Category: How to Guides

Buying Curve tokens (CRV) has never been easier using CoinStats’ built-in swap tool. The platform leverages its partnerships with decentralized exchange aggregators, such as 1inch and 0x, to provide users with the best exchange rate.

Curve Finance is an Automated Market Maker (AMM)-based decentralized exchange (DEX) that connects users interested in swapping stablecoins. The platform’s AMM enables users to trade stablecoins from a liquidity pool without needing to find buyers and sellers. The protocol ensures low fees and minimal slippage by identifying the ideal routes for exchange.

CRV is the Curve DeFi protocol’s native utility and governance token.

The total CRV supply is 3.03 billion tokens, of which 62% is distributed to liquidity providers. The remaining tokens are distributed as follows: 30% goes to shareholders, 3% – to company employees, and 5% – to a community reserve. The shareholder and employee allocations come with a two-year vesting schedule.

1. Sign Up for a CoinStats Account

Sign up for a CoinStats account if you don’t already have one, and verify your identity. Connect your digital wallet that supports Ethereum-based tokens, such as MetaMask or MyEtherWallet, to your CoinStats account.

2. Navigate to the CoinStats Swap

Navigate to the CoinStats Swap platform. After successfully linking your wallet, choose the token to swap by providing cryptocurrency or USD/EUR data.

3. Swap CRV

For example, we are swapping ETH for CRV. In the “From” field, select the ETH token from your wallet, and in the “To” field, select “CRV.”

Click on Advanced Options to change the slippage. When you’re finished customizing, scroll down to the bottom of your screen and tap the “Submit Swap” button.

Confirm

After you submit your swap request, you’ll be prompted to confirm it. To begin the swap, follow the instructions on the screen, review the information, and click “Confirm.”

NOTE: You will be charged Network Transaction fees also known as gas fees. This refers to the charge necessary to complete a transaction on the blockchain. In essence, gas fees are paid in the network’s native currency, i.e., ETH, for the Ethereum network. CoinStats charges a small swap fee in addition to the gas fees.

Once the transaction is completed, your CRV will be credited to your digital wallet, and you can track your CRV holdings in your CoinStats account.

If you don’t have any crypto yet, don’t fret! You can buy any large-cap cryptocurrency on CoinStats’ buy crypto with bank card page and swap that crypto for CRV Network tokens.

Where Can I Buy Curve? 

There are several ways to buy cryptocurrencies, each with advantages and disadvantages. We will explore five ways to buy cryptocurrencies:  exchanges, cryptocurrency brokers, Bitcoin ATMs, stock companies holding crypto, and crypto ETFs.

Exchanges

Cryptocurrency exchanges are one of the most common ways to buy cryptocurrencies. A crypto exchange is a platform to buy and sell various cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Curve, etc. Most exchanges match buyers and sellers, similar to a traditional stock exchange.

Note that we only mention centralized exchanges here, as decentralized exchanges currently offer no direct way of buying crypto (though they may use third parties). 

To buy a cryptocurrency on an exchange, you typically need to create an account and verify your identity. You can then fund your account with fiat currency (such as USD, EUR, or your local currency) and use that balance to purchase the cryptocurrency of your choice. Some popular cryptocurrency exchanges include:

• Coinbase 
• Binance 
• Kraken 
• Gemini
• KuCoin and more

• Low fees allow you to trade and stake a variety of crypto assets
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• Gemini Exchange makes it simple to explore the cryptocurrency market, purchase bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies, and construct a portfolio for the future of money
• Set up recurring purchases and dynamic price notifications
• Cryptocurrencies stored online in Gemini’s exchange wallet are protected; the company employs best-in-industry cold storage coverage with major insurance providers

• A secure and quick method to exchange cryptocurrency
• Several order types to accommodate different levels of risk tolerance
• Sign up to get a welcome gift

• Invest in 250+ coins, including majors, altcoins, and stablecoins with 0 fees
• Enjoy 0 fees for bank deposits and withdrawals
• Exchange cryptocurrency against other assets such as foreign currency and commodities
• Stake a variety of cryptocurrencies with competitive returns

Cryptocurrency Brokers

Cryptocurrency brokers are more like traditional brokers. They act as intermediaries between buyers and sellers and typically charge a commission or spread for their services. Brokers are an excellent place to start for crypto investors that want to diversify their portfolios and spread their investments in crypto, stocks, etc.

You typically need to create an account and pass the identity verification to use a broker. The broker will then quote you a price for the cryptocurrency you want to buy and execute the trade on your behalf. Some popular cryptocurrency brokers include

• eToro
• Robinhood 
• SoFi Invest.

Crypto ATMs

Crypto ATMs are a relatively new way to buy cryptocurrencies. ATMs allow you to buy Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies with cash or a debit card. They instantly connect you to a cryptocurrency exchange and execute the trade on your behalf.

However, you must have a cryptocurrency wallet to use a crypto ATM. Also, ATMs support limited cryptocurrencies, so you must convert your newly-bought crypto into the one you want if the cryptocurrency you choose isn’t supported. 

Stock Companies Holding Crypto

Investing in stock companies that hold cryptocurrency is an amazing way to invest in cryptocurrencies indirectly. Numerous companies hold significant amounts of cryptocurrency on their balance sheets, such as MicroStrategy and Tesla, with billion-worth of investments in Bitcoin.

To invest, you must open a brokerage account, pass identity verification, deposit funds, and purchase the stock on a stock exchange. 

However, it’s important to note that by investing in these stocks, you reduce your exposure to the crypto market and accept risks related to the company and the stock market as a whole.

Crypto ETFs

Crypto exchange-traded funds ( ETFs) enable you to invest in a diversified portfolio of cryptocurrencies directly on the stock market without the hassle of managing individual coins. 

Crypto ETFs provide exposure to the cryptocurrency market while diversifying risk among different cryptos.

To invest in a crypto ETF, you must go through the entire process of opening a brokerage account first. If you aim to create a diversified portfolio and spread out your risk, then ETFs might just be the right option. However, ETFs are not suitable for investing in a single cryptocurrency. 

Other Ways to Buy Curve (CRV) Tokens

Follow our step-by-step buying guide below to buy CRV tokens:

Step #1: Select a Crypto Exchange

Choose a cryptocurrency exchange that supports both the fiat currency of your choice and CRV to ease the process. Additionally, ensure to consider the exchange’s transaction fees, as they differ from exchange to exchange. Some popular crypto exchanges include Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and KuCoin. 

Also, consider whether the cryptocurrency exchange is regulated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and allows you to buy crypto using your preferred payment method.

Step #2: Create an Account

After you’ve chosen a cryptocurrency exchange that fulfills all your criteria, the following step is to register with the exchange using a valid email or mobile number. A link will be sent to your address, and you must click it to verify your account. Once the account is activated, you must create an elaborate password, and you’re good to go.  

Some exchanges have strict KYC and AML requirements, and in order to get verified, you must provide personal information such as:

• Full name
• Residential address
• Date of Birth
• ID Document. 

In some cases, you might also need to upload a selfie or undergo video verification to finalize the verification process.

Once your identity verification is complete, it’s recommended to activate two-factor authentication (2FA) for an extra layer of security.

Step #3: Deposit Funds

The next step is to deposit funds into your account. Many crypto exchanges support fiat currencies like USD, EUR, or your local fiat currency. Simply select your preferred deposit method, such as a bank transfer, wire transfer, credit or debit card, e-wallets, PayPal, etc., and the currency you wish to deposit. Tap on “Deposit Funds,” enter the amount you want to deposit and click “Deposit.”

Some deposit methods are extremely fast, while others, depending on the amount, require confirmation from authorities. Remember to evaluate the fees of different deposit methods since some have larger fees than others.

• Credit or Debit Card

Linking your debit card to your crypto account is advantageous as it lets you make instant or recurring purchases, but be aware that it attracts an additional fee.

• Bank Account

It’s usually free to make a bank transfer from your local bank accounts, but you should still double-check with your exchange.

• Cryptocurrency

CRV can be traded for another cryptocurrency or a stablecoin; the trading pairs vary between exchanges. So, you must search for CRV on the spot market to select a pair from the list of available trading pairs.

Step #4: Buy CRV

Follow the steps below to place a market order to buy Curve (CRV) tokens instantly at the current market price: 

• Click the search bar, enter CRV, and select “Buy CRV” or the equivalent.
• Select a trading pair you wish to buy CRV against. 
• Choose the payment method and the currency you wish to use, and input the amount of CRV or the fiat amount to be spent. Most exchanges automatically convert the amount to show you how many CRV tokens you’ll get.
• Double-check the transaction details and click “Confirm.”
• The CRV tokens will be displayed in your balance once the transaction is processed. 

You can also place a limit order indicating you want to buy CRV at or below a specific price point. Your broker will ask you the number of coins you wish to acquire and the maximum price you’re ready to pay for each once you’ve placed an order. The coins will only appear in your wallet if your broker fulfills your order at or below your requested pricing. The broker may cancel your order at the end of the day or leave it open if the price exceeds your limit.

If you’re planning to keep your newly purchased coins for an extended period, we highly recommend securely storing them in a hardware wallet.

To trade CRV on spot markets, go to the Trade page and search for the CRV pairs (CRV/USD or CRV/USDT). Select the trading pair and check the price chart. Click “Buy CRV,” select the “Market,” enter your amount or choose what portion of your deposit you’d like to spend by clicking on the percentage buttons. Confirm and click “Buy CRV.”

Congratulations on adding Curve (CRV) tokens to your crypto portfolio!

Step #5 (Optional): Store CRV

While your CRV tokens can be stored in your brokerage exchange wallet, experts highly recommend storing your precious coins away from exchange wallets, as those might be susceptible to hacks and interference. 

We highly recommend creating a private wallet with your own set of keys. Depending on your investing preferences, you might choose between software and hardware wallets: 

Software Wallets

If you’re looking to trade CRV regularly, software or hot wallets provided by your selected crypto exchange will suit you. The strength of software wallets lies in their flexibility and ease of use. A software wallet is the most easy-to-set-up crypto wallet and lets you easily interact with several decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. However, these wallets are vulnerable to security leaks because they’re hosted online. So, to keep your private keys in a software wallet, conduct due diligence before choosing one to avoid security issues. We recommend a platform that offers 2-factor authentication as an extra layer of security.
Examples of software wallets include CoinStats Wallet, MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, Trust Wallet, and Edge Wallet, amongst others.

Hardware Wallets

Hardware or cold wallets are usually considered the safest way to store your cryptocurrencies as they offer offline storage, thereby significantly reducing the risks of a hack. They are secured by a pin and will erase all information after many failed attempts, preventing physical theft. Hardware wallets also let you sign and confirm transactions on the blockchain, giving you an extra layer of protection against cyber attacks. These are more suitable for experienced users who own large amounts of tokens.
Ledger hardware wallets are arguably the most secure hardware wallets letting you securely manage your digital assets. The Nano X is designed for advanced users and offers more storage space and advanced features than Ledger Nano S,  designed for crypto beginners.

A hardware wallet is more expensive than a hot wallet, with prices ranging between  $50 – $200.

Examples of cold wallets are Trezor Model T, Ledger Nano X, CoolWallet Pro, KeepKey, Ellipal Titan, and SafePal S1, amongst others. 

Step #6 (Bonus Step): Track CRV Tokens

The crypto market is volatile, and managing your portfolio could get tricky if you hold multiple assets. Utilizing a portfolio tracker will help you keep track of your CRV tokens and all your crypto investments from one platform at all times. CoinStats offers one of the best crypto portfolio trackers in the market.

You can also monitor the profit, loss, and liquidity of CRV across several exchanges on CoinStats.

CoinStats supports over 300 cryptocurrency exchanges and over 20,000 cryptocurrencies. It offers charting tools, analytical data, advanced search features, and up-to-date news. Here you have the opportunity to connect an unlimited number of portfolios (wallets and exchanges), including

• Binance
• MetaMask
• Trust Wallet
• Coinbase
• Kraken
• Kucoin
• Bitstamp, and 300 others. 

To connect, go to the CoinStats Portfolio Tracker page and:

• Click Add Portfolio and Connect Wallet.
• Click the wallet you want to connect to (e.g., Ethereum Wallet).
• Input the wallet address and press Submit.

What Makes Curve Unique?

Curve.fi is a popular DeFi exchange thanks to its technology and technical capacity. The AMM operating model enables cryptocurrencies to be swapped using liquidity pools instead of having buyers and sellers. The system enables minimal slippage and low fees by finding the best routes for users’ swap requests. Moreover, it ensures investors avoid volatile crypto assets while still earning high-interest rates from lending protocols by focusing on stablecoins.

CRV is Curve Finance’s native utility and governance token used for governance, LP rewards, boosting yields, and token burns. By locking up CRV tokens, users vote on Curve DEX protocol decisions, such as DEX operations, fee structure modification, burning schedules, the creation of new liquidity pools, etc., and propose protocol updates. The longer the CRV token is locked up, the more voting power token holders have.

Liquidity Providers get CRV tokens as pool rewards and incentives based on their pool share’s size. You can buy or earn CRV when depositing assets into a liquidity pool.

Curve DAO Token Price Prediction and Price Movement

Curve DAO daily trading volumes stood around $110 million in early February 2023.

Additionally, Curve DAO provides a wide range of services, such as yield farming and liquidity mining. As discussed earlier, it takes crypto volatility out of the picture, as stablecoins are less susceptible to market fluctuations.

The CRV price has been on the rise in 2023, with both the fundamental and technical metrics signaling a strong uptrend. If the trend continues, users might expect a return to the previous highs of $2.4. 

NOTE: Stablecoins are not immune to liquidity issues, as demonstrated by the Terra implosion earlier this year. We highly recommend traders consider the risks before investing in Curve DAO or any other crypto asset.

Conclusion

Curve DAO has established its place in the crypto ecosystem by enabling stablecoin trading. The Curve DAO token is the platform’s utility and governance token.

Hopefully, this review gave you a clearer understanding of what Curve is and how to buy Curve DAO tokens.

