Ethereum pays ether to those who stake it. Staking on your own takes at least 32 ETH and a machine that stays online, and a validator that breaks the rules loses part of its stake. With less, you stake through a pool or an exchange, and then you depend on them.
Source: Ethereum.org: staking · checked 2 October 2026
SOL can be staked from your own wallet by delegating it to a validator. The validator never controls your coins. It keeps a commission from the rewards, and unstaking takes a few days.
Source: Solana: staking · checked 2 October 2026
BNB can be staked by delegating it to a validator, which shares the rewards it earns from transaction fees. Taking it back out takes 7 days.
Source: BNB Chain docs: staking · checked 2 October 2026
Ada can be staked by delegating it to a stake pool. It stays in your own wallet and can be spent at any time, with no lock-up. The pool keeps a fixed fee and a share of the rewards.
Source: Cardano: stake pool delegation · checked 2 October 2026
TRX earns rewards only when it is staked and then used to vote for the network's block producers, which TRON calls Super Representatives. By default each keeps a fifth of the rewards and its voters share the rest.
Source: TRON docs: Super Representatives · checked 2 October 2026
AVAX can be staked by delegating at least 25 AVAX to a validator, for between two weeks and a year. The coins are locked for the whole period and cannot be taken out early. The validator keeps at least 2% of the rewards.
Source: Avalanche docs: how to stake · checked 2 October 2026
HYPE can be staked with one or more validators, which may charge a commission. A stake is locked for one day, and moving HYPE back out of staking takes 7 days. Rewards are paid daily and added to the stake.
Source: Hyperliquid docs: staking · checked 2 October 2026
SUI can be staked by delegating it to a validator. You keep hold of the staked coins yourself, and the validator may take a commission from the rewards. Rewards are counted in 24-hour periods, and a stake earns only for the periods it is in from start to end.
Source: Sui docs: staking · checked 2 October 2026
HBAR can be staked to one of the network's nodes. It never leaves your account, there is no lock-up, and the balance can be spent at any time.
Source: Hedera docs: staking · checked 2 October 2026
NEAR can be staked by delegating it to a validator through that validator's staking pool. Rewards begin after about 12 hours, and taking the coins back out takes a day or two.
Source: NEAR docs: staking · checked 2 October 2026
DOT can be staked by locking it and nominating validators, or from 1 DOT through a nomination pool. Taking it back out takes 28 days, and if a validator misbehaves, part or all of the stake behind it can be confiscated.
Sources: Polkadot wiki: staking, Polkadot wiki: chain state values · checked 2 October 2026
GRAM can be staked by depositing it in a pool managed by a validator. If the validator is fined and its own balance does not cover the fine, the rest is taken from the depositors in proportion. Withdrawals can be delayed when the pool is short of funds.
Source: TON docs: nominator pools · checked 2 October 2026
TAO can be staked behind a validator, which keeps a share of what the stake earns. Staking swaps the TAO into the separate token of one of the network's subnets at that token's price, and taking it out swaps it back, so what comes back depends on that price.
Sources: Bittensor docs: the network, Bittensor docs: money · checked 2 October 2026
CRO can be staked by delegating it to a validator on Cronos POS Chain, a separate chain from Cronos that is used mainly for staking. Taking it back out takes 28 days.
Sources: Cronos POS docs: delegation guide, Cronos docs: general FAQ · checked 2 October 2026
ICP can be locked in the network's governance system to vote on proposals and earn rewards, paid in newly created ICP. A lock needs a waiting period of at least 2 weeks to vote, and the wait before the ICP can be taken back out can be set as long as 2 years.
Source: Internet Computer docs: governance · checked 2 October 2026
POL can be staked by delegating it to a validator, with no minimum. The staking itself takes place on Ethereum. Taking it back out takes 80 checkpoints of about half an hour each, a little under two days, and longer when Ethereum is congested.
Source: Polygon docs: delegate tokens · checked 2 October 2026
SKY can be staked with no minimum, no lock-up and no exit fee. The project says the rewards are funded by its treasury buying SKY on the open market, not by new tokens.
Source: Sky: understanding the SKY token · checked 2 October 2026
KCS can be staked on KuCoin, where the exchange does the staking for you and pays out the earnings, or directly on the blockchain from a wallet of your own.
