Do you have some crypto lying around idle in your wallet? If your answer is yes, then, did you know you can use it to generate income? You can simply stake cryptocurrency and grow your crypto holding without buying more! There’s one little point though – not all exchanges give the facility to stake. So, it’s important to understand which of them do. In this article we have covered the 5 best staking crypto platforms that will help you generate passive income.
What Is Crypto Staking?
- Staking is a means by which cryptocurrencies verify transactions.
- Part of your crypto assets is locked to support a blockchain network.
- A consensus mechanism referred to as proof-of-stake is used. It ensures that all transactions are verified and secure.
- In return, you get rewards as your holdings are put to work by the blockchain. When a new block gets added to the blockchain, you will receive some of the new coins.
- If you opt for crypto staking, you give nod to not withdraw cryptocurrencies from this process, till the agreed time period has ended.
Now that you are familiar with what crypto staking is, let us look at the best staking crypto platforms out there that will help you earn passive income.
5 Best Staking Crypto Platforms
Binance
Binance is one of the leading crypto exchanges. According to the company website, Binance has 2.0 bn average daily volume and 1,400,000+ transactions per second.
Several community validators and delegators who support the Binance Smart Chain can stake BNB to earn a reward. The company’s website states that a validator must spin up a hardware node with the necessary specs, stake at least 10,000 BNB and run a full BSC node. To produce blocks, a validator candidate would have to be an elected validator. Such an individual would be given high voting power, along with other elected validators.
If you prefer not to become a validator, you can become a delegator. You will be able to stake your BNB to validator candidates using a supported wallet. By staking, you can pick a validator of your choice and help the user get the minimum stake. Validators get their reward in BNB. A delegator, in exchange for the staking vote, gets a part of the validator’s earnings.
You can become a validator candidate by meeting these requirements:
- Have the necessary hardware requirements.
- Stake a minimum 10,000 BNB.
- Run a BSC full node.
Coinbase
The second in our list of the best staking crypto exchanges and platforms is Coinbase. According to the company’s website, Coinbase has reported quarterly volume traded of
$327B, and has 73+M in verified users.
Staking on Coinbase can be done if one has his or her identity verified with a valid TIN on file. The individual must live in a location where staking is permitted. You can view the list of locations on the website of Coinbase. According to the company’s website, you can earn rewards with even $1 in crypto. The more you hold, the greater you earn.
To be eligible for rewards, you should have the minimum balance needed for that particular cryptocurrency. You can buy or maintain the minimum balance, or transfer that crypto from an outside wallet or exchange. Should the cryptocurrency that you are storing be eligible for rewards, you will get rewards for that crypto.
The reward rate is dependent on various factors, mainly determined by the network’s protocol. Other elements such as amounts staked / stakers, validator performance and inflation rates and/or savings rates set by the network, among others, have a bearing on the rewards.
Kraken
Kraken is a cryptocurrency exchange that provides trading between cryptocurrency and fiat currencies. The exchange is known for its low fees, flexible funding options and high security standards.
There are a number of benefits to staking on this exchange. You can get immediate rewards, high fixed returns and payouts twice a week. To start staking, you will need to purchase cryptocurrency on the exchange or transfer crypto you own from your wallet to Kraken.
The crypto assets you can stake on Kraken include:
- DOT (Polkadot),
- ADA (Cardano),
- ETH 2 (Ethereum 2.0),
- KSM (Kusama),
- ATOM (Cosmos),
- SOL (Solana),
- FLOW, (Flow)
- KAVA (Kava),
- XTZ (Tezos) and
- ALGO (Algorand).
Source: Kraken website.
You can earn rewards when you stake cryptocurrencies and fiat for certain duration. A bonding period may be applicable to some staking coins. To earn rewards, select the asset you want to stake. Once the bonding is completed, it will be ready for staking and earning rewards. To stake on this platform, you will first need to send cryptocurrency to your Kraken Staking Wallet. Then go to “Staking” and under that preferred coin, select “Stake.”
Through on-chain staking, you can stake assets with blockchain PoS protocols, like Tezos. Off-chain staking lets you stake assets with Kraken internal programs. This, however, is available for select nations only.
eToro
eToro – the fourth in our list of the best staking crypto platforms – is a social trading platform that offers investing in stocks and cryptocurrencies. The platform enables users to build their crypto-based portfolio and get benefits like near-immediate execution of market orders.
Staking with eToro is easy and secure. Users receive their staking rewards every month, in the supported crypto asset. According to the company’s website, Cardano (ADA), Tron (TRX) and Ethereum (ETH) are the supported crypto assets.
One is eligible for a staking reward if he or she has held an open position of the staked crypto asset for a specific duration. The time frame for when one becomes eligible varies per crypto asset, according to the particular crypto asset’s blockchain, and the duration taken for it to be included in the staking pool. Source: eToro website.
Staking rewards will be given out for a certain month within 14 days of the next month. Users will receive an email containing a table that mentions the amount for which the reward is calculated, total reward given and aggregated monthly yield.
Poloniex
The final one in our list of the best staking crypto platforms is Poloniex. This is a crypto exchange where users can trade new coins and hedge with Poloniex Futures. Additionally, one can earn without trading – you lend BTC, USDT, USDC, and 10 plus other crypto assets and get interest.
Some of the benefits of this platform include:
- No opt in necessary
- You can trade, deposit, and make withdrawals any time
- Lock-up period not applicable
- Competitive returns
With Poloniex staking, not only can you earn rewards, you will be given the flexibility to trade, deposit and withdraw. You can continue to earn staking rewards till the time you trade funds into a different asset. Should you return the funds to your account for each balance snapshot, you will consistently get rewards irrespective of how you use them in between snapshots. Source: Poloniex website.
Poloniex’s staking offerings include TRON (TRX), Cosmos (ATOM), BitTorrent (BTT) and WINk (WIN). Their features are as below:
Cosmos (ATOM) | TRON (TRX) | WINk (WIN) | BitTorrent (BTT) |
25% staking fee Regular snapshots1 ATOM minimumDaily rewards | Fee free staking4 daily snapshots100 TRX minimumBi-weekly rewards | Fee free staking4 daily snapshots5,000 WIN minimumBi-weekly rewards | Fee free staking4 daily snapshots1,000 BTT minimumBi-weekly rewards |
Source: Poloniex website
Conclusion
Don’t rush to stake your coins. The staking platform you choose is just as important as the rewards. The above mentioned best staking crypto platforms are few of the leading ones in the industry. However, before you proceed, it is vital to do your own assessment based on your needs and accordingly make a decision. An important point you must remember is that you shouldn’t only focus on the annualized rewards. Factors like the age and reputation of the platform are equally important. Finally, go through the terms and conditions of the platform’s staking process to make an informed decision.
FAQs
Which is the best staking crypto platform?
While there are a number of platforms that allow you to stake crypto, our list of the best staking crypto platforms includes Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, eToro and Poloniex.
Is staking crypto worth it?
If a crypto you own permits staking, then you can consider it. The primary benefit that comes with crypto staking is that you earn rewards for holding certain cryptocurrencies. Part of your cryptocurrencies is locked as a way to contribute to a blockchain network. And when a new block gets, you (the validator) are rewarded with some of the coins.
What are the risks of staking crypto?
Staking often comes with a lockup period, during which you can’t make any transfers. This can be a disadvantage as you cannot trade staked tokens during the lockup period if prices shift. Therefore, before you stake crypto, read up on staking rules applicable to the platform you are interested in.
Can you stake on Binance?
Yes. Binance Staking supports a range of coins that will help you earn rewards. You can check out the coins supported for staking on the company’s website.