Disclaimer: The information contained on this website is provided to you solely for informational purposes and does not constitute a recommendation by CoinStats to buy, sell, or hold any security, financial product, or instrument mentioned in the content, nor does it constitute investment advice, financial advice, trading advice, or any other type of advice. This is not a recommendation to employ a particular investment strategy.

Cryptocurrencies are speculative, complex, and involve significant risks – they are highly volatile and sensitive to secondary activity. Performance is unpredictable, and past performance is no guarantee of future performance. Consider your own circumstances, and obtain your own advice before relying on this information. Cryptocurrency is a highly volatile market, do your independent research and verify the nature of any product or service (including its legal status and relevant regulatory requirements) and consult the relevant Regulators’ websites before making any decision.

There are significant risks involved in trading CFDs, stocks, and cryptocurrencies. You should consider your own circumstances and take the time to explore all your options before making any investment.

The crypto industry is continuously gaining popularity due to such notable advantages over traditional money as decentralization, privacy, security, accessibility, fast transaction speed, low charges, and more. You might be engaging with cryptocurrencies as a vehicle for exchange or a store of value; or benefiting from DeFi’s transparent, secure, and inclusive financial services. Whether you’re receiving cryptocurrency as payment, exchanging different cryptocurrencies, selling assets, staking, trading, and mining crypto to make life-changing money, achieve financial freedom, and earn passive income, or simply collecting NFTs, understanding your crypto taxes is paramount for avoiding an IRS audit and substantial fines related to tax fraud. The taxation policies differ depending on your location, the type of digital assets you’re holding, your profit and losses, etc. 

For example, U.S. law deems cryptocurrencies as capital assets subject to capital gains and capital losses, just like stocks or bonds.

So how much is crypto taxed? If you’re wondering which transaction is considered a taxable event and trying to figure out the complex tax landscape marked by digital currencies, we’ve got you covered. This article will tell you everything you need to know about your crypto taxes, how your gains and losses in crypto transactions affect your taxes and demonstrate how to navigate cryptocurrency tax implications successfully.

Let’s get right to it!

What Are Crypto Taxes?

The crypto economy achieved a market capitalization of more than US $3 trillion in 2021, i.e., more significant than Microsoft’s market valuation at $2.52 trillion and Apple’s $2.47 trillion market cap. DeFi introduces decentralized low-cost, high-speed transactions, but it also makes it difficult for tax authorities to come to grips with the exponential growth in digital assets. While precise guidelines on crypto taxes on the purchase, ownership, and sale vary widely between jurisdictions, in the U.S., the IRS treats virtual currencies as property and classifies cryptocurrency transactions as taxable by law. Therefore, users must report any taxable event, with failure to do so resulting in penalties.

You owe taxes when you sell, trade, exchange virtual currency, or make a profit through crypto in any way. The different types of taxable events for cryptocurrency transactions are purchasing goods or services using crypto, trading different kinds of cryptocurrency, or selling crypto for fiat currency. Additionally, if you send crypto to your friends, family, or loved ones as a gift, you’ll need to file a gift tax return if it exceeds $15,000 per recipient. However, these are only considered taxable income if your crypto’s value has increased. To determine if you must pay taxes, you need the cost basis, i.e., the total amount paid to purchase your crypto, and compare it to the crypto’s sales price. If you recognize a loss, you can deduct that to lower your taxable income by a maximum of $3,000, with additional losses to be carried over to future years. You can also offset your capital losses against your capital gains to reduce your overall tax bill.

Crypto tax rates depend on your income, tax filing status, and the length of time you owned your crypto before selling it. If you held it for 365 days or less, then you generally pay short-term capital gains taxes, which are equal to income taxes, i.e., the same tax rates you pay on all other income – 10% to 37% for the 2022-2023 tax filing season, depending on your income level. If you have owned it for longer, you pay less, i.e., long-term capital gains taxes ranging from 0% to 20%, depending on your income level.

These taxes apply even if you use crypto to make purchases. Learn more with this IRS worksheet and the IRS website for the latest information about virtual currency gains.

Since 2021, IRS Form 1040 asks recipients if they have received, sold, exchanged, or disposed of another financial interest through virtual currency at any point throughout the year. It has also been clarified to specify only taxable events, including receiving cryptocurrency as payment, airdrops, exchanging different cryptocurrencies, selling assets, and earning from mining and staking. It’s important to note that if you’re self-employed and running a crypto mining business, you’ll also need to pay Self Employment Tax to cover your Medicare and social security contributions.

What Is Crypto Income?

Crypto income is taxed as ordinary income at its fair market value on the date the taxpayer receives it. You must keep records of all your cryptocurrency transactions, including how much you paid for crypto, how long you held it, and how much you sold it for, as well as receipts for each transaction and note the fair market value of the cryptocurrency when it was used to get an idea of how much tax you owe. While buying cryptocurrency isn’t a taxable event, selling it is considered a taxable transaction. Here are the most common examples of what is considered crypto income:

• Mining or staking rewards. 
• I am receiving crypto as a mode of payment for goods or services. 
• Airdrops
• Earning through play-to-earn games.
• Financial interest earned through lending pools. 
• Earning through liquidity pools, etc. 

Crypto Transactions That Will Not Incur a Tax Liability

While you must pay taxes on personal income, capital gains, and business income from crypto, here are a few crypto transactions that will not incur a tax liability:

Buying Cryptocurrency Using Fiat Currency

Purchasing virtual currency using fiat currency and keeping it within the crypto exchange doesn’t incur a tax liability. You don’t have to file crypto taxes based on the guidance listed on your Form 1040 tax return. Unless you sell or trade the virtual currency, no cryptocurrency taxes must be paid.

Moreover, even if the virtual currency you’re hodling goes up in value, you’re not liable to pay taxes on your crypto gains unless you sell it for fiat currency or trade it for another crypto. 

Transferring Crypto to Another Wallet

Hodling your digital asset in custodial wallets provided by crypto exchanges or non-custodial wallets, like hardware or software wallets, is not taxed. Moreover, you can transfer your crypto between the wallets you own without worrying about paying taxes on them.

Donating Cryptocurrency

If you choose to donate a crypto asset to a qualified charity or non-profit organization, then the transaction does not incur a tax. You must simply record the transaction at the fair market value of the coins at the time of the donation. However, the donation can also be tax deductible, so it’s essential to take note of your donations’ cost basis properly. 

Gifting or Receiving Crypto as a Gift

In 2021 alone, according to a survey by BlockFi, one in 10 people received crypto as a gift during the holiday season. There is no tax on cryptocurrency gifts under $15,000. If you decide to sell a crypto gift valued over $15,000, you will use the same cost basis as the person who originally purchased it.

Capital Gains Tax

Capital gains is a tax on the profit made from buying and selling property or assets like stocks, and real estate, including crypto. A capital gain occurs if you sell a cryptocurrency for more than your initial investment. Capital gains taxes are considered short-term if held for less than a year and long-term gain if held for more than a year. Short-term capital gain tax rates correspond to an individual’s ordinary income tax bracket, while long-term rates also depend on an individual’s filing status and taxable income.

Additionally, you’re taxed on net capital gains, i.e., the difference between gains and losses. 

