Being a crypto investor means your job doesn’t stop after you buy a new asset. In fact, each new holding brings with it a handful of different opportunities. And oftentimes, these opportunities can bring investors a lot of money atop the growth they see with their holdings. Staking is one of the most popular ways to grow income with crypto. But how does it work, and what are the best crypto staking platforms?
Crypto staking has emerged thanks to the growing popularity of proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies. These coins don’t use the cryptographic puzzles that proof-of-work peers Bitcoin (BTC-USD) or Ethereum (ETH-USD) require. Rather, blocks of data are assigned to validators, who verify the data as legitimate in exchange for rewards. Through staking, you can participate in this validating process while generating a fair bit of income.
Staking can be far easier than mining for beginners; there’s no need to buy all the expensive equipment that mining requires. Staking only requires locking your assets into a staking wallet. It is also better than traditional banking services in the eyes of crypto bulls, because staking can yield higher annual percentage rates (APRs). Plus, with staking, you can withdraw the funds at any time.
As staking has become more popular, it has attracting the attention of individuals as well as venture capitalists. Hundreds of billions of dollars in assets are staked across top platforms right now.
What Are the Best Crypto Staking Platforms?
Staking is better for earning money than just buying and holding crypto — you’re actively putting your investments to work, allowing them to generate passive income. But, where to begin?
There are hundreds of crypto staking platforms out there, and they all suit different needs and offer different returns. Finding the best crypto staking platforms may feel overwhelming.
Luckily, there are plenty of reputable names in the industry that are great for getting started. Perhaps some of the easiest staking platforms are those included on the most popular centralized exchanges. Binance, for example, offers high-yield staking on up to 10 different cryptocurrencies. Other exchanges that offer staking include Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), Kraken, Crypto.com and FTX, just to name a few.
Aside from exchanges, there are plenty of staking options across different blockchain projects. Ethereum offers high-yield staking ahead of its Merge upgrade on platforms like Lido and Cream Finance. Solana (SOL-USD) has dozens of options, like Everstake and Chorus One. Polkadot (DOT-USD) offers some of the highest-yielding platforms, like Zug Capital and P2P Validator. Anchor is one of the most popular stablecoin staking options, allowing users to stake TerraUSD (UST-USD) for a 20% APR.
On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
