Due to technological advances and the development of new economic ecosystems, advanced platforms were created where cryptocurrencies were present. What functionalities does this new system have? The presence of liquid staking options, which helps us obtain profit and voting rights, allows us to do something very easy: save.
You can imagine staking as an alternative to mining that requires fewer resources. It consists of keeping funds in a cryptocurrency wallet, to support the security and operations of a blockchain network. Simply put, staking is the act of depositing cryptocurrencies in order to receive rewards.
Likewise, the staking of cryptocurrencies refers to the verification of transactions and the support of the network thanks to a maintenance of the currency. You can receive rewards and earn extra when the value of the currency increases.
Thanks to this process you can obtain a percentage of profit represented in interest for the simple fact of saving cryptocurrencies in that way. It is a process that is similar to the HODL, however, in it the balances are kept locked and cannot be released easily.
To make staking more productive, which is an efficient process, you need the blockchain. This technology allows cryptocurrencies to come to life and to carry out their records of the issued transactions.
As we mentioned before, the staking that is worked with PoS, facilitates the management to maintain the cryptocurrencies and receive the rewards.
You can verify new blocks thanks to staking that is used without special computers to solve, for example, math problems. This process is based on the amount of coins you store, as this determines the reward you will receive. To be the validator for a new block segment, you need to secure more than one coin.
Likewise, the staking platform that is used in different cryptocurrencies, allows you to provide greater support and strength to the network, thanks to an increase in the scalability of the internal value.
How do I find the best cryptocurrency staking platforms?
As staking grows in popularity and becomes an essential part of the industry, it pays to do your research and find the best staking platform for you.
In most cases, you will be able to stack your coins directly from your crypto wallet - for example, Trust Wallet. On the other hand, there are many exchanges that offer staking services to their users, as well as different platforms. Here we highlight three.
Essentially it is a protocol that supports synthetic or derivative assets. They support a number of different types of assets and different categories. But ultimately, Synthetix's goal is to provide liquidity to the market.
There are a variety of different locations for these assets, as they are traded in different ways. However, there are also different ways that the end user or third parties can use these assets. The entire protocol is incentive-based, as is much of DeFi.
With the platform, synthetic assets such as “Forex” fiat currencies, cryptocurrencies and “Commodities” raw materials, can be traded, exchanged or new Synths created without depending on counterparties, using SNX tokens as collateral.
In this way, the average user who holds SNX tokens can have incentives to ‘lock’ their tokens and participate in the protocol, in addition to the respective minting of new Synths.
The boom of DeFi protocols has not stopped, and there are more and more interesting proposals on the market to explore. One of them is KIRA Network, a layer 1 protocol that allows interconnecting chains such as Bitcoin, Polkadot, Cosmos and Ethereum, so that users can make use of any type of asset: From fiat to crypto, through NFTs, metals, among others.
Kira Network uses the Liquid Staking solution, cataloged by experts as Staking 2.0, a technology that allows you to dispose of wagered assets, while obtaining passive income.
Kira provides market access for any digital token in the crypto ecosystem, helping users earn income by 'gambling' their BTC, ETH, ATOM, DOT, NFT, and even real-world assets like legal tender digital currencies.
The novelty of its Liquid Staking proposal is that while they obtain income by betting their tokens or assets, their liquidity is not blocked in their wallets and users can continue trading or participating in DeFi projects while obtaining income.
According to its official blog, KIRA aims to build the first cryptocurrency ecosystem powered by the liquidity of the tokens at stake, where real-world assets can be used to protect blockchain applications.
Additionally, Kira enables cross-chain interoperability, allowing trustless and permissionless trading of assets originating from independent blockchains.
The platform is envisioned as one of the few options to allow investors to earn equity income on an ongoing basis and also retain the ability to trade the original assets at any time.
The ‘NFT Farming’ platform proposed by the popular Marguerite deCourcelle, better known as coin artist, CEO of Blockade Games, has been one of the novelties as far as traditional ‘Staking’ is concerned.
Supporting graphic, music and video game art as well as design by 'cyberpunk' artists, the platform enables native COIN, CRED and rotating 'ally' token holders to earn passive income to earn 'snippets' of coveted pieces from a secret coin vault, as can be seen on their website.
In this opportunity, each artistic work is minted as an NFT and located in a vault for its respective cultivation or trade. Each NFT is decomposed into a finite supply of ERC-20 tokens that can be transferable as divisible parts of the original piece, called fragments.
Thus, each owner of a fragment of that NFT proportional to the percentage that he maintains in the balance of the token used within the platform, allows him to obtain passive income for each trade of that NFT.
Whether staking using an official wallet or on a platform, staking your coins is a fabulous opportunity to increase your income and passively earn with your assets.
However, it is worth bearing in mind that staking is not without risk. Locking funds in a smart contract is prone to errors, so it is always important to DYOR and to use high-quality wallets, such as Trust Wallet.
But, in general, you will earn by having money in indicated wallets without having the possibility of withdrawing them for a period of time (mostly it varies between 30, 60, and 90 days), one receives interest in said currency. It works the same as a fixed term in a traditional bank.
At the time, what was a first investment of 100 could quickly transform into 105.
The most important exchanges offer this saving service, which is very simple and has no risk. In short, staking is one of the best options to generate passive income. You already have several options to enter the crypto world and obtain short-term returns.
Without a doubt, the ways to generate passive income in the blockchain industry are growing and gaining popularity. Blockchain companies have also been embracing some of these methods, providing services commonly known as generalized mining.
As products become more reliable and secure, they could soon become a valid option.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and have nothing to do with HackerNoon's editorial policy. Every investment carries risk, do your own research. THIS IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE.