So, you’re desperate. Your job sucks, it won’t be enough to cover expenses, and the side hustles you’ve been working are just not cutting it. You need a hail mary, something that has the potential to give you massive returns, quickly. Is it a good idea? No. Is it an advisable way to spend your last dime? Definitely not. But for those of you who need a miracle, or have a higher risk appetite, we’ve compiled a short list of the best (or worst) ways to make crazy money online, FAST.
1. Sports Betting
I’m starting here because this one is the easiest to get started with, and let’s be honest, it’s extremely fun and addicting. You’ve probably heard ads for these platforms running non-stop over the last few years and they’re spreading like wildfire. Like it or not, sports gambling has become inextricably linked with pro sports, so much so that pre-game shows even give information about live odds before breaking down the actual game!
PrizePicks
PrizePicks is my personal favorite for putting money down on sports. Unlike other platforms, they let you deposit funds with a credit card, so you don’t need to transfer money directly from your bank account. On your first deposit, they give you $50 of bonus funds to get started which is awesome if you’re on a tight budget. They also have a super clean interface and the website and mobile app is really well made. You just have to be a citizen of Canada or the United States, and of legal gambling age in your jurisdiction. Unlike a lot of other sports betting apps, you’re allowed to bet from any state in the USA!
Basically, the way it works is simple: you pick a sport and a statistical category. Let’s say NBA basketball and points. You then choose from different players and pick which ones you think will go over or under the given total for the game. Giannis Antetokounmpo might be estimated to have 31.5 points for the game, will he go for more or less than that? You can chain together several bets to increase your potential winnings and they have cute little emojis to denote which bets payout more or less.
DraftKings
DraftKings is the next best platform, and they’ve been around for longer. Their site and app is more geared towards traditional sports betting, with a more detailed breakdown of odds and bets you can make. Unfortunately, their reach is more limited due to the types of betting they offer and you can check this map to see if your state/area is allowed to use the site.
They’re great if you enjoy doing more traditional parlays on various prop bets or teams, and if you’re more into sports betting, they’re definitely a more mature platform than PrizePicks. The only real downside is the limited availability and the fact that their interface is not nearly as good as PrizePicks.
Stake
Stake is an online casino that accepts all kinds of crypto and has a fun social element to it. Unfortunately for people in the United States, the platform is quite neutered. Users in the USA are directed to use “stake.us” instead of “stake.com” where you buy and bet with gold coins rather than real currency or cryptocurrencies. However, for many countries across the world, particularly in Europe and South America, the platform is pretty awesome.
You can deposit funds directly from your crypto wallet and many different types of crypto are supported. From there, you can bet on basically any sport completely unrestricted. I’ve even hit a 20-leg parlay that turned $1 into over $100! Basically, if you prefer gambling with crypto, its a great option and you can easily deposit coins and get started today.
Rollbit
Rollbit is essentially just like Stake, but with the added feature of letting you leverage trade dozens of different cryptocurrencies in real time! However due to the risky services they offer, it’s list of supported countries is pretty limited. Most notably, you can’t use the platform if you’re in the United States or any of these other restricted countries. However, I hear that a VPN will get you around this (not that we'd ever advocate for that type of thing of course).
They also have a really nice interface for betting on sports. In my opinion, its better than Stake and some of the odds they provide seem to be more favorable as well. You can load up on big parlays or place single bets, then go double it by leverage trading meme coins in the crypto section, it’s a blast!
2. Meme Coins
Meme coins are the seedy underbelly of the already somewhat seedy crypto industry. You may have heard of coins like Dogecoin or Shiba Inu but these days things have gotten way crazier. I’m not going to go into a deep dive of how these things work on a technical level or else we’d be here all day, but I will give the basic outline for 2025.
These days, most meme coins are launched on the Solana blockchain. That’s due to the fact that its cheap, fast, and most importantly, any idiot can do it because the ecosystem has been optimized for this use case. You buy some SOL on an exchange like Gemini, download Phantom, make a wallet, transfer the funds there and you’re basically ready to go. The popular sites to go to in order to find these meme coins is X (formerly Twitter) and pump.fun, but you can also trade some on Rollbit as well.
Be warned, its essentially a madhouse. It’s a kill or be killed, winner take all, borderline schizophrenic atmosphere where you can become a millionaire overnight, or more likely lose everything you’ve invested. It’s not for the faint of heart, but if you’ve got a massive tolerance for risk, you’ll feel right at home.
3. Stock Options
You’ve obviously heard about investing in stocks, and this is similar but far more volatile. Essentially buying a stock option allows you to purchase a contract that provides you with the right to buy or sell 100 shares of a specific stock at a specific date. Unlike a stock, these can be rendered worthless or 1000x in value in a very short period of time.
Let’s say you think the S&P 500 is going to fall in value over the next two weeks. So, you pick a date two weeks from now, pick a price that you think the stock will fall beyond and you buy a “PUT” option for $SPY. If $SPY goes below the chosen "strike" price, your option contract will be worth substantially more. The closer the date you choose, the more risky the gamble, and the more volatile the fluctuations in price. I would encourage you to read more on this here, but thats the gist.
Robinhood
Robinhood is the leading platform when it comes to making insane, risky stock option bets. They allow you to purchase 0-day contracts, which is where the most insane returns are made. I’ve personally tripled my money in hours with these same-day expiration contracts, but I’ve also been burned by them as well. You can make a $100 bet on $SPY when the market opens, and it can be worth thousands before noon. All you’ve gotta do is sign up on Robinhood, enable “options trading” in the settings, and you’re ready to go.
They’ve got the best interface by far, and are much more beginner friendly than established alternatives like Vanguard or Fidelity. It should go without saying, but be careful. Robinhood makes it so easy to buy risky financial bets that it almost feels like a game. The flashy charts and colorful UI create powerful rushes of dopamine when you hit that first 300% gain. Psychologically, it’s really no different than an online casino.
Conclusion
I’m not going to sit here and tell you that these are good ideas. They’re not. They’re insanely risky and you can lose everything you put into them. However, if you’re looking for a way to multiply your money quickly, these are about as good as it gets. I've personally doubled and even tripled my money in hours with these strategies, and I've lost it all just as quickly. They're as risky as they are addictive. You can educate yourself further on leverage trading crypto and stock options, but you'll never be able to completely eliminate the levels of risk they bring. There definitely is skill involved, and you can mitigate some of the downside by following a disciplined strategy.
Educate yourself, do your own research, be careful, and good luck!