The type of activity will determine which tax forms you may need. The tax forms include Form 1040, Form 8949, Schedule C, Schedule D, and Schedule SE. If you find it confusing to calculate capital gains on your own, you may use crypto tax software such as CoinTracker or TokenTax to generate crypto tax reports.

Here are cases when you must report cryptocurrency trades on your tax return:

• Trading Cryptocurrencies
  You must pay capital gains tax when you use crypto as a means of exchange, including selling your crypto for fiat currency such as U.S. dollars or swapping crypto for another. You must also pay tax for paying for goods and services with crypto.
• Trading or Minting NFTs
  If you’re creating or minting NFTs, knowing what events are taxable and how they’re taxed is essential. The specific tax implications of an NFT depends on whether you’re an NFT creator or investor and if you’re interacting with NFTs as a hobby or a business. Once you sell an NFT for crypto or swap it for another NFT, that triggers another taxable event. Any royalties you earn for an NFT you created would also be taxed as income.

Short-Term Capital Gains Tax Rates

Short-term capital gains tax rates are given below:

For the year 2022:

For the year 2023:

You can use the data given above to calculate your short-term capital gains tax. 

Long-term Capital Gains Tax Rates

The tax rates on long-term capital gains are shown in the table down below:

For the year 2022:

For the year 2023:

Using the data given above, you can easily calculate your capital gains and losses and file your federal tax returns.

How To Calculate Cost Basis?

There are multiple ways to calculate the cost basis for your capital asset and use that to figure out your tax liability. If you hold multiple assets, then finding the most suitable cost basis for your holdings will decide whether you end up paying higher taxes or a fair amount. Four cost-basis methods are allowed by the IRS, and you can only use one during one financial year. The methods are as follows:

• FIFO (First In, First Out): The first asset bought is the first asset being sold. 
• LIFO (Last In, First Out): The last asset bought by you is the first one to be sold. 
• HIFO (Highest In First Out): The asset bought at the highest price is sold first.
• Specific Identification (Spec ID): Choosing the assets sold by you along with the complete records. 

Conclusion

The tax season is right around the corner, and it would be wise for you to start filing your taxes for your crypto trades. Remember to include all your capital gains and losses, including the capital loss you might have had during the crypto winter of 2022, to claim a tax deduction. It’s also important to know that you can’t deduct losses for lost or stolen crypto on your return. You can simply write those off and disregard them from your tax calculations.

In summary, cryptocurrency trading is considered a taxable event, and failure to file taxes can attract penalties.

The crypto markets have been in turmoil lately since it reached its all-time high in 2021. Due to the bear market of 2022, Bitcoin price is down 70% from its November 2021 all-time high price of $69,000, and crypto investors worldwide have faced massive losses this year. Altcoins are no better, with Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SOL) shedding more than 70% and 55% of their value. Moreover, the crypto market cap is below $1 trillion, down about 55% from $2.2 trillion at the beginning of the year. 

However, if you’re a crypto veteran or have studied the limited but wild history of crypto, you probably know that with max pain in the industry comes an opportunity to bounce back higher.

AMP token is down by over 90% since its all-time high. If you’re among investors whose portfolio is down heavily, you might consider generating passive income by AMP token staking and weathering the storm while waiting for the next bull run rather than selling them at a loss.

The AMP token and staking platform were launched as the brainchild of the Flexa network, one of the leaders in digital-only payments, which claims to be the fastest and “most fraud-proof payments network in the world.” AMP is an open-source digital collateral and asset token that allows instant, efficient, and irreversible collateralization of any type of value transfer.

Read on to learn everything you need to know about the AMP token, how AMP staking works, and where and how to stake the AMP token to make the most of your crypto holdings.

Let’s get right to it! 

What Is the AMP Token?

The AMP tokens were created by the Flexa Network, one of the world’s fastest and fraud-proof networks, that enables secure and speedy crypto payments with its Flexa app. AMP is an open-source ERC-20 token used as a collateral token to facilitate the immediate settlement of payment transactions by implementing conditional rights using smart contracts along with a partition scheme. Collateral token partitions can collateralize any account, application, or transaction whose balances can be directly verified on the Ethereum blockchain. Token partitions can be managed separately with AMP token contracts allowing different collateral managers to enforce unique sets of rules that allow for special functions and capabilities. This way, users can stake tokens without any asset transfers to another smart contract, thereby preserving asset custody while increasing the safety of staking collateral.

The AMP collateral partition strategy is designed to facilitate interoperability in staking contracts.

According to the Amp website, AMP can secure any type of asset users want to transfer, ranging from digital payments, fiat currency, cryptocurrency, loan distributions, and proceeds from actual and virtual property sales.

AMP Tokenomics

Launched in September 2020, the AMP token total supply is 99 billion, and its circulating supply is 77.05 billion tokens. You can check the AMP token current price and other metrics at AMP Price on CoinStats.

The total staked volume of the AMP token offers a precise metric of the Network’s health; more staked AMP implies fewer tokens are available in the market, boosting the scarcity attribute that can drive the AMP tokens’ value.

What Is Staking?

Blockchains use a consensus mechanism to verify data and transactions on the blockchain network. Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Proof-of-Stake (PoS) are two of the most prevalent consensus mechanism algorithms, each of which works on different principles.

In a Proof-of-Work blockchain, transactions and data are verified using a method called mining, in which miners have to solve complex mathematical problems to verify and process transactions and add them as a new block in the blockchain. The PoW mechanism of verifying transactions on the blockchain is robust and secure but also energy inefficient and causes scalability issues by hindering the number of transactions that can be processed by a blockchain simultaneously.

On the other hand, in a PoS consensus, a participant node is allocated the responsibility of maintaining the public Ledger in proportion to the number of virtual currency tokens it holds. On a Proof-of-Stake blockchain, the right to verify transactions is assigned to users randomly based on the number of tokens they have staked. So, holders of a required number of coins can earn staking rewards and participate in validation, i.e., verify transactions as needed. Participants staking their crypto in a PoS blockchain for an agreed-upon ‘staking period’ to provide value to the Network and earn rewards in return are called validators.

A Proof-of-Stake blockchain is less power-consuming and, therefore, solves scalability issues faced by a Proof-of-Work blockchain. This is why the Ethereum blockchain recently shifted from PoW to PoS consensus mechanism through “The Merge.”

You can learn about staking in detail with our detailed guide, What Is Staking. 

Staking only applies to blockchains that utilize the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism to validate transactions. Users can stake cryptocurrency tokens on any staking platform of their choice. Most staking platforms are user-friendly and easy to use, so you can start staking on almost all major crypto exchanges, like Coinbase, Binance, etc., without prior experience.

How Does AMP Staking Work?

Amp is designed as a platform for collateralizing asset transfers and staking AMP guarantees any form of value exchange, including digital payments, fiat currency exchange, loans, etc. Once staked to a partition, Amp is ready to collateralize a transfer. With the use of collateral pools, Amp effectively decentralizes the risk of asset transfer, especially for fraud-proof networks and real-world applications.

Staking AMP on the Flexa Network via the authorized Flexa Capacity App is the most popular and most straightforward way to generate passive income by AMP token staking. AMP stakers supply Flexa Network with the collateral to conduct merchant transactions and become a vital component of the Network’s security infrastructure.

