Money powers everything in Cyberpunk 2077, and you'll need plenty of Eurodollars to upgrade V and your weapons. Not to mention the whirlwinds you'll get your hands on on all the gentle rides we've talked about in our car and bike guides. Making lots of money fast isn't exactly easy, as it requires more than some would like, but it isn't hard either.
On the plus side, you'll have to explore Night City a lot more than you otherwise would, as several methods of making money fast in Cyberpunk 2077 involve exploration, questing, and not a small amount of intentional homicide.
Here are four ways to earn big bucks fast in Cyberpunk 2077.
Sell ​​all unupgraded loot
You'll kill or KO a lot of enemies on your journey through Night City, and all of them will drop a weapon, as well as whatever armor and gear they have on their person. Keep what you find if it has better stats than what you are using. However, the majority of what you will loot from enemies will be downright worse than your current gear.
For anything you don't want or can't keep due to weight issues, head to any vendor or drop box and sell it. A standard encounter will net you between five and 10 pieces of enemy gear and a bit more from loot boxes scattered around an arena.
Depending on the rarity of items you find - determined by your character level - this could easily be several thousand dollars for minimal effort. At higher levels, you could hit 10000 Whirlwinds in five minutes with a good RNG on your loot drops.
This first method applies to almost everything else discussed below. You'll want to keep an eye on your gear load in the top right of the Inventory screen, as too much weight will negatively impact your mobility. Make regular trips to vendors as you move between goals to keep yourself reasonably charged. A bit tedious, yes, but you'll continue to earn money as you progress with little effort.
Collect and sell waste
There's a lot of useless junk scattered around the world of Cyberpunk 2077. Luckily for us, it all has value and helps us make some easy money. When you visit shops and drop boxes, you see an option to sell spam. Press this button each time.
Junk items have their own rarities, and the rarer your junk items are, the more worth it they are.
However, if your main goal is to earn money quickly, avoid the Scrapper Crafting bonus. This forces you to automatically dismantle all trash as soon as you collect it, preventing you from earning money until you meet it. Find out how to do this in our respec guide. Warning: it will cost you a lot of Eurodollars.
Fight crime and make the side of jobs
Crime is everywhere in Night City, and it all provides an opportunity to earn some quick cash. Light blue icons on your map include:
- NCPD investigations
- Ongoing crimes or assaults
- Other random encounters that allow you to defeat enemies and complete simple objectives
As mentioned above, you'll get a bunch of loot to sell, along with a small reward for clearing the area of ​​enemies.
For bigger loot, head to the dozens of side jobs scattered around different parts of the map. Those yellow circles with exclamation marks or hexagons with question marks indicate more substantial sideways content.
These side jobs will see you sneaking around or attacking an area, killing a particular target, or investigating a building, usually through combat or equipment sabotage. There's more to it than a criminal event, and the rewards are commensurate with the extra effort, from experience to money and street credit. The money you receive from these missions scales with your level, as does the level of enemies and the loot they drop.
Secondary mission areas are usually larger and contain more items, including Eurodollars waiting to be picked up.
In summary: more enemies, more loot, scalable rewards, and additional opportunities for world drop gear. Even better, you might come across some of the best writing Cyberpunk has to offer, pairing monetary gain with a satisfying narrative. Everybody wins.
Hack every terminal you come across
Most encounter areas, especially in side and main missions, have computer signs marked with a red computer icon on the minimap. These signs also exist in Night City proper, or on the vending machine or the occasional telecom antenna.
You can log into these terminals with enough Intelligence points, usually three or five. To get the most out of hack terminals, you need to enable all three tiers. We have a handy hacking guide for you to get the most out of such terminals.
A successful hack of all three levels gives you the most money and provides the legendary Quickhack components. If you're good at hacking, a single terminal shouldn't take you more than 20 or 30 seconds. And since you've probably already killed or removed every other threat in the area, most endpoints are a little icing on the cake.
You'll often find Eurodollar packs all over the world, but if you're looking to make some quick cash in Cyberpunk 2077, these methods are tried, tested, and work 100% of the time, all the time. For more on CD Projekt Red's new neon RPG, head over to our dedicated guides page!
