Earning passive income while referring others is what an affiliate program is all about. The $2 trillion-dollar crypto market is buzzing with a lot of referral program opportunities for smart affiliate marketers. This cake is too big for one to miss a buttered slice. However, with hundreds of such programs out there, one can easily get worn out trying to find which one to choose. This is why we have come up with a list of the best crypto affiliate programs so that you can quickly make a choice and start earning immediately.

The top 10 cryptocurrency affiliate programs

1. Binance affiliate program

As the world’s largest crypto exchange platform by market capitalization plus the number of digital currencies being traded on the platform, Binance stands out from the rest. Being a leading cryptocurrency exchange means that Binance’s affiliate program has a lot of attractive opportunities to offer.

Program features:

• Niches: Crypto exchange, investing, and trading
• Commission rate: Maximum of 50%
• Payout threshold: $0
• Pay frequency: instant
• Payment methods: crypto
• Cookie duration: 90 days
• Affiliate network: Impact + in-house

Pros:

• Diverse products – The Binance affiliate program has a wide variety of popular cryptocurrencies to market, including Bitcoin, Binance coin, and others.
• Marketing support – lots of resources and tools
• Real-time tracking – to monitor conversion and performance
• High commission rates

Cons:

• High barrier to entry – requires one to have a high traffic flow at the funnel entry

2. Coinbase affiliate program

While Binance is the world’s most popular cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase is the most reputable crypto exchange platform in the world. Coinbase affiliate program ranks among the best affiliate programs in the crypto space.

Coinbase’s affiliate program, just like its user interface, is very beginner-friendly. Thus, it appeals to crypto newbies and entry-level affiliate marketers.  

Program features:

• Niches: Crypto exchange, investing, and trading
• Commission rate:50%,
• Payout threshold: $10
• Pay frequency:
• Payment methods: fiat
• Cookie duration: 30 days
• Affiliate network: N/A

Pros:

• User-friendly interface – great for crypto newbies and entry-level affiliate marketers.
• Effective tracking system – an accurate and reliable tracking system that lets one monitor conversions and earnings.
• Highly-enriched marketing materials – very effective promotional materials that boost conversion.
• Diverse products – there is a wide range of crypto assets to market
• High referral commission rate

Cons:

• Very short earning timespan – the earning span is just three months.
• Limited jurisdiction – the platform and its products are unavailable in many countries.

3. Coinmama affiliate program

Those who prefer to use fiat payment methods both to trade in cryptos and to receive payment will find Coinmama a very convenient platform. It not only allows direct bank account transfers but also the use of both debit cards and credit cards.

Coinmama affiliate program offers a modest referral commission on its niches.

Program features:

• Niches: crypto exchange, investing, and trading
• Commission rate: up to 30%
• Payout threshold: $100
• Pay frequency: monthly
• Payment methods: fiat + crypto
• Cookie duration: N/A
• Affiliate network: In-house

Pros:

• Lifetime commissions – you continue earning from your referral for so long as income is generated.
• Quick setup – very simple and easy setup.
• Instant update – your revenue account is instantly updated upon successful purchase by your referral.

Cons:

• Much lower affiliate commission rate compared to Binance and Coinbase.
• Limited product choice – very few product niches to choose from
• No clear information about cookie duration

4. Bybit affiliate program

Being one of the fastest-growing crypto exchange platforms Bybit boasts an excellent conversion rate of above 50% – which means that one in every two people you refer to Bybit are likely going to convert. Bybit’s affiliate program is a two-tier reward system whereby affiliate marketers can recruit other affiliate marketers and earn 10% on their conversions.

Program features:

• Niches: crypto exchange, investing, and trading
• Commission rate:  up to 30%, plus 10% to sub-affiliates
• Payout threshold: $0
• Pay frequency: once a day
• Payment methods: crypto
• Cookie duration: N/A
• Affiliate network: Impact + in-house

Pros:

• Lifetime commissions – You continue earning from the Bybit affiliate program for as long as your referral remains active.
• Sub-affiliate commission – You can recruit other affiliates and earn from them.
• High conversion rate – At a 60% conversion rate, the Bybit affiliate program is one of the best-performing programs in the world of cryptocurrency affiliate programs.
• Wide jurisdictional coverage – Bybit platform is available in more than 80 countries across the globe.
• Additional benefits – bonuses and other benefits are provided to the best-performing affiliate marketers.

Cons:

• Relatively less well-known brand in the crypto space compared to the top-5 crypto exchange platforms listed above.
• Lower affiliate commission rate compared to the top brands in the cryptocurrency industry such as Binance, and Coinbase.
• No clear information about cookie duration.