Source: KuCoin: KCS · checked 2 October 2026
ATOM can be staked by delegating it to a validator, which takes a commission that is known beforehand. Taking it back out takes 3 weeks, and if the validator misbehaves, the ATOM delegated to it can be partly confiscated.
Source: Cosmos Hub docs: delegator FAQ · checked 2 October 2026
APT can be staked by adding it to a delegation pool, and the rewards come minus the operator's commission. The stake can be unlocked at any time but withdrawn only when the pool's lock-up period, set by Aptos governance, runs out. The docs say slashing is not currently implemented.
Sources: Aptos docs: delegated staking, Aptos docs: staking · checked 2 October 2026
Tez can be put behind a baker, Tezos's name for a validator, in two ways. Delegating leaves it spendable at any time and carries no penalty if the baker misbehaves. Staking locks it, though it stays in your own account, shares the baker's penalties, and takes up to 4 days to undo.
Source: Tezos docs: staking · checked 2 October 2026
INJ can be staked by delegating it to a validator, and rewards start as soon as it is staked. Taking it back out takes 21 days.
Source: Injective docs: staking · checked 2 October 2026
STX can be staked by locking it to a signer, and it never leaves your own account. The rewards come from the bitcoin that miners commit, and are paid in bitcoin terms. A holder needs no minimum, and a plain STX position can be unstaked at any time, unlocking at the start of the next cycle.
Source: Stacks docs: staking · checked 2 October 2026
Staked VET earns VTHO, the separate token that pays the fees on VeChain. VET is staked by delegating it to a validator through StarGate, VeChain's staking platform, or by running a validator with 25 million VET.
Source: VeChain docs: VTHO · checked 2 October 2026
TIA can be staked by delegating it to a validator, which charges a fee taken as a share of the staking rewards.
Source: Celestia docs: staking, governance and supply · checked 2 October 2026
DCR can be staked by locking it to buy a ticket, which carries one vote. When the ticket is called to vote, on average after 28 days and at most 142, it returns the locked DCR plus a reward. A ticket has a 0.5% chance of expiring unused, which returns the DCR without a reward.
Source: Decred docs: proof-of-stake voting · checked 2 October 2026
GRT can be delegated to an indexer, which keeps a cut of the rewards that it sets itself. Taking it back out takes 28 days, with no rewards in that time. The docs say delegated GRT cannot be confiscated today, but that this may be switched on later.
Source: The Graph docs: delegating · checked 2 October 2026
SEI can be staked by delegating it to a validator, which keeps a percentage as commission. Taking it back out takes 21 days, during which it earns nothing and cannot be moved.
Source: Sei docs: staking guide · checked 2 October 2026
STRK can be staked by delegating it to a validator that accepts delegation, sharing in its rewards. Taking it back out has a 7-day lock-up.
Source: Starknet docs: staking · checked 2 October 2026
PENDLE can be staked one for one into sPENDLE, which shares in the PENDLE the protocol buys back with its fees, provided the holder votes when a proposal is open. Unstaking takes 14 days, or is immediate for a 5% fee.
Source: Pendle docs: sPENDLE · checked 2 October 2026
FLR earns rewards in two ways. Delegating it to a data provider has no minimum and no lock, and can be undone at any time. Staking it to a validator needs 50,000 FLR and locks it for at least 14 days.
Source: Flare: delegate and stake · checked 2 October 2026
RAY can be staked in the Raydium app, and the rewards are paid in more RAY.
Source: Raydium docs: staking · checked 2 October 2026
LIT can be staked in Lighter's staking pool, which currently pays a fixed 6% a year in LIT that the protocol buys for the purpose. Unstaking has a 3-day lock-up.
Source: Lighter docs: LIT utility · checked 2 October 2026
XDC holders can stake XDC to vote for masternode candidates, and the top 108 become the network's validators. Rewards go to the masternodes and to their voters. Running a masternode takes a stake of 10 million XDC.
Source: XDC docs: architecture · checked 2 October 2026
ASTER can be staked by delegating it to a validator on Aster Chain and choosing a lock period of up to 208 weeks. A longer lock earns a larger share of the rewards, which include the ASTER bought back with the platform's fees. Withdrawing before the lock ends carries a penalty.
