Collecting virtual coins in northern Syria has become a way to earn money online through several applications, with monthly profits reaching up to $200. 

All that is needed is a cellphone with access to the internet. In order to collect coins an application should be installed and an account created. Subsequently, the user joins voice chat rooms and collects gifts sent by the administrators, converts them into coins and resells them to specific telecommunication shops.

A single user can create up to 50 accounts using the same phone to increase profits, thus earning up to $200 per month. Every 1,000 coins are sold for $4. In the northwestern province of Idlib, people of all ages, men and women, are involved in this business that helps them earn a monthly income.

Mustafa Hamidi, a sociologist and freelance researcher based in Turkey, told Al-Monitor, “In all societies grappling with poverty and helplessness, people look for new ways to earn money in order to make ends meet and ward off poverty. I believe that the Syrian population has reached extreme poverty, as more than 80% of Syrians live below the poverty line. Hence the need for such options.”