BlockFi Special Offer: Get $50 in BTC (Expires 9/30/2019)

BlockFi (referral link) provides the BlockFi Interest Account which pays interest on crypto deposits. I received a promotion which provides you and the referrer with $50 worth of bitcoin each as bonus for signing up between September 23, 2019 and September 30, 2019.

To receive the offer, simply sign up with this referral link and make your first deposit before September 30, 2019. Make sure the referral code of 4a5cfc70 is entered when you are signing up.

It looks like the bonus will be paid out with the October interest payment. These are the promotion terms I received from BlockFi:

Offer valid until 11:59 PM UTC on September 30, 2019. Referrals must have had a balance of 0 on August 31, 2019 and must maintain a >0 balance through September 30, 2019. Referrals must be first-time BlockFi users that have never had a balance with BlockFi.

Ongoing Puzzles Tracker

If you start tackling cryptocurrency puzzles on a regular basis, especially ones that are multiple puzzles in a series, you’ll soon find yourself dividing your attention between multiple puzzles and needing to keep track of what’s active. I started this tracker to help me keep track of the puzzles in one place and hopefully it’s useful to others as well.

Updated daily or more often on a best effort basis. If you see something out of date, please leave a comment.

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Solving Puzzles: Intro & Prize Log

I love cryptocurrency puzzles. Since April 2019, I have solved thirteen puzzles, winning over $1,500. I challenge puzzles of various kinds, including those related to knowledge, cryptography, brain teasers, hacking, and scavenger hunts. The race against other people to find a hidden private key that unlocks a crypto treasure is a unique thrill.

In my upcoming “Solving Puzzles” series of posts, I hope to document some of the fun and excitement in solving cryptocurrency-related puzzles, and share some of my secrets to help people tackle future puzzles and collect that prize money!

If you’re interested in starting on some puzzles now, I keep a handy list of the ones I’m aware of in my Ongoing Puzzles Tracker.

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Celsius Increases Bitcoin Interest Rate to 6.4%

Celsius (referral link) has increased its interest rate for Bitcoin from 5.1% to 6.4%, which now beats the rate of 6.2% from BlockFi (referral link). Note that though both rates quoted are annual interest rates, the BlockFi rate is compounding while the Celsius interest rate only accrues on the principal. This may matter to you if you plan on keeping your balance deposited for extended periods of time (more than a year, for example).

If you are thinking that you may be able to just withdraw the entire balance from Celsius and redeposit it to earn interest on the entire balance, beware that someone on Reddit claims that Celsius “remembers” your past interest balance and prevents this. Let me know in the comments if you have validated whether this is the case.

May 20, 2019 Update: Celsius rate decreased from 6.4% to 4.5%, check out Highest Interest Bitcoin Accounts for up-to-date rates

Coinbase Referral Program

Coinbase (referral link) makes it easy to buy or sell cryptocurrency by bank transfer or using a debit card. Coinbase has a referral program that rewards both parties with $10 of bitcoin when the referred person buys or sells at least $100 worth of cryptocurrency.

On Coinbase, you can buy and sell Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, 0x, USD Coin, Basic Attention Token, Zcash, XRP, and Stellar Lumens.

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Security Tips: Recovery Seed No-Nos

If you have a cryptocurrency wallet, whether hardware (Trezor, Ledger) or software (Electrum), you may have generated a 12 or 24 word mnemonic phrase. This phrase must be kept secure because it is effectively the key to all of the funds stored in your wallet. Anyone with access to this recovery seed can access and transfer your funds, unless you have a 25th word passphrase, in which case they would require that too.

With this in mind, this is a non-comprehensive list of things not to do with your recovery seed if you want to keep your wallet secure.

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Cryptocurrency Tax Solutions


Tax Software

These solutions allow you to import your exchange transactions. It then generates a tax form for you or provides a file you can import into TurboTax.

  • CoinTracking: Free up to 200 transactions; starts at $110 for a one year license for up to 3,500 transactions
  • TokenTax: Starts at $65 for a one year license for up to 500 transactions; full service option available
  • CoinTracker: Starts at $49 for one tax year for up to 100 transactions
  • Bitcoin.Tax: Starts at $29.95 for one tax year for up to 1,000 transactions
  • CryptoTrader.Tax: Starts at $49 for one tax year for up to 100 transactions
  • ZenLedger: Starts at $149 for one tax year for up to 500 transactions


Feedback Welcome

Have you used any of these services? Let us know how your experience was. We’d love to hear about more services to add to the list as well.

Celsius Referral Program

Celsius (referral link) allows you to make cryptocurrency deposits and earn interest from the balance. Celsius has a great referral program that rewards both the referrer and the referred person with up to $20 in BTC.

The Celsius account earns up to 7.5% in annual interest for balances of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, OmiseGO, Bitcoin Cash, 0x, Bitcoin Gold, ZCash, Stellar, Dash, and a variety of stablecoins including TrueUSD, Gemini Dollar, Paxos, USD Coin, and Dai from MakerDAO.

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BlockFi Referral Program

September 23–30, 2019: $50 Signup Bonus Special Offer

BlockFi (referral link) provides the BlockFi Interest Account, which allows you to earn 6.2% APY on your Bitcoin and Ethereum deposits. BlockFi has a referral program that rewards the referrer for interest earned in the BlockFi Interest Account as well as loans.

The rate of 6.2% APY applies to Bitcoin deposits between 1 and 25 BTC, and Ethereum deposits between 25 and 500 ETH.

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