Crypto staking has become popular among crypto investors as it provides a way to earn passive income.
What is Staking?
Staking is a process that involves an investor locking a certain amount of tokens on a blockchain that employs the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. By doing this, the stakers get rewarded, and, in some instances, they obtain the right to vote and be involved in the network’s governance.
Staking on Wallets
There are several crypto wallets that offer staking services to their users. Here are the top four:
Ledger
A Ledger wallet is considered the safest since it stores cryptocurrencies offline, essentially shielding your assets from cyberattacks. In terms of staking, Ledger offers two options; you can use external wallet applications or Ledger Live.
If you wish to stake via Ledger Live, you are required to install a ‘Ledger Live app’ and then create an account. After that, you transfer funds, and staking is automatically triggered.
To stake through external wallets, you will also need to create an account on the Ledger Live app and select the right third-party wallet you want to manage the assets. Once you’re done, transfer funds to the account to begin earning staking rewards.
But it is worth highlighting that the staking products on Ledger Live are unlimited. Users can only stake Tezos. However, it is possible to stake other cryptocurrencies when using external wallets. Ledger’s Growth Marketing Director Mattia Sarfati says that the wallet is working to ensure more staking offerings are availed in the near future.
Exodus
Exodus is a multi-currency wallet that can be used on a desktop or a smartphone. Integrating this wallet with the hardware wallet Trezor is also possible.
Exodus began supporting crypto staking after partnering with Switchain, an instant non-custodial crypto exchange that allows users to swap one token for another on various chains. Currently, Exodus users can swap their cryptocurrencies only for Neo and Ontology tokens to earn staking rewards. However, the wallet says it will start offering staking for more tokens soon.
Atomic Wallet
Atomic is another excellent multi-currency wallet. Like Exodus, it is also compatible with mobile phones and desktops.
This wallet provides staking for Cosmos, Tezos, Vechain, Ontology, and NEO. To earn rewards, you must transfer the tokens to a staking address provided by Atomic. After receiving rewards, you can use the crypto exchange within the wallet to convert the tokens earned into various assets.
Trust Wallet
Trust wallet securely provides hot storage of cryptocurrencies. It can also run on any mobile operating system. Binance acquired the wallet in 2022 to help serve its growing number of customers.
Similar to Atomic Wallet, Trust wallet provides a staking address for its users to send their tokens to begin earning rewards. As of this writing, the wallet supports staking for TRON, Tezos, Callisto, VeChain, Algorand, Cosmos, TomoChain, and IoTeX.
Other Ways to Stake Crypto
Besides staking on wallets, crypto investors can participate in various staking pools, which allows them to pool their resources together to boost their chances of earning more rewards.
Further, several centralized crypto exchanges are now offering staking services. They include Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, KuCoin, Bithumb, OKEX, Poleniex, and KuCoin. However, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has been going after some of these exchanges, claiming they haven’t registered their staking services with the regulator.
That being said, how you decide to stake cryptocurrencies depends on your preferences.
