Did you know that by staking your cryptocurrencies you could earn passive interest from them? Similar to storing your money in a savings account and then getting interest from it.

Well, this is possible with some cryptocurrencies.

You can stake cryptocurrencies on blockchains with a Proof of Stake consensus model.

Maybe you heard about Proof of Work? The model that Bitcoin use.

For Proof of Work we generate new coins through mining. But with Proof of Stake cryptos we instead stake our coins or tokens in a cryptocurrency wallet and then forge new coins or tokprocess is called forging.

Mining and forging are in essence very similar, but staking can have some useful advantages.

The advantages of staking over mining are:

1 ) It can be done at exchanges

Here you can stake your cryptocurrencies directly at an exchange. Not all exchanges have this option enabled, but three exchanges that do are Binance, KuCoin, and Coinbase.

Now if you are an experienced crypto trader/holder, you might argue that storing your cryptocurrencies on a cryptocurrency exchange is a big no-no. I understand that, but the reality is that even though this space has more hacks and scams than almost any other industry, it doesn’t seem to affect everyone.

And people are willing to take the risks because of complacency, so this feature will attract many of those users. But a word of warning – you should think twice before going for it.

2 ) Cold staking makes it super easy

Another cool feature is the option to stake your cryptocurrencies ‘cold’, meaning without them being connected to the internet at all times.

This means you can leave your cryptos in a wallet with this feature enabled. And then earning passive interest and almost forgetting that you are staking.

This is super handy and will make staking even more accessible.

3 ) Staking requires less energy

And lastly, staking will require less computational power and thus decrease energy usage. This will be a massive win for the cryptocurrency space when we know how much mining drains energy consumption the world over.

One example being with the current mining competitiveness, Bitcoin mining consumes more energy than the country of Switzerland (source).

This will be possible through cold staking and the average computational power demand from staking nodes and wallets being far less compared to equivalent nodes in mining and PoW.

Why should I start staking?

1 ) To generate extra income

This one is surely a given. Anyone would be interested in earning extra money, and with staking that is possible, with potentially little effort from an exchange or cold staking.

2 ) It is a great way to invest in cryptos

I see staking and evaluating what coins to pick for staking as a great way to add on to your own knowledge about cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, and investing.

Here you have to decide what crypto to buy, then figure out how it works to start staking. And then decide what you do with the earnings.

Reinvesting them? Buying another crypto? Or cashing out?

Here are my top 5 staking coins in 2020

Ok, so it is time to explore the list of top staking coins in 2020. In no specific order!

1 ) Tezos (XTZ)

First out on this list is Tezos! The infamous blockchain with one of the biggest ICO funding campaigns.

Tezos aims to be the ever-lasting blockchain that can handle upgrades and development without the need for hard forks, like Ethereum and others competing in the same space. With an added focus on being a platform for security tokens

• Guide to staking (delegating) Tezos here
• ROI: The expected annual ROI for Tezos is 5-6% (note: this can fluctuate heavily)

2 ) VeChain (VET)

Second out on this list is another Ethereum-inspired blockchain platform. This one with a focus on enterprises and the supply chain industry.

VeChain has launched their mainnet and are already in use by multiple clients the world over, tracking products and shipments.

• Guide to staking VET here
• ROI: The expected annual ROI for VeChain is 2.2% (note: this can fluctuate heavily)

3 ) Neo (NEO)

This is the Chinese Ethereum. And a platform for new dApps and services, and also a launchpad for new tokens.

Neo had a big rise like many others in this space, when launched in 2017. And have since struggled a bit, like the rest. But they are building and working hard on gaining traction and new development.

There have been questions regarding the decentralisation of Neo, similar to VeChain and this is something they are working on getting additional nodes to the network.

• Guide to staking NEO here
• ROI: The expected annual ROI for Neo is 1.5-2.50% (note: this can fluctuate heavily)

4 ) Cosmos (ATOM)

Cosmos, the internet of blockchains as they call themselves, is a new type of blockchain platform where new startups can easily create their own blockchain services with ease.

They have a clear focus on bridging blockchains and making it easier for them to speak with each other and co-exist.

In a world with lots of separate blockchains, the need for them to collaborate and co-exist is a given for blockchain adoption to truly work. This is where Cosmos comes in.

• Guide to staking ATOM here.
• ROI: The expected annual ROI for ATOM is 8% (note: this can fluctuate heavily)

5 ) Lisk (LSK)

And the last crypto on this staking list is LSK. Lisk is another blockchain platform providing a ‘gateway into blockchain’.

Lisk is an open-source blockchain that wants to make it easy for anyone to create their own blockchains.

Lisk’s SDK is written in JavaScript which makes it more accessible for new developers to quickly get into building in it.

• Guide to staking LISK here
• ROI: The expected annual ROI for Lisk is 5-6%

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this list of staking coins to use in 2020! There are many other coins out there, but this is a shortlist of some of my favourite cryptos to use for staking. I like these because I believe in the blockchains and that staking is fairly easy with them.

Where do you buy these staking coins? If you don’t own any of these cryptos yet then you can buy them at popular exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, etc. You can find more trustworthy exchange options here.

I would recommend you looking into staking as it can be done easily, and be a smart thing to generate some extra income. Especially with cold staking and other easy to start with staking options.

What is your favourite staking coin? Share it with us!