12 Best Staking Cryptos to Earn Rewards in 2025

Trading isn’t the only way to make money with crypto. 

One of the best ways to earn income in this space is through a process called staking, where you lock up your cryptocurrency in a specific blockchain and receive rewards based on the amount you invest.

In this article, we’ll look at how crypto staking works, some of the best cryptocurrencies to stake in 2025, some important risks to consider, and more.

What is Crypto Staking and How Does It Work? 

You can think of staking as a little like a traditional savings account, where you entrust your assets to another entity (in that case, a bank) and get interest in return.

The way it works with crypto, however, is a bit different.

The tokens you stake in a blockchain are used to validate transactions and add new blocks to the chain. When they are randomly chosen for this purpose, you’ll receive new tokens and fees as a reward. The reward you get is usually proportional to the size of your stake.

There are some risks involved, such as lock-up periods and market volatility. We’ll cover those in more detail later.

Best Cryptocurrencies to Stake for Good Yield in 2025

There are numerous options for staking in 2025, each with its advantages and disadvantages. Depending on factors like your risk tolerance, goals, and experience level, there could be lots of different right answers for you.

1. Ethereum (ETH)

Annual Percentage Yield (APY): Roughly 3–5%

Staking Mechanism: Proof-of-Stake

Validator Requirements: ETH requires a minimum stake of 32 ETH, as well as a node validator

Lock-up Period: There is no formal lock-up period; you can withdraw your funds straight away in theory, but you will need to wait in line if lots of validators exit at the same time

Rewards Distribution: You’ll earn block proposal rewards and attestation rewards every “epoch”, which is roughly 6.4 minutes

Price Stability: Ethereum is highly liquid and more stable than smaller coins, but is still relatively volatile

Market Cap: $308 billion

Ethereum is a highly stable and well-established cryptocurrency, making it a safe and reliable option for staking. It’s secure, reliable, and boasts a large user base. If you want to get started with staking in a relatively safe way, Ethereum could be a great option for you.

2. Solana (SOL)

Annual Percentage Yield (APY): About 6-8%

Staking Mechanism: A hybrid of Proof-of-Stake and Proof-of-History

Validator Requirements: There’s no official minimum stake, but you have to delegate to a validator when you stake SOL, and running your validator requires much more than the theoretical minimum of 0.01SOL.

Lock-up Period: There’s no strict lock-up period, and any staked SOL can be withdrawn after one epoch, which is roughly 2 days.

Rewards Distribution: Rewards are distributed to validators and their delegators every epoch. This process is triggered by the first block of the new epoch.

Price Stability: SOL is relatively volatile and has experienced some network outages in the past.

Market Cap: $76 billion, but volatile

Solana is a fast blockchain with an easy staking process (no lock-up and quick rewards), which makes it an attractive option. It’s also a large ecosystem with a lot of users. On the other hand, there is a risk of outages, and volatility can lead to eroded prices.

3. Cardano (ADA)

Annual Percentage Yield (APY): Roughly 3-5% based on pool and fees

Staking Mechanism: Proof-of-Stake 

Validator Requirements: There is no minimum to delegate; you just need some ADA in a wallet

Lock-up Period: Unlike many other cryptocurrencies, ADA has no lock-up period. You can withdraw your funds at any time.

Rewards Distribution: Rewards are paid at the end of each epoch, which is about 5 days

Price Stability: ADA is a relatively volatile coin, which should be taken into account when staking

Market Cap: $20.5 billion

Cardano has no lock-up, easy delegation, and a well-developed community with strong academic backing, all of which make it a great choice for staking. However, yields are fairly low and a significant portion of your stake will be in just a few pools.

4. Polkadot (DOT)

Annual Percentage Yield (APY): 11-12%

Staking Mechanism: Nominated Proof-of-Stake

Validator Requirements: To run a validator, you need at least ~1.16 million DOT staked (as of late 2024). Nominators can stake any amount by nominating validators.

Lock-up Period: After unstaking, there is a 28-day unbonding period during which you won’t earn any rewards.

Rewards Distribution: Rewards are paid per era, which is roughly every 24 hours. Nominators and validators both earn a share of the era’s rewards.

Price Stability: DOT is very volatile, and price fluctuations should be expected and planned for when staking

Market Cap: $5.42 billion 

DOT offers the potential for high yields and is built on a strong ecosystem of parachains. On the other hand, you’ll have to deal with a long lock-up period, volatility, and no small rewards, which means you need to stake a lot to access decent rewards.