Flexa requires each wallet app to have its own collateral pool that will not be limited or closed, enabling you to purchase and stake Amp in any pool.

In return for staking their AMP tokens, users are given out AMP rewards in proportion to their staked AMP tokens. The annual percentage yield (APY) guaranteed by staking is determined by the number of operations in a particular wallet and the amount of AMP staked in that same wallet. Therefore, by providing 10% of the total staked AMP for a particular wallet, you’ll get 10% of the total fees generated on Flexa by the wallet’s users. The more staked AMP users have and the longer they stake them, the higher the return on staking rewards will be. Wallet apps performances contribute to the AMP token value, which contributes to the Network’s value. The staking rewards come from the network fees on the Flexa network and are distributed amongst the AMP holders. 

Now that we’ve provided an answer to the question “how does AMP staking work,” let’s get into a quick guide on where and how to stake AMP tokens to start earning on your crypto.

How to Stake AMP on Flexa?

As the issuer of the AMP tokens, the Flexa network is the best place to stake AMP through the Flexa Capacity DApp and earn AMP staking rewards. In so doing, you’ll not only earn passive income but also contribute to the Network’s security.

Follow the steps highlighted below to get your AMP staked in no time. 

• Go to https://app.flexa.network/ and connect your cryptocurrency wallet like MetaMask or another available hardware wallet.
• Select one of the staking options displayed.
• Select the app to stake AMP and how many AMP tokens you wish to stake, then click continue.
• Once the transaction goes through, you’ll see staked AMP balance and the rewards appearing.

Congratulations on staking AMP on Flexa!

You can also easily unstake the AMP tokens through the steps described below. 

• Connect your wallet and click Move.
• Choose the number of AMP tokens you want to unstake and click Continue.
• Wait for your collateral to unstake; timing depends on network conditions.
• Select Move to Wallet to withdraw the tokens to your wallet, and click Continue.
• The transaction will go through, and the AMP tokens will be back in your wallet.

How to Stake AMP On Binance?

While staking AMP on Binance won’t contribute to the security and functionality of the Flexa network, it allows AMP holders to earn passive income, especially during a bear market. Moreover, staking on Binance is very easy, and you can also buy AMP coins to stake. Follow the steps described below to stake AMP on Binance. 

Create a Binance Account

If you don’t have a Binance account, then the first step is creating an account on Binance. Binance, like many other cryptocurrency exchanges, offers a hassle-free registration with only an email address or valid mobile number. A link will be sent to your address or mobile phone, and you must click it to verify your account. Once the account is activated, you must create an elaborate password, and you’re good to go.

While Binance doesn’t have mandatory KYC and AML requirements, users must complete the KYC verification process to gain full access and increase higher deposits and withdrawal limits. You must provide personal information and a government-issued identity card to verify your account.

Once your identity verification is complete, it’s recommended to activate two-factor authentication (2FA) for an extra layer of security.

Buy or Deposit AMP Tokens

After setting up your account, the next step is to deposit AMP into your Binance account. You must send AMP coins from your cryptocurrency wallet to your Binance account. On the other hand, if you don’t own AMP tokens, you can easily buy them on Binance using fiat currencies, credit or debit cards, bank transfers, or peer-to-peer transactions.

Stake AMP

Once you have the required amount of AMP tokens in your Binance wallet, you’re all set to start your AMP staking. Go to Binance Earn and search for AMP. Choose among the options depending on the type of staking products, how much you’re willing to stake, and the lock-up period. Enter the amount of AMP you wish to stake, agree to the terms and conditions, and confirm the transaction. You’ll see the staked tokens and the rewards you receive in your Binance Earn wallet.

AMP Staking Benefits

As an AMP token holder, staking can be one of the best ways to earn on your holdings because of the reasons described below:

• Staking AMP is one of the best ways to receive rewards, especially in a bear market when cryptocurrency prices are down historically.
• As the number of people staking AMP increases, the Network becomes more secure and processes more transactions. Similarly, the rewards given out from the transaction fees also increase. 
• As more people stake their tokens and earn AMP rewards, crypto’s real-world adoption will become a reality. 
• The more AMP tokens are staked, the fewer tokens are in circulation. This would create scarcity and push the price higher, enabling you to earn profits on your investment. 

AMP Staking Downsides

Like with any investment, staking AMP carries the following risks described below:

• The AMP price has been descending, and since the tokens’ supply is high, the chances of its price rising significantly are low. 
• To earn significant returns on staking, you must stake large amounts of AMP, which might not be possible for all. 
• Significant risks are associated with all cryptocurrencies, as they are an extremely volatile asset class, and many aspects of cryptocurrency remain unregulated.

Final Thoughts

AMP is one of the most innovative tokens in the crypto market, aiming to solve scalability and speed issues that have plagued the blockchain industry for a while. When using AMP as collateral, users benefit from the security, transparency, and efficiency of an immutable ledger. Staking AMP allows you to earn passive income on your holdings and contribute to the project’s security and development.

Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only, and nothing in this article is a piece of investment or financial advice. Users should do their research before investing in cryptocurrencies, as they are highly volatile and unregulated. 

The crypto market has been going through a bear phase for almost a year since it reached its all-time high in 2021. Since then, the prices of BTC, ETH, and all other altcoins have fallen anywhere between 50 to 90%.

If you’re among investors whose portfolio is down heavily, you might consider staking your crypto assets to earn staking rewards and weather the storm while waiting for the next bull run rather than selling them at a loss.

Polkadot (DOT) is down by more than 80 percent since its all-time high. You can check the Polkadot current price at Polkadot Price on CoinStats. Polkadot provides one of the best staking coins because it uses scalable, multi-chain technology and a variant of PoS called Nominated Proof-of-Stake (NPoS) consensus mechanism. Staking Polkadot enables you to become a validator within the Polkadot network and earn passive rewards for your efforts. Polkadot comes with an average annual return of 14%, which makes it among the best staking coins in the crypto market.

Read on to learn everything you need to know about Polkadot and how to earn staking Polkadot (DOT) to make the most of your crypto holdings. 

Let’s get right to it!

What Is Polkadot?

Polkadot is a next-generation sharded Layer 1 blockchain that connects multiple blockchains, facilitating the exchange of data and value between previously incompatible networks (i.e., Bitcoin and Ethereum) in a trustless way. The Polkadot network is secure, scalable, decentralized, and multi-chain. Its innovative concepts for scalability, interoperability, governance and blockchain code update have earned Polkadot the nickname the “Ethereum killer.”

Polkadot aims to create a decentralized web, granting users complete control and delivering an interoperability protocol that uses shards to scale the Network. It connects blockchains facilitating a new form of the web where independent blockchains can exchange data and value in a trustless way.

Polkadot is designed to sustain all three distinguishing traits of blockchains – decentralization, speed, and security in a trustless environment.

The Polkadot blockchain’s native DOT token is used for staking and governance.