Source: Aster docs: staking · checked 2 October 2026
VVV can be staked on Venice's token dashboard, and staked VVV earns newly issued VVV. Staked VVV can also be locked to mint DIEM, a token that gives a daily allowance of Venice's AI service. Unstaking has a 7-day cooldown.
Source: Venice docs: VVV and DIEM · checked 2 October 2026
M can be staked by delegating it to a validator, sharing in the validator's rewards. Only the top 7 validators produce blocks and earn block rewards at any time.
Sources: MemeCore docs: the M token, MemeCore docs: staking and delegating · checked 2 October 2026
MON can be staked by delegating it to a validator. Changes take effect at the start of an epoch, which comes about every four hours, and undelegated MON can be withdrawn after a wait of one more epoch.
Source: Monad docs: staking overview · checked 2 October 2026
FET can be staked by delegating it to a validator, with rewards paid in FET on every block. The FET never leaves your wallet, and removing a stake takes 21 days.
Source: ASI Network docs: how to stake · checked 2 October 2026
GRASS can be staked by delegating it to a router, an operator on the Grass network, which charges a commission. There is no minimum period, and unstaking takes 7 days. The docs say there is no slashing today but that it may be added.
Source: Grass docs: staking · checked 2 October 2026
BTT can be staked to a validator on BitTorrent Chain, which earns rewards and a part in governing the network.
Source: BitTorrent Chain: BTT · checked 2 October 2026
HTX can be staked for sHTX, a unit that cannot be transferred and that carries voting rights and rewards in HTX DAO. Unstaking has a 2-day lock-up, with no rewards or votes in that time.
Source: HTX DAO: staking · checked 2 October 2026
IOTA can be staked with a validator, in a stake that stays in your own custody. Rewards accrue only for epochs in which the stake was active throughout, and unstaking returns the stake with its rewards.
Source: IOTA docs: staking and unstaking · checked 2 October 2026
MINA can be delegated to a validator with no minimum and no lock-up: it stays in your wallet and remains spendable. The docs say there is no slashing, and that rewards, which vary, are paid out by the validators.
Source: Mina docs: how to delegate · checked 2 October 2026
GNO earns rewards when it is staked to validate blocks on Gnosis Chain. Holders who do not want to run a validator themselves can use a liquid staking provider.
Source: Gnosis Chain docs: GNO token · checked 2 October 2026
Holding NEO earns GAS, the network's fee token, with no staking needed. 5 GAS are created every block, and the largest portion goes to holders who vote in the network's governance. Some exchanges pass GAS on to customers who hold NEO there and others do not.
Source: Neo: NEO and GAS · checked 2 October 2026
CFX can be locked in Conflux's proof-of-stake layer to earn interest: every 1,000 CFX locked gives one vote. A stake is committed for at least 14 days. The interest rate is set by a vote of the network's DAO.
Sources: Conflux docs: proof of stake, Conflux docs: economics · checked 2 October 2026
EIGEN that is staked and delegated to an operator earns newly minted EIGEN, claimable every week. The operator must be registered to at least one of the services built on EigenLayer. Part of each distribution goes to the operators.
Source: Eigen Foundation: programmatic incentives · checked 2 October 2026
S can be delegated to a validator to earn rewards. Withdrawing a stake takes a 14-day wait. Sonic's docs say that if the validator is penalized for misconduct or for errors in its setup, the stake delegated to it can be affected too.
Source: Sonic docs: S token · checked 2 October 2026
EGLD earns rewards when it is staked. A holder can delegate it to a staking provider, or run a validator node.
Source: MultiversX docs: EGLD · checked 2 October 2026
CHZ delegated to a validator earns more CHZ, from newly created tokens and from the priority fees users pay. Chiliz's docs say a stake can be withdrawn at any time, and that a reward can be claimed after two full epochs, about 3 days.
Source: Chiliz docs: staking · checked 2 October 2026
DYDX staked with a validator earns a share of the trading fees and gas fees the dYdX chain collects, after a community tax and the validator's commission. Trading fees are paid in USDC. Rewards have to be claimed by hand.
Source: dYdX docs: staking rewards · checked 2 October 2026
CVX staked on Convex Finance earns a share of the platform's fees, paid as cvxCRV, a token that stands for CRV locked on Curve. CVX that is locked to vote, for 16 weeks or more, receives additional fees.
