Cryptocurrency staking has become a popular method for cryptocurrency investors to earn “passive income” from their digital assets.
In this article, you will learn all about staking crypto what it is, how staking platforms work and a guide to the best crypto staking sites.
What is Staking?
In the world of cryptocurrencies, staking refers to “locking in” a digital asset by “staking it out” to secure a blockchain network. In exchange for helping to protect the network, participants who stake their coins receive a share of the block prize in the form of newly minted coins.
The stake is an integral part of a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. Proof of Stake requires network participants to participate in the network's native asset to achieve distributed consensus. Block rewards are awarded to bettors using a combination of random selection and the bet size (measured by the number of tokens) that were provided.
Unlike its predecessor, the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm made popular by Bitcoin, PoS does not require machines to do a lot of energy calculations to solve a puzzle. As a result, PoS is considered a more environmentally friendly alternative and many consider it the future of consensus protocols.
What are Staking Platforms?
Staking-as-a-Service platforms allow cryptocurrency investors to deposit their stakable PoS digital assets through a third-party service that takes care of the technical aspect of the staking process. For this service, platforms charge a fee – usually a percentage of wagering rewards.
The idea behind Staking-as-a-Service platforms is to allow anyone – even those without technical knowledge – to participate in staking profits.
They lower (technological) barriers to entry so that anyone can earn tokens by providing them as a stake in a PoS network. Using third-party stakeout services is often referred to as “soft stakeout”.
Betting on exchanges allows investors to leave their fixable assets in PoS in the wallets of their trading accounts to earn “interest” in the form of new tokens. Exchange handles the technical side of the process and (generally) charges a small percentage fee for this service.
Best cryptocurrency stake platforms
To help you, we've put together a list of the most trusted staking-as-a-service platforms.
We've broken down our list into stake-only platforms and leading crypto exchanges that also offer stakeout.
Best staking cryptocurrency exchanges
Binance is currently the best cryptocurrency exchange in the world. The Malta-based exchange has managed to establish itself as one of the world’s crypto-staking trading platforms.
In addition to launching its own blockchains – Binance Chain and Binance Smart Chain – the company also offers stakeout of a large number of digital assets, including BNB.
The platform offers two staking options, which include locked stake, where your asset is locked for a certain period, and stake in DeFi projects.
Founded: 2017
Stackable Assets: Bitcoin (BTC), Binance Coin (BNB), Dai (DAI), Tether (USDT), SushiSwap (SUSHI), Tezos (XTZ) and many more.
Deploy fees: zero
Coinbase is one of the largest digital asset companies in the world. The exchange and wallet provider offers a set of different services including an educational platform, an automated investment feature and also a staking service.
Coinbase users can currently stake three assets, leaving the tokens in their Coinbase wallet. Other stakable assets are expected to follow as Coinbase expands the universe of supported assets.
Foundation: 2011
Stable assets: Ethereum (ETH), Tezos (XTZ) and Cosmos (ATOM)
Tax fees: 20% – 25%
KuCoin is the pioneer in betting on exchange. The Singapore-based exchange was the first trading platform to introduce soft staking.
Users can currently bet on a wide range of assets on KuCoin, including several that you won't find on other trusted platforms.
Best staking providers
Canadian staking-as-a-service provider Figment Network offers “institutional-grade infrastructure, software and tools for holders of stake-based tokens and blockchains”.
Founded: 2019
Stackable Assets: Ethereum (ETH), Polkadot (DOT), Tezos (XTZ), Livepeer (LPT), Chainlink (LINK), Cosmos (ATOM), Solana (SOL), ICON (ICX), Algorand (ALGO), Aion (AION) and Kava (KAVA)
Taxes of staking : 0 – 15%
THE MyCointainer, headquartered in Estonia, it is a provider regulated staking-as-a-service that allows crypto investors to make soft stakes in a wide range of PoS currencies through an easy-to-use online platform.
Founded: 2019
Stackable Assets: Phore (PHR), PinkCoin (PINK), Bitbay (BAY), CloakCoin (CLOAK), PIVX (PIVX), Particl (PART), NavCoin (NAV), OKCash (OK), Wagerr (WGR), BlackCoin (BLK) and much more.
Tax fees: 0% – 28%
THE stake capital, based in France, “provides financial instruments and services in addition to the main DeFi and staking networks”.
Founded: 2019
Stackable Assets: Loom Network (LOOM), Cosmos (ATOM), Livepeer (LPT), Idex (IDEX), Tezos (XTZ), Kava (KAVA), Aion (AION) and many more coming soon.
Tax fees: 0% – 10%
THE Stake.Fish, headquartered in South Korea, is a leading staking-as-a-service that allows users to soft stake multiple different assets.
Founded: 2019
Stable Assets: Alogrand (ALGO), Cosmos (ATOM), Livepeer (LPT), Tezos (XTZ), Cardano (ADA), Kava (KAVA), Solana (SOL) and Aion (AION)
Deployment Fees: 10% – 20%
staked, with based in New York, “helps institutional investors reliably and securely increase their crypto by 5% – 100% per year through betting and lending.”
Foundation: 2019
Stable assets: Tezos (XTZ), Livepeer (LPT), Decred (DCR) and Cosmos (ATOM)
Tax fees: 0% – 54%
THE Stakinglab, headquartered in Germany, it is a provider European leader in staking-as-a-service that allows users to soft stake and host masternodes for a variety of stakable digital assets.
Founded: 2019
Stable assets: Phore (PHR), PIVX (PIVX), Reddcoin (RDD)
Taxes of imposition : 7,5%
THE Staking Facilities, based in Germany, offers an enterprise-grade validation infrastructure for blockchain investors who want to bet on PoS assets to (potentially) earn investment income on their digital assets.
Founded: 2019
Stable assets: Tezos (XTZ), Cosmos (ATOM), Aion (AION)
Staking fees: 5% – 20%
stakewith.us
Based in Singapore, the stakewith.us is a staking infrastructure provider that allows users to stake their crypto assets to earn high-yield staking rewards through a self-service interface.
Founded: 2019
Stackable Assets: Kyber network (KNC), Cosmos (ATOM), Terra (LUNA), Kava (KAVA), Band Protocol (BAND) and IOV (IOV).
Deployment Fees: 10%
P2P Validator
THE P2P Validator, based in George Town, is a non-custodial staking-as-a-service platform that gives users access to over 25 networks to invest their assets.
Founded: 2018
Main stable assets: Ethereum (ETH), Cosmos (ATOM), Polkadot (DOT), Tezos (XTZ), Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Marlin (POUND) and many others.
Staking fees: 3% – 15%
Dokia Capital
THE Dokia Capital, based in Bucharest, is a staking-as-a-service provider that allows you to delegate assets directly from your wallet to start earning staking rewards.
Founded: 2019
Stable assets: Cosmos (ATOM), Terra (LUNA), NEAR Protocol (NEAR), Polkadot (DOT), Solana (SOL), IRISnet (IRIS) and many more.
Deployment Fees: 5% – 15%
While staking can be an excellent way to monetize your digital assets, it is still a risky way as the values of the underlying digital assets can fluctuate wildly. As such, investors should never invest more in stakable (or any) digital assets than they can afford to lose.