The Polkadot whitepaper was released in 2016 by Dr. Gavin Wood, the Ethereum co-founder and the inventor of the Solidity smart contract language. Dr. Gavin Wood, Peter Czaban, and Robert Habermeier founded the Web 3 Foundation in Switzerland in 2017, with Polkadot being its flagship protocol. The DOT tokens were sold through the first ICO in 2017 and a second ICO in 2020. 

What Is Staking?

Now that we know what the Polkadot network is let’s look into staking. Blockchains use a consensus mechanism to verify data and transactions on the blockchain network. Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Proof-of-Stake (PoS) are two of the most prevalent consensus mechanism algorithms, each of which works on different principles.
In a Proof-of-Work blockchain, transactions and data are verified using a method called mining, in which miners have to solve complex mathematical problems to verify and process transactions and add them as a new block in the blockchain. The PoW mechanism of verifying transactions on the blockchain is robust and secure but also energy inefficient and causes scalability issues by hindering the number of transactions that can be processed by a blockchain simultaneously.

On the other hand, in a PoS consensus, a participant node is allocated the responsibility of maintaining the public Ledger in proportion to the number of virtual currency tokens it holds. On a Proof-of-Stake blockchain, the right to verify transactions is assigned to users randomly based on the number of tokens they have staked. So, holders of a required number of coins can earn staking rewards and participate in validation, i.e., verify transactions as needed. Participants staking their crypto in a PoS blockchain for an agreed-upon ‘staking period’ to provide value to the Network and earn rewards in return are called validators.

A Proof-of-Stake blockchain is less power-consuming and, therefore, solves scalability issues faced by a Proof-of-Work blockchain.
You can learn about staking in detail with our detailed guide, What Is Staking. 

Staking only applies to blockchains that utilize the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism to validate transactions. Users can stake cryptocurrency tokens on any staking platform of their choice. Most staking platforms are user-friendly and easy to use, so you can start staking on almost all major crypto exchanges, like Coinbase, Binance, etc., without prior experience.

How Does Staking Polkadot (DOT) Work?

The Polkadot blockchain deploys a Nominated Proof-of-Stake (NPoS) consensus mechanism that involves validators and nominators. Validators are the big stakers with a large number of DOT tokens and robust investment history on the blockchain. They are the ones who are up for nomination to validate a new transaction block, earning rewards in the process. A validator that doesn’t act by the Polkadot protocol and tries to verify a bad or fraudulent transaction or indulges in suspicious activities is penalized through slashing when they lose the DOT tokens they have staked. When staking Polkadot, it’s essential to stay up-to-date on the state of the chain and validator lists because you can lose DOT tokens if an incompetent validator doesn’t comply with the blockchain’s standards.

Nominators are the small stakers tasked with selecting validators for nominations.  A nominator publishes a list of validator candidates they trust and stakes DOTs to support them. Nominators’ stakes are distributed amongst validators, and they earn a percentage of the block rewards validators earn. If some of these candidates are elected as validators, the nominator shares with them the payments based on the proportion of their DOT tokens. 

The relationship between validators and nominators keeps the Polkadot blockchain running.
The rewards for staking Polkadot are distributed in the form of DOT tokens, with DOT rewards being as high as 21 percent, depending upon the chosen staking platform. There is a minimum staking requirement of 10 DOT tokens for staking Polkadot directly on the Network, and the amount varies depending on the staking platform. 

How to Stake Polkadot (DOT) on Binance?

Now that we have a very good understanding of how Polkadot staking works let’s get into staking Polkadot to start earning staking rewards. One of the best places for staking Polkadot is Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange in terms of the trading volume. Follow the steps highlighted below to stake Polkadot on Binance.

1. Create a Binance Account

If you don’t have a Binance account, then the first step is creating an account on Binance. Binance, like many other cryptocurrency exchanges, offers a hassle-free registration with only an email address or valid mobile number. A link will be sent to your address or mobile phone, and you must click it to verify your account. Once the account is activated, you must create an elaborate password, and you’re good to go.

While Binance doesn’t have mandatory KYC and AML requirements, users must complete the KYC verification process to gain full access and increase higher deposits and withdrawal limits. You must provide personal information and a government-issued identity card to verify your account.

Once your identity verification is complete, it’s recommended to activate two-factor authentication (2FA) for an extra layer of security.

2. Buy or Deposit Polkadot

After setting up your account, the next step is to deposit Polkadot (DOT) into your Binance account. You must send Polkadot (DOT) from your cryptocurrency wallet to your Binance account. On the other hand, if you don’t own Polkadot (DOT) tokens, you can easily buy them on Binance using fiat currencies, credit or debit cards, bank transfers, or peer-to-peer transactions. 

3. Stake Polkadot

Once you have the required amount of Polkadot(DOT) tokens in your Binance wallet, you’re all set to start your Polkadot staking. Go to Binance Earn and search for DOT. Choose among the options depending on the type of staking products, how much you’re willing to stake, and the lock-up period. While flexible staking is among the given options, its APR is low. In contrast, locked staking guarantees higher returns, but your DOT tokens will be locked up for the agreed-upon period. 

Select the option that suits your needs, enter the amount of Polkadot (DOT) you want to stake, agree to the terms and conditions, and confirm the transaction. 

Congratulations, you’ve successfully started staking Polkadot and receiving rewards. Your Spot Wallet is the rewards destination, and you can track them daily. 

Polkadot Staking Using a Ledger Device

Ledger hardware wallet is one of the world’s best wallets for securely storing your assets. And the good news is you can now use the Ledger hardware wallet to stake Polkadot and earn rewards. Follow the steps described below to start staking Polkadot using a Ledger device.

Set up Your Ledger Device

1. Connect your Ledger hardware wallet to your computer and unlock it using your PIN. 
2. Go to the Ledger Live app, allow Ledger Live on your Ledger device, and click the Earn rewards button. 
3. Click the Manager tab, search for Polkadot, and click Install. 
4. Click Polkadot JS and Manage Hardware Connections in Settings.
5. Select Attach Ledger via WebUSB and click Save. 
6. On Polkadot JS, click Accounts and select Add via Ledger. This will open a pop-up where you must set up your Polkadot Account.
7. Select an account type and index, as they’re used to define your address on the Polkadot blockchain. If you aren’t sure which one to choose, you can select the default (o/0). 
8. You can now find your Polkadot Ledger Account and its address at the bottom. Ensure that the Polkadot address on the hardware device is the same as the one on the Polkadot JS. 
9. Fund your Polkadot account with the amount of DOT tokens you want to stake. Deposit more than you wish to stake for paying transaction fees on the Polkadot blockchain. 
10. Now you’re all set to begin staking DOT and earn rewards using your Ledger wallet. 

Staking DOT on Polkadot

Polkadot doesn’t support batch transactions, therefore, you must perform two transactions to stake DOT. Follow the steps described below to stake DOT on the Polkadot network. 

1. In your Polkadot Account, click Network and select staking. 
2. Click Account Actions and select +Stash. Choose the Ledger account as your Stash and Controller account. 
3. Choose an account for your rewards destination and click Next to bond your Polkadot tokens. 
4. Remember to leave more than 1.5 Polkadot tokens in your account and not bond them, as accounts with less than 1 DOT token are reaped. You also need DOT to pay the transaction fees.
5. Click Bond, select Sign, and Submit. 
6. Confirm the transaction on your Ledger wallet to view it under Account Actions in the Staking section on Polkadot JS. 
7. Select as many as 16 validators and click Nominate. You can select all 16 validators, then click Nominate, Sign, and Submit the transaction. 
8. You have now successfully managed to stake Dot on Polkadot using your Ledger device. 