5. PrimeXBT affiliate program

With more than 30 different types of assets and up to 1000x leverage, PrimeXBT provides attractive offers to both customers and affiliate marketers. With the PrimeXBT affiliate program, you not only get higher commissions that are unrivaled in the cryptocurrency market but also one of the topmost CPA payouts of up to $1250.

Program features:

• Niches: crypto trading, investments, forex, commodities
• Commission rate: up to 70%, plus up to $1250 CPA
• Payout threshold: $40
• Pay frequency: monthly
• Payment methods: crypto
• Cookie duration: 60 days
• Affiliate network: N/A

Pros:

• High commissions – up to 70% commissions.
• Top CPA payouts of up to $1250.
• Highly converting promotional materials including landing pages, banners, and others.

Cons:

• Not a well-known brand

6. Paxful affiliate program

As one of the few surviving peer-to-peer crypto companies, Paxful’s main mode of earning revenue is by charging an escrow fee. Currently, Paxful is the leading dedicated peer-to-peer online marketplace after many others shut down.

Paxful supports both credit cards and debit cards plus bank account transfers. The Paxful affiliate program is one of the leading dedicated Bitcoin affiliate programs in the cryptocurrency market.  

Program features:

• Niches: Escrow fee
• Commission rate: 50%, plus 10% on sub-affiliates
• Payout threshold: $0
• Pay frequency: real-time
• Payment methods: fiat and crypto
• Cookie duration: 90 days
• Affiliate network: N/A

Pros:

• High commissions – The Paxful affiliate program provides higher commissions than most other platforms.
• Low payout threshold – You can withdraw as little as you can provided that it is economical.
• Well-known brand – Paxful has been in existence for the last 10 years as one of the leading peer-to-peer online marketplace.
• Two-tier reward system – an affiliate can earn from recruiting other affiliates.

Cons:

• Negative news due to its temporary closure in April 2023 as a result of an ownership tussle between the two co-founders.
• A very small niche for earning a decent affiliate commission.

7. Changelly affiliate program

The most well-known brand in the crypto market for anonymous digital currency swaps is Changelly. With a 50% affiliate commission based on transaction fees, Changelly counts among the highest percentage payers in the cryptocurrency industry.

Program features:

• Niches: crypto exchange, investing, and trading
• Commission rate: up to 50%
• Payout threshold: $30
• Pay frequency: on-demand
• Payment methods: crypto (USDT)
• Cookie duration: 30 days
• Affiliate network: CJ Affiliate + in-house

Pros:

• High commission rates
• Many promotional options
• 24/7 customer support

Cons:

• High payout threshold
• Low revenue amounts due to extremely low transaction fee
• No fiat payment option

8. CEX.IO affiliate program

Ideal for those affiliate marketers looking for lifetime commissions, CEX.IO provides them with an opportunity to earn up to 30% commission on transaction fees incurred by referrals on the platform.

Program features:

• Niches: crypto exchange, investing, and trading
• Commission rate: 30%
• Payout threshold: $0
• Pay frequency: once a day
• Payment methods: crypto
• Cookie duration: unlimited
• Affiliate network: In-house

Pros:

• Lifetime commissions – you continue earning for so long as the referral continues being active on the platform
• Attractive affiliate commission rate
• Performant marketing materials – plenty of promotional materials including banners and landing pages.

Cons:

• High barrier to earning – requires referrals to have high trading volumes to get better earnings.
• Unsatisfactory customer support – a significant number of users have complained about a lack of proper customer support.

9. Trezor affiliate program

For those affiliate marketers accustomed to selling physical products, the Trezor affiliate program offers them a great opportunity to market hardware wallets. While the affiliate commission percentage may look small, the revenue amount is quite high compared to most programs.  This is due to the high price of a hardware wallet.

Program features:

• Niches: crypto wallets, security, and storage
• Commission rate: up to 15%
• Payout threshold: $50
• Pay frequency: monthly
• Payment methods: fiat
• Cookie duration: N/A
• Affiliate network: N/A

Pros:

• Well-known brand – Trezor has a strong brand reputation. This makes it far easier to convert prospective leads to customers.
• Rich variety of promotional materials – various forms of text links and banners are provided to suit your type of content and marketing platform.
• Intuitive tracking – The tracking dashboard is sleek and intuitive. It makes it easy for one to track conversions and revenue

Cons:

• Low commission rate
• A very small niche
• No clear information about cookie duration

10. Ledger affiliate program

Another affiliate program focused on crypto wallets is Ledger. The Ledger wallet is the primary competitor to the Trezor wallet. Both are well-known brands in the hardware wallet niche. While Ledger’s affiliate commission percentage may look small, the revenue amount is quite high compared to most programs. 