Sources: Convex docs: understanding CVX, Convex docs: tokenomics · checked 2 October 2026
A, the token that replaced EOS one for one, can be staked to earn rewards from the network. Vaulta's site says a stake carries a 21-day lockup.
Source: Vaulta · checked 2 October 2026
ATH can be staked on Aethir's staking platform, on Ethereum, to earn more ATH. The lock-up runs from one week to four years, and a stake cannot be withdrawn early. Rewards vary, and longer lock-ups earn more.
Source: Aethir docs: staking key information · checked 2 October 2026
ZBCN can be locked for a fixed period in Zebec's app in return for a yield. A stake cannot be withdrawn before the lockup ends, and one wallet can stake at most 5,000,000 ZBCN.
Source: Zebec docs: staking · checked 2 October 2026
USDY is a tokenized note whose price per token rises as yield accrues on what stands behind it: short-term US Treasuries, shares of a Treasury bond fund or bank deposits. Ondo's docs say it may not be offered or sold to US persons, and that other jurisdictions are excluded too.
Sources: Ondo docs: USDY basics, Ondo docs: USDY important notes · checked 2 October 2026
OUSG gives exposure to short-term US Treasuries, through funds from asset managers such as BlackRock and Franklin Templeton. Only those who have onboarded to Ondo's qualified-access funds can buy, redeem, transfer or receive it; the most common test is a net worth over $5 million.
Sources: Ondo docs: OUSG overview, Ondo docs: OUSG eligibility · checked 2 October 2026
USTB is a share in a fund that holds short-duration US Treasury bills. Interest shows as a steadily rising value per share, not as payouts. The token moves only between wallet addresses on Superstate's allowlist.
Source: Superstate docs: Invesco USTB · checked 2 October 2026
Gold held in a Kinesis account, or in a wallet linked to one, earns a monthly yield paid in gold. Kinesis says the yield comes from a 15% share of its transaction fee revenue, split among holders, and that it varies from month to month.
Source: Kinesis: holder's yield · checked 2 October 2026
Silver held in a Kinesis account, or in a wallet linked to one, earns a monthly yield. Kinesis says the yield comes from a 15% share of its transaction fee revenue, split among holders, and that it varies from month to month.
Source: Kinesis: holder's yield · checked 2 October 2026
LINK earns a return only when it is staked in Chainlink's own pool. The pool is capped at 45 million LINK and 15,000 LINK per address, and when it is full nobody new can join until someone leaves. Leaving takes 28 days.
Source: Chainlink: staking · checked 2 October 2026
Algo earns rewards only from an account that commits at least 30,000 Algo to running the network, which takes a computer running a node. The Algo stays in the holder's own wallet throughout. Holders with less can join a staking pool.
Source: Algorand: staking rewards FAQ · checked 2 October 2026
Dai earns a return only when it is locked in the protocol's savings contract. There is no minimum and it can be taken out at any time. The rate is set by a vote of the protocol's governance.
Source: The Maker Protocol white paper · checked 2 October 2026
USDe earns nothing by itself. Staked with Ethena it becomes a second token, sUSDe, which earns from the protocol's revenue: staking rewards on ether and what its hedging positions pay. Unstaking has a waiting period.
Source: Ethena docs: staking USDe · checked 2 October 2026
Dash pays a share of each block's reward to masternodes, servers whose owners must hold 1,000 DASH. The Dash can be moved or spent at any time, but doing so stops the rewards.
Source: Dash docs: features · checked 2 October 2026
AERO earns only when it is locked, for between one week and four years, and used to vote each week on which pools get rewards. Voters receive the exchange's revenue. Locked AERO cannot be taken out early.
Source: Aerodrome docs · checked 2 October 2026
NEXO earns interest when it is held in an account on the Nexo platform, which advertises up to 12% a year. Nexo says rates depend on the holder's loyalty tier and region and can change.
Source: Nexo: NEXO Token · checked 2 October 2026
JUP earns rewards only when it is staked in Jupiter's governance contract, which also gives a vote in the Jupiter DAO. Staked JUP is locked, and unstaking takes 7 days.
