<p>George gave you the idealistic answer.  The cynical answer: the point is to get you to look at ads and produce revenue for the faucet operator, while paying you an amount of Bitcoin that you hopefully won't realize is equivalent to an hourly wage several orders of magnitude below sweatshop.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-28T06:19:21.833Z
2013-12-28T06:19:21.833Z
Nate Eldredge
<p>Most of them use Bitcoin Based Advert Company's to monetize them and don't pay out much money so they generate a profit and run multiple faucets.</p>

<p><a href="http://faucetlove.com/advert-companies-f86" rel="nofollow">Bitcoin Based Advert Company's</a></p>

<p>Also they make use of things like referral codes to other faucets which can quickly get them back the amount of Satoshi they pay out as most people keep browsing through lots of faucets.</p>

<p>There are other things like paid url shorteners used to generate revenue.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-17T14:31:09.390Z
2016-10-17T14:31:09.390Z
zeddex
<p>The intention behind the first faucets, e.g. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100703032414/http://freebitcoins.appspot.com/" rel="nofollow">the original one</a> by Gavin Andresen, was to promote the use of Bitcoin by putting a few easily in the hands of whomever willing to use them. Back in e.g. 2010, 5 bitcoins was a very insignificant amount, but that way anybody could try the system. A similar initiative was called "Pay It Forward" where you would get a few bitcoins and send them to other people. The latter was implemented as a forum thread where the original poster edited the first post to add your address if you wanted to participate.</p>

<p>Obviously, now that many people see economical value in Bitcoin before technical value, such systems would not stand for a minute. The concept and name of Bitcoin faucets still exist, but that's pretty much all they share with the first faucets. The modern ones are a way to make money rather than a way to stimulate the use of Bitcoin by the community.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-19T06:28:56.733Z
2016-10-19T06:28:56.733Z
David Ammouial
<p>What is the motivation for the faucet owner?</p>

<p>Just to get a browser visit/IP address/plant some cookies?</p>

<faucets>
What is the point of a bitcoin faucet?
obelia
# What is the point of a bitcoin faucet?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-12-28)

What is the motivation for the faucet owner?

Just to get a browser visit/IP address/plant some cookies?

**Tags:** faucets


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2013-12-28. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

George gave you the idealistic answer. The cynical answer: the point is to get you to look at ads and produce revenue for the faucet operator, while paying you an amount of Bitcoin that you hopefully won't realize is equivalent to an hourly wage several orders of magnitude below sweatshop.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2016-10-17. Score: 1

Most of them use Bitcoin Based Advert Company's to monetize them and don't pay out much money so they generate a profit and run multiple faucets.

[Bitcoin Based Advert Company's](http://faucetlove.com/advert-companies-f86)

Also they make use of things like referral codes to other faucets which can quickly get them back the amount of Satoshi they pay out as most people keep browsing through lots of faucets.

There are other things like paid url shorteners used to generate revenue.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2016-10-19. Score: 0

The intention behind the first faucets, e.g. [the original one](https://web.archive.org/web/20100703032414/http://freebitcoins.appspot.com/) by Gavin Andresen, was to promote the use of Bitcoin by putting a few easily in the hands of whomever willing to use them. Back in e.g. 2010, 5 bitcoins was a very insignificant amount, but that way anybody could try the system. A similar initiative was called "Pay It Forward" where you would get a few bitcoins and send them to other people. The latter was implemented as a forum thread where the original poster edited the first post to add your address if you wanted to participate.

Obviously, now that many people see economical value in Bitcoin before technical value, such systems would not stand for a minute. The concept and name of Bitcoin faucets still exist, but that's pretty much all they share with the first faucets. The modern ones are a way to make money rather than a way to stimulate the use of Bitcoin by the community.


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