Final Thoughts

In summary, staking DOT is one of the best ways to receive rewards, especially in a bear market when cryptocurrency prices are down historically. Moreover, it allows you to support the Polkadot project, aiming to provide a decentralized internet or web application for blockchain networks to communicate with each other. The Network provides information and transactions to be performed in a secure environment.

Consider choosing the Ledger hardware wallet for staking DOT to ensure the best security of your Polkadot investment.

The holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day is the time to surprise and delight those we love with the perfect gift. If you think traditional gifts are repetitive and boring but still want to show love and appreciation to those special to you, you’re in the right place. A crypto gift is a new type of click-of-a-button gift to surprise your loved ones and help them achieve financial freedom. According to a BlockFi survey, one in 10 people gave crypto as a gift the last holiday season, so your family and friends surely must have heard or read about people who made life-changing money through crypto.

While struggling to figure out what to get your loved ones for the holidays can sometimes be a hassle, finding the perfect gift really feels great. So, in this article, we’ll provide a detailed guide on how to gift cryptocurrency to friends and family for the holidays.

Why Gift Cryptocurrency?

If you want to buy cryptocurrency for your loved one, there are several reasons to do so. As a cryptocurrency investor, who has made decent profits from trading crypto, you can set family and friends on a wonderful journey of making life-changing money, achieving financial freedom, or earning steady passive income. 

In addition to making a gift that might increase in value, you can contribute to the social integration of crypto by increasing familiarity and involving new users. Your crypto gift will create the perfect opportunity for you to make the most of this year’s holiday and discuss crypto investment advantages with your family members and friends as long as they remain curious and open to the conversation.  If every crypto enthusiast gifts cryptocurrency to just one person, the social integration of crypto will increase exponentially.

Buying gifts is certainly a skill, and when your loved ones learn their crypto can increase by value shortly, you’ll most likely gain this year’s “best gift giver.”

Crypto Gifting Guide

Now that you’ve decided to gift crypto to your loved ones, there are some things to consider before you send them out. Some of the most common ones are highlighted below. 

Own Crypto

Before gifting cryptocurrency, you must have a sufficient amount yourself. If you trade them but don’t own any, you must buy some crypto for yourself. Depending on your investing skills, geographical location, deposit methods, etc., you can either buy cryptocurrency from a centralized crypto exchange or a decentralized exchange. Most centralized crypto exchanges, like Binance, Coinbase, etc., allow you to buy cryptocurrency directly through your bank account or credit or debit cards directly using fiat currency. All you need to do is register a Binance or Coinbase account, deposit funds, and you’re good to go. Ensure you buy enough crypto to cover the network fees and the transaction costs. To learn more, visit our detailed guide on “How to Buy Cryptocurrency“. 

After you’ve purchased crypto from the crypto exchanges of your choice, we highly recommend storing your coins securely in a non-custodial wallet. 

Educate Your Loved Ones

This is probably one of the most complicated steps in gifting cryptocurrency. While you don’t have to do anything for those already familiar with crypto and the risks associated with digital currency, much explanation is needed for those utterly unaware of crypto assets.

Get into detail about crypto’s unregulated and highly volatile nature and explain how they can protect their crypto gifts against the most common risks, like high volatility, rug pulls, the collapse of exchanges, scams, etc. Teach them how to keep their cryptocurrency assets safe by storing them in hardware or cold wallets used to store cryptocurrencies offline. Introduce them to software wallets such as Metamask, Trust, CoinStats Wallet, etc., and the meanings of such key terms as “wallet address,” public and private key. Ensure they understand they shouldn’t give out their private key to anyone under any circumstances and that if they lose or forget the private keys, their virtual currency and digital assets will be lost forever. 

You might also want to teach them how to receive cryptocurrency or send cryptocurrency. The gift recipient must understand that if they want to receive cryptocurrency or send Bitcoin, it’s paramount to correctly enter the recipient’s wallet address. 

How to Gift Cryptocurrency?

Now that you know the basics of cryptocurrency gifts, let’s explore a few options to actually gift crypto to family and friends. 

Send the Crypto Gift to a Crypto Wallet

Gifting crypto to people who’ve already invested in crypto or regularly trade crypto is easy. You can send crypto gifts directly to their wallets. Just ensure you don’t enter the wrong address of the recipient’s crypto wallet or that the network you’re using to send crypto is the same at both ends. Follow the steps described below to send your crypto gift:

• Enter the recipient’s wallet address and the network correctly before sending crypto. You can also enter it by scanning the wallet’s QR code. 
• Enter the amount of crypto you wish to gift and complete the transaction. 
• There should be no issue with sending cryptocurrency if you’re using the crypto wallets provided by the cryptocurrency exchange and you’ve entered the address correctly. 
• If you’re using self-custody crypto wallets, consider issues associated with crypto transactions, such as network congestion. You can always track cryptocurrency transactions and ensure they go through successfully by paying higher network fees. 

Gift Crypto in a Wallet

If you want to make a crypto gift to someone who isn’t into trading or investing and isn’t technologically well-versed, giving the crypto gift in a cryptocurrency wallet would be a great idea. You can either store the digital assets you’re gifting in a hardware wallet/cold wallet or set up a software wallet/hot wallet. Ensure to hand over the passwords, public and private keys, etc., to them. You could also set up a paper wallet for them. With a paper wallet, you’d only be handing them the keys to their digital money written on a piece of paper that they should store securely. 

Gift Physical Coins 

You can also get the physical coins of the gifted cryptocurrency. A digital asset, along with its physical iteration, is among the best creative gift presentation ideas and will make a perfect gift.

Congratulations! Now you know how to gift crypto to your loved ones this holiday season. 

Concerns Associated With Gifting Crypto

Now let’s look into some of the most common concerns associated with crypto gifting:

Which Crypto to Gift

If the gift recipient is a crypto investor or enthusiast, you can gift them any crypto of their choice. On the other hand, if it’s someone unfamiliar with crypto, you’d better gift them only blue chip crypto such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, etc. This is because these coins have been proven historically to be less volatile. Most crypto exchanges, like Binance, let you choose which crypto you wish to gift with the gift card so that you can select only Bitcoin in the gift card. 

Tax Implications: Are Cryptocurrency Gifts Taxed?

As with any financial gift, you have to pay gift taxes on crypto as well. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers digital assets as property for taxation; hence the recipient will have to pay taxes on them. However, there is a standard annual gift tax exclusion by Internal Revenue Service. So, if you’re sending crypto up to the gift tax allowance amount, there is no need to pay tax. Moreover, cryptocurrency gifts are only taxed when withdrawing crypto and selling, trading, or using it to make any payment. If the person receiving a crypto gift sells it after more than a year, it counts as a long-term capital gain, which is taxed just like ordinary income tax. Hence, receiving a crypto gift isn’t a taxable event, but using crypto gifts is taxed. Ensure you don’t exceed the limit set by the IRS if you want to avoid the hassle of taxation. 