5. Avalanche (AVAX)

Annual Percentage Yield (APY): 6-7%

Staking Mechanism: Avalanche’s own Snowman protocol, which is a variation of the Proof-of-Stake mechanism

Validator Requirements: To validate, you must lock 2,000 AVA, but delegators only need 25 AVAX minimum

Lock-up Period: You can choose your own lock-up period of anything between 14 days and a year

Rewards Distribution: You’ll receive your rewards when your chosen staking period ends

Price Stability: AVAX is fairly volatile with some large fluctuations in recent years

Market Cap: $7.65 billion

AVAX features fast finality, which means that once transactions are confirmed, they are unlikely to be reversed. This leads to faster trades and more reliable data. AVAX is also EVM-compatible, which connects it to Ethereum’s vast ecosystem. On the other hand, your tokens can be locked up for months with AVAX, and the network is still relatively small.

6. Cosmos (ATOM)

Annual Percentage Yield (APY): About 14-15%

Staking Mechanism: Tendermint Proof-of-Stake

Validator Requirements: To delegate, 1 ATOM is enough. To become a validator, you’ll need to stake a considerably larger amount.

Lock-up Period: 21 days

Rewards Distribution: You earn per block, and in practice, should receive rewards quickly

Price Stability: ATOM is very volatile and has lost a significant amount of value from its peak in 2022

Market Cap: $1.59 billion

ATOM boasts a high level of interoperability, with numerous projects utilizing its network, and offers the potential for high yields through staking. However, it also has high inflation and a long lock-up period, which can make rewards uncertain.

7. NEAR Protocol (NEAR)

Annual Percentage Yield (APY): 4-5%

Staking Mechanism: Sharded Proof-of-Stake

Validator Requirements: There’s a minimum stake of 25,500 NEAR required to be a validator, while delegators can stake smaller amounts

Lock-up Period: About 48 hours to unstake

Rewards Distribution: Rewards are paid every epoch, which is roughly 12 hours

Price Stability: NEAR is fairly volatile, with a few large fluctuations in the last year

Market Cap: $2.67 billion

NEAR is fast and scalable, with strong developer backing and low stake time. For now, it still has lower adoption rates than larger chains, and yields are comparatively low, but it remains a strong choice for staking.

8. Binance Coin (BNB)

Annual Percentage Yield (APY): 1-2%

Staking Mechanism: Proof-of-Staked Authority (PoSA)

Validator Requirements: Becoming a validator is difficult, but you can lock up BNB on Binance or BNB Chain

Lock-up Period: 7 days if you operate a node; on the Binance exchange, you can withdraw your stake at any time 

Rewards Distribution: Rewards are very small (only about 1–2% APR) and paid in BNB

Price Stability: BNB is more stable than many other cryptocurrencies, and is slightly down from its all-time high

Market Cap: $90.6 billion

BNB is a major utility coin with substantial backing and a strong reputation, making it a safe choice for investment and staking. That said, rewards are very low, so take this into account when deciding where to stake your crypto.

9. Algorand (ALGO)

Annual Percentage Yield (APY): 5-7%

Staking Mechanism: Pure Proof-of-Stake

Validator Requirements: You’ll need to stake a minimum of 30,000 Algo to be eligible for rewards

Lock-up Period: There’s no lock-up period to worry about. You retain custody and can unstake at any time.

Rewards Distribution: Rewards are issued every time a block is finalized, which is about every 2.8 seconds, and validators earn 10 ALGO per block

Price Stability: ALGO has fallen dramatically from its all-time high in 2021, but has remained fairly stable recently

Market Cap: $1.57 billion

ALGO offers some excellent benefits when it comes to staking, like super-fast rewards, advanced smart contracts, and no lock-up period. It’s a less established chain and requires a very high minimum stake to get started solo (although you can run pools), but it is still a good choice. 

10. Tezos (XTZ)

Annual Percentage Yield (APY): About 4–6%

Staking Mechanism: Liquid Proof-of-Stake (LPoS). Token holders delegate stakes to “bakers” (validators) or become bakers themselves.

Validator Requirements: To bake (validate), you need to stake 8,000 XTZ of your currency. Alternatively, you can delegate any amount to a baker.

Lock-up Period: About 5-7 weeks

Rewards Distribution: Rewards are distributed every baking cycle, which occurs approximately every 3 days. You’ll get approximately 5.5% annual interest on your stake.

