Most of the genuine growth I’ve seen in crypto channels comes from doing shout-out swaps with other deal-driven or news-focused groups in your niche. You reach out to a handful of channels that already have active crypto audiences—anything from token-specific updates to DeFi alerts—and agree to trade pinned posts or banners for a week. The subscribers you pull in that way tend to stick around because they’re already interested in crypto, not just chasing a freebie.
In terms of cost, you’re looking at anywhere between five to fifteen cents per subscriber on average. Channels with 5–10K members usually charge around $100–$200 for a week-long shoutout, which translates to roughly 1,000–2,500 joins depending on how savvy their audience is. The more specialized the group (say, a DAO governance channel or an NFT community), the higher the price can climb—sometimes up to $0.20 a sub—but those subscribers often have better engagement and conversion on affiliate or token-sale links down the road.