS providers are Vultr and Digital Ocean
Earn interest in cryptocurrency on stable assets
Disclaimer: We are not a financial advisor, please do your research before investing in or buying any cryptocurrency.
We can also earn passive income on our stable crypto assets by lending them on platforms like AAVE, COMPOUND, ANCHOR PROTOCOL, etc.
Here we will have a look at ANCHOR PROTOCOL which is providing an Annual Percentage Yield(APY) of around 20% on stable coin TerraUSD(UST) which is a huge return on investment and a source of passive income for us as a web3 developer. Let’s have a look at how to do it.
How to earn interest on UST
To start earning interest we simply have to install Terra wallet and create an account on it.
Next, we need to acquire UST on exchanges like GATE.IO or KUCOIN and send it to our Terra Wallet through the terra network.
Once we have our UST funds ready and visible in our wallet, we have to connect our wallet to the ANCHOR PROTOCOL and deposit the amount we want to earn interest on.
One thing to keep in mind is that whenever we are depositing funds in a decentralized protocol governed by smart contracts there is always a risk of Smart Contract Vulnerability Hacks. Apart from that as UST is an algorithmic stable coin there is also the risk of UST depegging. Therefore it is highly recommended to get insurance against your deposit from providers like INSURACE or Bridge Mutual to mitigate such incidents.
Struggles
It requires an initial monetary investment.
Note: Currently UST has depeg and therefore the above method no longer works.
Learn and Earn as a web3 developer
One more interesting and currently lesser-known way to make money as a web3 developer can earn is by learning about various blockchain projects and participating in hackathons organized by these projects. One doesn’t even need to know anything about the project before starting as some of these projects are offering developers free money for trying out their project.
How to start?
Although if you search on the internet there are a few websites where blockchain projects list bounties but we would like to recommend gitcoin.com. It’s a very popular blockchain-based project itself where you can find genuine bounties, sponsored hackathons and even apply for grants for your project. A free good thing about this is that is free to participate and no commission is charged.
You may think that one should have advanced knowledge before participating but as we have said above it is not the case though. These bounties listed come with several levels of difficulties from beginners where users are paid just for say installing test nodes and doing a few dummy transactions(proper step by step instructions are generally provided) to an advanced level where users are required to submit basic DAPPs like TODO based on the project that is offering the bounty to test users knowledge on their particular project.
Struggles
To participate developers need to have some sort of previous experience with servers and basic web3 developmental skills.
Conclusion
Walah! we have seen some of the techniques a web3 developer can earn money online. If you find this blog useful feel free to appreciate it in the comment section. Also, if you have any ideas or queries leave them in the comment section below.
THANK YOU!