Sources: Jupiter docs: staking, Jupiter docs: JUP token · checked 2 October 2026
RUNE earns from the fees the network collects, not from new tokens, in two ways: bonded to a node, or paired with another asset in a liquidity pool. A node that tries to steal has 1.5 times the amount taken out of its bond.
Sources: THORChain docs: tokenomics, THORChain docs: RUNE · checked 2 October 2026
THETA earns newly created TFUEL, the network's fee token, when it is staked to a validator or guardian node that the holder runs.
Source: Theta docs: what Theta Network is · checked 2 October 2026
crvUSD itself pays nothing. Deposited in Savings crvUSD (scrvUSD), a vault, it earns a portion of the interest that borrowers pay to mint crvUSD.
Source: Curve docs: crvUSD overview · checked 2 October 2026
XEC earns staking rewards only for holders who run a fully validating node with Avalanche enabled. Each stake needs at least 100,000,000 XEC that has not moved for about two weeks. eCash's site says there is no wallet-only staking and warns of fake staking guides.
Source: eCash: staking · checked 2 October 2026
Staking 1INCH gives Unicorn Power, which can be delegated to a 1inch Fusion resolver, a third party. The resolver, not 1inch, pays the incentive. Staked tokens are locked for a chosen period, and leaving early costs a penalty of up to 90%.
Source: 1inch help: staking and Unicorn Power · checked 2 October 2026
Staked FLOKI earns TokenFi, a sister token, not more FLOKI. Stakes are locked for 3 to 48 months, and longer locks earn more. Unstaking early costs a penalty: part of the staked FLOKI is sent to a burn wallet.
Source: Floki white paper: staking program · checked 2 October 2026
Bitcoin pays nothing for being held. New coins go to miners. Any interest offered on bitcoin means handing it to a company or to another system, and getting it back depends on them.
Source: Bitcoin.org FAQ · checked 2 October 2026
USDC pays no interest, and Circle keeps what its reserves earn. A return offered on USDC comes from whoever is offering it, and depends on them.
Source: Circle: USDC Terms · checked 2 October 2026
XRP pays nothing for being held. Its ledger pays no rewards at all, not even to the validators that run it.
Source: XRP Ledger FAQ · checked 2 October 2026
Lumens pay nothing for being held. The network's built-in inflation was ended by a vote of its validators in 2019, and the validators themselves are not paid.
Sources: Stellar docs: lumens, Stellar docs: consensus · checked 2 October 2026
Monero pays nothing for being held. New coins go to those who mine it, and it is built so that ordinary computers can.
Source: Monero: about · checked 2 October 2026
UNI pays nothing to its holders. The fees the Uniswap protocol collects are used to destroy UNI, which shrinks the supply, and are not paid out.
Source: Uniswap docs: the UNI token · checked 2 October 2026
Ethereum Classic pays nothing for being held. New coins are issued to the miners whose computers do the work of running it.
Source: Ethereum Classic: the supply cap · checked 2 October 2026
SHIB pays nothing for being held. The project's staking platform lets holders lock SHIB for between one week and four years, and its docs say that for now this earns voting power only, with no rewards.
Source: Shiba Inu docs: staking · checked 2 October 2026
FIL pays nothing for being held. New FIL goes to storage providers, who earn it by offering storage space to the network.
Source: Filecoin docs: crypto-economics · checked 2 October 2026
Kaspa pays nothing for being held. It is a proof-of-work network: every coin in circulation has been mined, with no premine, insider allocation or pre-sale.
Source: Kaspa: lore · checked 2 October 2026
SAND no longer earns staking rewards. The Sandbox's docs say its staking pools closed in June 2025: SAND left in them can still be withdrawn but earns nothing.
Source: The Sandbox docs: staking · checked 2 October 2026
Dogecoin pays nothing for being held. New coins go to miners.
Source: Dogecoin Core FAQ · checked 2 October 2026
The other questions
- Which coins can be sold for dollars?
- Which coins can be held without a company?
- Which coins can send a payment?
- Which coins can run applications?
- Which coins limit their own supply?
- Which coins hold a steady dollar value?
- Which coins can be redeemed for what backs them?
- Which coins can be used on other chains?
What a coin can do is not a reason to buy it or to sell it, and nothing here is advice. Each answer names where it comes from and the day we read it. A coin we have not written up is left out, not marked down. How these answers are written.