Final Thoughts

Gifting crypto to your loved ones is an excellent way to help them embark on a beautiful crypto journey and contribute to the cryptocurrencies’ mass adoption. Moreover, since we’re in a bear market, and the mood in crypto markets is at an all-time low, gifting crypto right now might just turn out to be the best decision of your life. We hope you’ve learned what to consider before making crypto gifts.

Disclaimer: This article is only meant for educational purposes, and nothing written here is a piece of financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile and unregulated, and users should do their own research before investing in them.

Algorand is an open-source, decentralized blockchain network with a native cryptocurrency, ALGO, designed to achieve scalability, security, and decentralization in one blockchain network. It leverages a two-tiered structure and a unique variation of the Proof-of-Stake (PPoS) consensus mechanism to provide immediate transaction finality, i.e., processing over 1,000 transactions per second (TPS) and achieving transaction finality in less than five seconds.

Staking is a significant feature to facilitate the Algorand blockchain’s seamless operation. Algorand’s Pure Proof-of-Stake (PPoS) consensus mechanism has a low minimum staking requirement for participating in and securing the network — only one ALGO coin is needed to participate.

Staking Algorand is one of the easiest ways to earn passive income on your ALGO token holdings.

Read on for our detailed guide on why, where, and how to stake Algorand (ALGO) to earn exciting rewards while helping secure the Algorand blockchain.

Let’s get right to it!

What Is Algorand?

Algorand is a decentralized open-source network built to solve the Blockchain Trilemma by achieving scalability, security, and decentralization in one blockchain network. It uses a unique Pure Proof-of-Stake (PPoS) consensus mechanism to enable complete decentralization with top security and scaling while achieving near-instant finality, i.e., processing over  1,000 transactions per second (TPS) and achieving transaction finality in less than five seconds.

Moreover, many DApp developers have turned to Algorand as an Ethereum alternative for creating and deploying decentralized applications (DApps) due to Ethereum’s high gas fees.

ALGO is the blockchain’s native token and one of the top staking coins used for carrying out transactions and securing the network. Algorand is based on ALGO holders and ALGO block producers, i.e., node runners. It distributes validator rewards to all ALGO holders.

In a PPoS mechanism, all users, including holders, are eligible to randomly propose and validate blocks on the blockchain and earn ALGO staking rewards proportional to their stake. The minimum amount of ALGO tokens required for Algorand staking is just one ALGO token. 

To learn more about staking in general, you’re welcome to visit the CoinStats guide “What Is Staking.”

Algorand History

The Algorand blockchain was founded by Turing award-winning cryptographer and MIT professor Silvio Micali in 2017. The protocol’s core development was overseen by Algorand Inc., a private corporation based in Boston. While the Algorand Foundation manages the Algorand network’s ecosystem growth, award funding, cryptographic research primitives, on-chain governance, and decentralization.

The Algorand network went live in 2019. It’s carbon-neutral and has been operating without a second of downtime since then.

Where to Stake Algorand?

Algorand (ALGO) is one of the world’s top 50 cryptocurrencies in terms of market cap and is listed on almost all major crypto exchanges. Some of the popular platforms to use for Algorand staking are Binance, Coinbase, Crypto.com, etc. Moreover, Crypto.com enables users to benefit from its soft-staking feature.

The Algorand blockchain gives out daily rewards for staking Algorand (ALGO). You can also stake Algorand using hardware wallets like Ledger Nano X through a relatively easy staking process. This allows you to earn passive income through Algorand staking while having your ALGO coins stored securely in a hardware wallet. However, the downside of staking Algorand (ALGO) using the Ledger wallet is that you must claim your tokens manually using the Ledger desktop app. So, if you want to earn a small passive income without hassles, staking Algorand (ALGO) on a centralized exchange is a better option. 

How to Stake Algorand (ALGO) on Coinbase?

Coinbase is one of the world’s most popular crypto exchanges that supports ALGO staking. The process of Algorand staking on Coinbase is pretty simple; however, it’s not supported in North America, South America, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.Therefore, residents in these regions with a Coinbase account and Algorand tokens won’t be eligible for ALGO staking rewards.

The minimum requirement to stake Algorand on Coinbase is only 0.01 ALGO. All you need to stake Algorand (ALGO) on Coinbase is to activate Coinbase Earn and start earning Algorand staking rewards of up to 5.75 percent APY.

How to Stake Algorand (ALGO) on Binance?

Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange in terms of trading volume and one of the best platforms to stake ALGO. Users from most countries can easily stake ALGO on Binance; however, Algorand (ALGO) staking on Binance.us has been discontinued recently. “Locked Staking” is available for 30, 60, or 90 days, withstaking yields ranging from 4,50 to 5.80% and the minimum staking amount of 10 ALGO.

To stake ALGO on Binance, you must:

• Have a sufficient amount of ALGO in your account.
• Go to EARN, search for ALGO, click on your preferred staking product, and Confirm your staking request. 

Algorand Staking With Algorand Wallet

Algorand can also be securely stored and staked on the official Algorand Wallet to earn staking rewards of up to 6% APY. Moreover, the Algorand Network enables you to become part of the governance and automatically start earning staking rewards while simply holding your ALGO coins in the Algorand wallet. The Algorand Wallet is available for both iOS and Android. MyALGO wallet is another common choice among Algorand users. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Algorand Good for Staking?

Algorand (ALGO) staking is much more profitable than simply holding your ALGO tokens in a wallet or cryptocurrency exchange. Moreover, it becomes all the more beneficial, especially in times of a bear market when ALGO, BTC, and ETH prices have been down by over 50 percent. 

How Much Can I Earn Staking ALGO?

Interest rates vary depending on the platform you choose to stake ALGO, ranging from 4 to 6 percent. The interest is paid daily, and you can even get your staking rewards every 20 minutes while staking Algorand (ALGO) using a Ledger wallet.

Algorand (ALGO) Current Price

The ALGO token was launched in June 2019 through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) at the price of USD 2.4 per ALGO. The ALGO token current price has fallen even lower than the ICO price, presenting you with an excellent opportunity to buy ALGO and earn passive income on your investment before the crypto markets recover and enter the next bull run.

You can check the live ALGO price on CoinStats. Currently, ALGO has a circulating supply of 7,019,516,928 tokens, a market cap of USD 2.1 billion, a 24-hour trading volume of USD 100.3 million; and the total supply of ALGO is capped at 7,250,033,192 tokens.

Conclusion

Staking is one of the best ways to earn passive income on your crypto holdings. Algorand (ALGO) is one of the pioneers in staking and even gives out rewards for simply holding ALGO tokens. Although the ALGO price is down significantly, its prospects look bright, as Algorand is one of the few blockchain projects to tackle the blockchain trilemma successfully

. Therefore, ALGO staking is one of the best things you can do right now, and if you don’t own any ALGO, what are you waiting for?

If you’re interested in learning more about crypto tokens, projects, and platforms making waves in the crypto market, visit CoinStats, your learning hub and one-stop shop for crypto.