Bitcoin faucet revival aims to distribute coins as price nears $95,000

Charlie Shrem, an early Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) entrepreneur, has announced efforts to revive the concept of Bitcoin faucets as the cryptocurrency’s price approaches $95,000.

Shrem recently launched a website, 21million.com, which is modeled after the original Bitcoin faucet created by Gavin Andresen in 2010.

The site displays a CAPTCHA task and a field for users to enter a Bitcoin address, though it was not functional at the time of reporting.

Currently, the faucet shows zero Bitcoin available for distribution.

“I want Bitcoin to be successful, so I created this little service to give you a few coins to start with,” Shrem stated.

He described the development process as “vibe coded,” indicating he is using artificial intelligence and prompting to write the code.

Bitcoin faucets played a significant role in the early adoption of the cryptocurrency.

Andresen’s original faucet distributed a total of 19,700 Bitcoin, now valued at approximately $1.86 billion, to users who solved CAPTCHA tasks.

At the time, participants could earn up to 5 Bitcoin per day, which encouraged the creation of wallets and increased network activity.

However, as Bitcoin’s price and transaction fees rose, the sustainability of such faucets diminished, leading to a decline in their prevalence.

Shrem’s involvement in the cryptocurrency sector has included co-founding BitInstant, one of the first Bitcoin exchanges, and serving as vice chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation.

BitInstant at its peak handled about 30% of all Bitcoin transactions, but the company faced operational challenges and legal scrutiny.

In 2014, Shrem was arrested and later pleaded guilty to charges related to money laundering connected to some users’ activities on the Silk Road marketplace.

He served a year in prison and has since returned to the crypto industry, launching advisory and venture capital initiatives and hosting a podcast.

The attempt to bring back Bitcoin faucets comes as the market watches Bitcoin’s price movements and reflects on the early methods that contributed to its adoption.

At the time of reporting, the Bitcoin (BTC) price was $94,625.74.