What are the best gifts for crypto lovers? There are many ways to approach the gift-giving season if you’re buying for someone who has a passion for Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any other coin. Naturally the very first thing that springs to mind is giving the gift of crypto itself (we’ll talk about that later on below) but what about other options?
Some want to buy a meaningful present for that special investor in their lives but know nothing of crypto itself–there are definitely options for non-tech savvy people as well as those who know their blockchain from their hardware wallets.
Crypto Gifts You Can Give Without Knowing Anything About Cryptocurrency
Let’s face it–the world of cryptocurrency can be a bit intimidating to those on the outside. The idea of buying a crypto-themed gift might sound like a steep learning curve to some, but fortunately you don’t need any experience in crypto at all to use one of these gift options.
Hardware wallets: If you search for cryptocurrency hardware wallets as someone new to Bitcoin, you’ll find unfamiliar vendors such as Ledger, but also similar offerings on trusted platforms such as Amazon.
Buying a crypto hardware wallet without knowing anything about virtual currency means you’ll likely gravitate toward a trusted name to purchase but be sure to read the customer reviews and do your research before you settle on one hardware wallet or another.
Why are crypto hardware wallets such a great gift? They store private crypto keys offline, protecting them from theft online by hackers and scammers. Even if your recipient already owns a crypto wallet, another one is definitely NOT a waste of money–redundancy is important when it comes to protecting your crypto keys.
Crypto Clothing: We probably have George Lucas and Star Wars to thank for the modern, relentless merchandising of popular games, films, memes, and yes, crypto.
There are platform-specific crypto shirts, hoodies, and other wearables; the long-time t-shirt vendor Busted Tees offers one hoodie that simply reads “Crypto Millionaire”, while an Etsy vendor offered an Ethereum-centric shirt featuring a UFO with the words “HODL on, we’re going to the moon!” (HODL is crypto slang for “hold”, which in this case means not selling Bitcoin but rather treating it like a long-term investment instead of a short-term buy-and-sell commodity.)
At press time, a crypto socks craze has resulted in not one, not two, but as many as FOUR different types of socks bearing coin-specific logos and markings.
There are socks for Ethereum, Uni, DeFi, and Bitcoin. Some are just socks. Others are “tokenized”. If you don’t know what that means, likely that is a purchase best left to another gift-giver.
Crypto Merch: There are “replica” coins you can purchase that are designed to act as the real-world representation of Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum, etc. The coins you purchase and have physically delivered to you (usually for under $50) is NOT a purchase of cryptocurrency itself. In other words, what you are buying is a souvenir coin and not crypto itself.
Unless, of course, the sellers are offering crypto along with the sale of the coin. These would be “tokenized” souvenir coins and remember that there is no standard or uniformity about such offerings so your experience will vary. You can find these crypto “replica coins” on Etsy and other online merchant sites.
Another very popular form of crypto merch? Branded coffee mugs. These too are available from Etsy, Amazon, and many other sellers/resellers. The mugs have slogans ranging from the snarky (one simply reads, “tears of Bitcoin haters”) to the aspirational (“future crypto millionaire”).
Crypto Books: You don’t need to visit an unfamiliar website to seek and find books about cryptocurrency. For these types of crypto gifts it’s a good idea to determine the experience and interest level of your crypto-loving gift recipient first. You don’t want to buy a Bitcoin 101 book for someone who is an active and smart virtual currency investor, for example.
What kind of books can you buy about virtual currency, Bitcoin, or other aspects? Entry-level options including the who-didn’t-see-that-coming Cryptocurrency For Dummies, but there are titles for every level.
Other crypto books include A Brief History of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain by Josef L. Chen, and The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains: An Introduction to Cryptocurrencies and the Technology that Powers Them by Antony Lewis.
Those buying for people interested in using crypto platforms to buy, sell, and trade NFTs may wish to consider The NFT Handbook: How to Create, Sell and Buy Non-Fungible Tokens by Matt Fortnow and QuHarrison Terry, and a finance-minded person might appreciate DeFi and the Future of Finance by Campbell R. Harvey, Ashwin Ramachandran and others.
There is even crypto-centric fiction like Strength in Numbers: A Novel of Cryptocurrency by Bill Laboon, and Crypto Blues: Cryptocurrency, Murder and the American Dream by Des Kirby. These are both squarely in the thriller genre, but you’ll find plenty of other titles in the usual places.
Crypto Gifts For Everyone Else
All of the above are great gift options, but those who have a little more digital experience may appreciate options like the ability to buy NFTs and digital art using coins–the gift of an NFT could have unexpected perks later on if the NFT gains popularity and value.
Getting a bit more tech-savvy in the gift giving department, some might be tempted to give the gift of hardware dedicated to helping to mine coins.
Nodes and software dedicated to mining, validating, etc. could be an excellent choice for someone who is serious about their gift giving and knows the recipient well. Hardware is generally something you don’t want to guess at unless you also provide a receipt along with the gift…just in case. Not to mention the price point for this type of hardware–if you want to spend between $500 and $2000 for that special someone, this type of gear is the way to do it.
Last But Not Least: Buying Crypto As A Gift For Someone Else
If you are knowledgeable about buying, selling, or trading Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, etc. and want to buy some virtual currency to give as a gift, your learning curve is a lot less steep than someone who has never tested the crypto waters before.
Buying crypto is serious business even at the most casual level–there are private keys to obtain and protect, your account or accounts need to be monitored to check the current value of the investment, etc.
If you are new to this type of investment, consider buying crypto currency the same way as you would consider buying any other type of investment for someone else. Does your gift recipient have an interest? Are they newcomers or experienced traders?
The novelty of a lesser-known coin might be lost on someone who doesn’t know what HODL means, but the well-meaning, but ill-informed purchase on behalf of a savvy trader could go either way—amusement or indifference.
If you want to buy crypto gifts, but have little experience doing so, you are in luck–many crypto platforms offer some kind of educational section to help get newcomers up to speed. The accuracy, veracity, and trustworthiness of this help depends greatly on who is providing it, but some sites can empower you more than others.
For example, Coinbase offers not only educational content to help you grow your understanding of how the ecosystem works, but also free cryptocurrency for completing certain learning modules or lessons. Many have learned the ropes by taking these online courses.
This can be a very good way to come up to speed before you shell out for a gift. When you are ready to buy cryptocurrency on someone else’s behalf, you can use the learning you got from such a site to make your way through the process.
In the meantime, while you are learning how to buy, sell, and trade, you should research the reputation of any provider you’re considering using or purchasing from. Read the conversations on Reddit or other social media platforms and pay attention to complaints or other negative feedback as well as the glowing reviews.
Online feedback is a very important way to determine who to use and the more obscure and less-discussed one of them is, the more caution you should use. To get started buying crypto for someone else, here are some things you should read up on:
- Using a cryptocurrency wallet
- Protecting your private keys for your coins
- How to transfer crypto to another person
- Security, fraud prevention, and best practices for buying crypto
Joe Wallace has covered real estate and financial topics, including crypto and NFTs since 1995. His work has appeared on Veteran.com, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and many print and online publications. Joe is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter for Air Force Television News.
