Merits are a rare commodity here on bct so earning them will take quite a bit of effort. And from my understanding new merits are not currently being generated so another member would have to give you theirs provided that they're impressed by your posts and contributions here.

There are different ranks you can obtain that go all the way up to Legendary. Higher ranks unlock additional features for your account including posting pictures, avatars, etc. but I suggest checking out the merit thread post by theymos where you can find additional details on the requirements for each rank. I included that link below for your convenience.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2818350.0