Crypto glossary
Learn-to-earn
Learn-to-earn programmes pay users small amounts of crypto for watching lessons about a project and passing short quizzes, often on exchanges.
In a learn-to-earn campaign, a user watches videos or reads short lessons about a blockchain or token and then answers a few questions. Passing the quiz unlocks a reward, typically a few dollars' worth of the token being taught, credited to an exchange account or wallet. Coinbase Earn popularised the format, and other exchanges, wallets and education platforms followed, usually funded by the project whose token is featured.
For projects, it is paid distribution: thousands of new holders who have at least heard the basic pitch. For newcomers, it is a low-risk way to get a first fraction of crypto and learn how wallets, networks and tokens work without depositing money.
The educational content is marketing written or paid for by the token issuer, so it rarely discusses risks or competitors. Campaigns usually require full identity verification and run out quickly, rewards are small and taxable in many jurisdictions, and fake learn-to-earn sites have been used to harvest personal data.
Example
A new exchange user watches three short videos about a layer 1 network, answers a five-question quiz and receives 3 dollars in that network's token in their account.