Price Stability: XTZ is moderately volatile

Market Cap: $562.6 million

XTZ is a proven model and has been operating as a network since 2018. Additionally, bakers can vote on protocol upgrades and propose changes through the on-chain governance system. There’s a high investment threshold to solo bake, but if you have the funds, XTZ is undeniably an interesting and potentially rewarding project.

11. Sui (SUI)

Annual Percentage Yield (APY): 2-3%

Staking Mechanism: Proof-of-Stake

Validator Requirements: The minimum staking amount is 1 SUI 

Lock-up Period: 1 day

Rewards Distribution: Rewards are distributed every SUI epoch, which is roughly 1 day

Price Stability: SUI is not as volatile as some other coins, but it has seen some large fluctuations during its lifetime

Market Cap: $9.47 billion

SUI has some impressive advantages for stakeholders, like very high throughput, fast unstaking, and strong development. Yields are relatively low, and there aren’t many validators yet; however, these issues may improve as the network matures.

12. Aptos (APT)

Annual Percentage Yield (APY): 6-7%

Staking Mechanism: Sharded Proof-of-Stake

Validator Requirements: There’s a minimum stake of 25,500 NEAR required to be a validator, while delegators can stake smaller amounts

Lock-up Period: About 48 hours to unstake

Rewards Distribution: Rewards are paid every epoch, which is roughly 12 hours

Price Stability: APT is fairly volatile, with a few large fluctuations in the last year

Market Cap: $3.14 billion

APT boasts a very high TPS and is underpinned by modern “Move” programming. There is a centralization risk due to a small pool of validators; however, APT remains a viable choice for those looking to stake their cryptocurrency.

You Can’t Only Consider APY to Choose the Best Staking Crypto, Here’s Why

When you’re deciding where to get started with crypto staking, it’s tempting to fixate on APY. After all, surely the amount you get back is the most important factor, right?

Of course, APY is an important factor, but it’s also not the only factor, and it doesn’t tell the full story.

Let’s look at Ethereum as an example. ETH’s staking yield is only about 3%, which is fairly unimpressive compared to some altcoins. However, unlike these other coins, Ethereum boasts a significantly larger market cap and enhanced network security.

A high APY might even be a red flag, as it can be a sign of higher inflation and volatility. Other factors, such as lock-up terms, network quality, safety, and liquidity, are all extremely important to consider.

How to Stake Cryptocurrency for Passive Income

It makes sense to view crypto staking as a combination of several different activities wrapped into one. Here are a few key ways to stake crypto and earn passive income.

• Cold staking, where you keep your coins in a cold (offline) wallet and delegate your staking rights to an online node, which basically stakes on your behalf. The node cannot move your funds; however, they stay in your wallet. This is one of the most secure methods for staking cryptocurrency.

• Exchange staking involves working through an intermediary exchange, such as Binance or Coinbase. You simply deposit funds via the exchange, and they handle the staking process for you. This is an easy, accessible option for those who don’t feel confident staking themselves or don’t have the time, but you give up custody and also pay fees 

that can be quite high (Coinbase, for example, charges about 25–35% of your rewards.)

• Delegated staking is an option in many Proof-of-Stake chains like Cardano and Polkadot. You retain custody of your coins, but you delegate your stake to a trusted validator who then uses your stake in consensus and allows you to earn rewards.

• Pooled staking is a method of combining your funds with those of others and locking them in a contract, in exchange for a liquid token that gains value over time. This is a great way to get started with staking without the need for a large upfront investment.

Risks You Should Consider Before Staking Your Cryptocurrency

As with everything involving your finances, staking crypto is not risk-free. Some common risks here include:

• Lock-up periods, which can leave you unable to access your funds, sometimes for many days. Always clarify lock-up terms before staking.

• Slashing is a penalty mechanism where validators who break the platform rules (knowingly or not) lose some of their staked currency. Always be aware of the rules when you join a platform.

• Smart contract bugs can sometimes lead to losses or create vulnerabilities through which hackers can steal your staked funds

• Market volatility is always a risk in crypto. If your staked cryptocurrency suffers a large dip you could lose a lot of your funds.

Crypto always carries some inherent risk. Prepare as much as you can by learning about the terms and processes of your chosen staking platform, and accept that losing money is always a possibility.

How Much Crypto Should One Stake?