Program features:

• Niches: crypto wallets, security, and storage
• Commission rate: 10%
• Payout threshold: 0.1 BTC
• Pay frequency: monthly
• Payment methods: crypto
• Cookie duration: 30 days
• Affiliate network: N/A

Pros:

• Well-known brand – Trezor has a strong brand reputation. This makes it far easier to convert prospective leads to customers.
• High-value revenue items – the revenue items are of high sales value and thus high earnings per conversion
• A wide range of marketing materials

Cons:

• Low commission rate
• A very small niche

Factors to consider when choosing your best affiliate marketing program

To find the best affiliate programs, you need to consider the following key factors:

1. Reputation

Reputation counts as the most important consideration. This guarantees that you will actually earn what you deserve.

The following are the key players whose reputation counts:

• The affiliate partners – these are those responsible for creating the affiliate program.
• The crypto affiliate networks – transparent accountability is important as you are not in a position to tell whether the link was clicked or not and whether conversion actually happened or not. As a rule of thumb, give preference to a third-party crypto affiliate network rather than an in-house one that could be susceptible to manipulation by the affiliate partner.
• Payment processors – Once your affiliate partner releases due payments, payment processors ensure that this money reaches your bank account or crypto wallet. Sometimes money gets lost along the way or becomes unnecessarily delayed by dishonest payment processors. You have to carry out due diligence to ensure that the payment processor is reputable to avoid unnecessary and costly disputes.

2. Niches

Different affiliate marketing programs focus on different niches. Each niche requires a different marketing strategy. Thus, it is important to choose a niche that matches your marketing strategy.

3. Mode of earning

Affiliate commission is pegged to earning drivers. You should consider whether this driver provides a sufficient income base for you to earn enough revenue.

Earning bases/drivers:

• Trading fees
• Escrow fee
• Sales revenue
• Other transaction fees

Apart from earning drivers, you should also consider earning methods. Each method has an impact on how much you would eventually earn.

Earning methods:

• Shared revenue (Partner program) – This is the commonest mode of affiliate marketing whereby affiliate partners earn a share of the revenue generated based on a percentage share.
• Click Per Action (CPA) – The commission is based on what actions the leads carry out right from clicking the referral link to the eventual conversion.
• Introducer – Introducer programs are based on custom commission plans. The introducer affiliate employs educational content, face-to-face interactions, and direct action to introduce a new user to a given product, service, or program.

4. Commission policy

The juiciest part of being an affiliate marketer is the commission earnings. The commission policy determines how much you will earn and how much effort you will have to put into achieving the earnings. The following are important elements to factor in a given commission policy:

(a) Commission rate

All else equal, the higher the commission rate, the better the affiliate program. However, beware. A higher percentage does not mean you should dismiss other factors.

(b) Payout threshold

This refers to the minimum amount that cannot be withdrawn. Other factors being the same, the lower the payout threshold the better.

(c) Payment Frequency

How many times can you withdraw in a given period? If you are hungry for cash flows, then the pay frequency should be the shortest, that is, instant or real-time. However, if you are not in a hurry or would like to save and invest, then a longer frequency is preferred.

(d) Payment method

Some payment methods are more expensive than others. Yet, some of the methods may not be available to you. Consider an affiliate program that has the most convenient payment method.

5. Duration (cookie policy)

The longer the duration of the cookies the more likely you will fish a lead. Thus, other factors being the same, go for an affiliate program with a longer cookie duration.

6. Marketing support

The more marketing support that you get from an affiliate program, the better your performance will be. Marketing support comes in the form of:

• Marketing resources – these include promotional materials and tools
• Marketing reports – This gives you a clear picture of your performance so that you get to know areas to improve.
• Affiliate care – an affiliate program with dedicated account managers is more likely going to provide the best affiliate care.

7. Type of marketing channel

If you are one of the online opinion leaders, content creators, or simply a crypto influencer, then, you have an excellent opportunity to use your online platform as a marketing channel. You can devise a marketing strategy that has a unique approach to turn your own communities into crypto enthusiasts and crypto newbies. You need to consider a marketing channel that has the bulk of your target audience.

The following are the main marketing channels:

• Blogs – You can embed your unique referral link in your blog post to redirect your leads to the landing page of the affiliate program.
• Social media platforms – Like blog posts, you can create social media pages in which you can embed a custom affiliate link in your page post. You can also create posts with embedded links to community groups to which you belong.
• YouTube channel – Vlogs are highly converting compared to blogs. However, they demand more time, effort, and resources. YouTube Channel is so far the most prominent vlog platform. You can embed deep links in your videos to redirect your leads to the landing page of your affiliate program.

Conclusion

Earning passive income through affiliate marketing programs can be very fulfilling. This is especially true if you are passionate about cryptocurrencies, fintech, and blockchain technology. In this article, we have not only identified the 10 best cryptocurrency affiliate programs but also indicated to you those factors that you should consider in choosing your best affiliate marketing program.

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