Bitcoin Faucets
The recent surge in Bitcoin price has brought a new interest into cryptocurrencies from those otherwise outside the crypto community. Over the years, I have dabbled in a few different bitcoin faucets. Most of them have felt scammy or have disappeared into the ether. There are two that I know of that I would actually recommend to other users.
Faucets trickle very slowly, but they do offer a fun way to experiment with crypto and encourage you to set up a proper wallet while offering a real payout eventually. Counter-intuitively, it can be better to use a faucet account when bitcoin is falling in value, since you may get more Satoshis per use as the value of the coin decreases, so it also might help alleviate your fears in a volatile market.
Full disclosure: using the embedded links below could benefit my accounts if you join through them. I would appreciate it if you did, of course. But these sites are not pyramid schemes that require you to recruit others in turn or surrender any profits generated to me. You lose nothing, and I might get a small bonus.
Freebitco.in
Solve a captcha and spin for a random number every hour. Win some satoshis. There is about a 1% chance of winning a higher sum, too. Earn reward points and lottery tickets for each spin for a chance at prizes and rewards. Once your balance reaches 30,000 Satoshis (0.003 BTC) it will send the funds to your wallet unless you choose against automatic withdrawals.
You just need an outside bitcoin wallet and a password to create an account, but the freebitcoin account can also be used as a receiving address for bitcoin too, so it could be a good receiving address for any other faucet's payouts. If you turn off automatic withdrawal to your main wallet, you can earn interest if your account holds more than 30,000 Satoshis
This service has been around for a very long time, and appears to be a stable site for the foreseeable future. Obviously I would not suggest storing any sums you aren't willing to risk losing on any wallet you don't directly control, but it could be a good receiving address for any other faucet payouts.
Moon Bitcoin
This faucet isn't designed for hourly claims, instead trickling satoshis into a claim pool over time. The rate slows as time passes, so frequent claims are still better, but letting it fill overnight nets you more than just making an hourly claim on freebitco.in for another flat hourly reward. At 25,000 Satoshis (0.0025 BTC) it pays to your account automatically.
This account also rewards an extra 1% loyalty bonus for every consecutive day you make at least one claim, and adds a mystery bonus multiplier between 1% and 100%. There are also referral bonuses and offer bonuses if you choose to click the ads and follow whatever instructions are there. I stay away from the ads, and have no referrals yet.
I rather like the claim flexibility this faucet offers, and it has also been around for a long enough time that I have reasonable confidence in recommending it.
Conclusion
If you aren't in bitcoin yet, don't wait! You can download a wallet on your computer or phone, or set up an online wallet at a site like Coinbase. We don't know where Bitcoin is going in the long run, but you should be along for the ride anyway!