How much crypto is the right amount to stake? The answer is going to depend a lot on your personal goals, risk tolerance, funds, and experience level.

A good rule of thumb is to never stake so much that you can’t handle a period of major volatility. Fluctuating prices are a fact of life in crypto, and it’s basically guaranteed that, given enough time in the game, a coin you’re invested in will lose a ton of value in a short time.

It’s a good idea to retain a certain amount as a spending buffer and stake the rest. As with all forms of investment, diversifying your funds across multiple coins and platforms is another way to protect yourself.

It’s also important to keep lock-up periods in mind. Some platforms, like Tezos, will make you wait weeks before you can withdraw your funds, so don’t stake anything you might need on short notice. 

How Else Can You Make Passive Income?

Staking isn’t the only way to earn passive income with crypto. Let’s take a look at some other popular options here.

• Yield farming, where you stake coins to DEX pools like Uniswap and Curve in return for trading fees and reward tokens. You can earn decent rewards this way, but there’s always a risk of impermanent loss.

• Crypto lending, where you lend your crypto to others on platforms like Aave or Compound, and earn interest, which can vary from 3-10%

• Running your own nodes can net you serious rewards from some networks. However, this usually requires a very large upfront stake, which deters a lot of users from trying.

• Dividend/Reward Tokens are coins that share their protocol’s profits with holders. Essentially, they are exchange tokens that pay dividends. Your rewards here will depend on the success of the project in question.

Best Platforms to Stake Your Crypto

So how do you actually go about staking your crypto? There are a few different routes here, depending on your experience level and the amount of time and learning you’re prepared to invest.

Lido Finance

Lido is one of the best-known staking platforms for major chains like Ethereum and Polygon. There’s no minimum stake required, and it’s easy and accessible for beginners, as well as being extremely reputable and open-source with a high level of liquidity. Lido takes a 10% fee on any rewards you earn.

Rocket Pool

Rocket Pool offers decentralized ETH liquid staking. You can get started with only 0.01ETH so it’s a great low-risk way to dip your toes in the world of crypto staking. Anyone with 16ETH can run their own node, and it’s highly decentralized with a strong community. Fees are 15%.

Binance

Binance offers exchange staking and supports more than 60 coins. One of the biggest benefits is flexibility: you can unstake at any time, but you’ll also earn higher APY if you lock for longer periods of time. Fees are essentially non-existent, and security is the best in the industry. Binance is probably the best option when it comes to the variety of coins available and liquidity, but you need to trust your funds to them.

Coinbase

Coinbase supports multiple Proof-of-Stake coins, including Ethereum, Solana, and Cardano. It’s very beginner-friendly with its own mobile and desktop dashboard, which is designed to be user-friendly and easy to navigate. On the downside, fees are very high and can be up to 35% of your staking rewards. If you’re prepared to pay for a high level of trust and convenience, Coinbase could be a good call.

Kraken

Kraken’s platform allows you to stake on more than 20 coins, and is known for excellent security and customer support. Fees are also 0% to deposit or withdraw, but Kraken does take a commission on any rewards you earn, the amount of which depends on the coin.

Gemini Staking

Gemini allows you to stake on supported coins in a single click, with no minimum stake required. The platform deducts a small fee from any rewards you earn. Gemini has excellent security and is ISO 27001/SOC2 certified, with a clean and easy user experience, and they even guarantee to cover any slashes from their validators. One downside is a smaller range of coins than other platforms.

Crypto.com / OKX / KuCoin

These three platforms are all staking programs with dozens of coins and offer some attractive terms. For example, Crypto.com offers up to 19% on CRO token stake. These platforms have low fees, but you have to trust a centralized exchange with your funds. You can think of them as alternatives to Binance.

Dedicated Node Providers

Dedicated node providers like Stakefish, Blockdaemon, and Figment are different from the other options we’ve covered so far. They run validators on different networks and offer APIs, usually charging fees of around 10-20%. These are extremely secure with highly professional teams, but are probably overkill for your average user.

DeFi Pools

DeFi pools like Lido, Frax, and StakeWise are more like protocols than platforms. You can stake smaller amounts in return for liquid tokens that you can use for things like loans and yield farming. Fees range from around 5-15%.

Want to Learn More About Staking?

Crypto staking can feel a little overwhelming at first. We get it. That’s why we created Dypto Crypto in the first place — to help new users get to grips with the world of crypto and DeFi and start making smart, informed investment decisions from day one.
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