Like many things in a crypto portfolio app, staking can be a complicated or straightforward idea depending on the level of understanding you want to unlock. Staking can be an effective method of earning rewards for holding specific cryptocurrencies, and for many traders and investors, that’s the biggest takeaway. But even if you’re looking to make some staking rewards, it’s helpful to understand at least a bit of how and why it works the way it does.
- What is crypto staking?
Crypto staking is a vital part of the technology behind specific cryptocurrencies, and understanding it helps us get a basic grasp of what blockchain networks do.
- A few details you need to know include:
A decentralized blockchain means no middleman – a bank or financial institution – is needed to validate new activities (like if you plan to buy or sell bitcoin) and make sure they comply with a historical record maintained by computers across networks. Rather than individually record the recent transactions, users collect them into “blocks” of immutable history. Blocks whose acceptance is granted receive cryptocurrency as a transaction fee.
The purpose of staking is to prevent fraud and errors in this process. Crypto portfolio free users, proposing a new block or voting to accept a proposed block put some of their cryptocurrency on the line, encouraging playing by the rules.
On crypto widgets, users can generally earn transaction fee rewards at a higher level when a more significant stake is involved. But when users’ proposed blocks are found to have inaccurate information, they may lose stakes due to the slashing process.
- How can you earn passive income by crypto staking?
Verifying cryptocurrency transactions by staking is called crypto staking. Committing holdings to a blockchain network and confirming the trades is an integral part of the process. In addition, it is an opportunity for participants to earn passive income from their holdings.
Staking can be done with tokens that allow it, so you can earn passive income while holding these tokens. It happens via a staking pool, compared to an interest-bearing savings account. Like a savings account, you can make anywhere between five to twenty percent per annum on the number of cryptos you stake.
- But why and how do you earn the rewards?
The blockchain puts your holdings to work, so you earn the rewards. The consensus mechanism is a proof-of-stake mechanism that ensures transactions are verified and secure. Your crypto would become a part of the process if you staked it. Cryptocurrencies like Ether, Solana, Polkadot, and Cardano currently allow staking.
Several popular cryptocurrencies now include staking. A cryptocurrency may be eligible for staking, for example, if it is linked to a proof-of-stake blockchain, which employs the above incentive mechanism.
However, staking works differently from one blockchain to another. Staking capabilities are available on some cryptocurrency exchanges that support specific cryptocurrencies. It makes the whole process more straightforward.
The biggest crypto asset that supports staking is Ether (ETH), the native token of the buy Ethereum network and the second-largest crypto asset by market capitalization.