As the world of cryptocurrencies continues to grow and evolve, so does the demand for staking, a process that allows crypto holders to earn passive income by “staking” their coins and participating in the blockchain network’s operations.
However, with rising concerns about privacy and security, many users are looking for ways to stake their cryptocurrencies anonymously, away from prying eyes. In this article, we delve into the secretive world of anonymous crypto staking, exploring the different options available to privacy-conscious investors and uncovering the best platforms, coins, and strategies to stake cryptocurrencies without compromising your identity.
Are you ready to stake your cryptocurrencies while keeping your identity under wraps? Let’s dive in!
Not your keys not your coins
The crypto market has a popular saying that goes “Not your keys, not your coins,” which means that only your decentralized wallets’ private keys or passphrases can give you full control over your funds. In the case of centralized exchanges, you will only have a username and password to access the platform profile, but they are the ones who hold the private keys of all wallets.
This highlights the importance of securing your private keys and not relying on centralized exchanges to hold your cryptocurrencies. By doing so, you can ensure complete ownership and control over your digital assets. It also illustrates the benefits of decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions that allow users to retain full control over their assets.
This is because cryptocurrency exchanges are vulnerable to hacking and insolvency, which puts your funds at serious risk . In the same way that it is not advisable to “HODL” your digital currencies in exchanges, it is also not advisable to “stake” your coins with these platforms since they are run by “custodians,” third parties whose wrongdoings could ultimately result in your loss of investments.
There are many instances where crypto exchanges fail and thousands of people (sometimes millions) lose their money as a result. We at least know what happened in 2022 to Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX cryptocurrency giant.
However, it is important to use personal crypto wallets to hold your digital currencies and stake them on reputable platforms that allow you to have full control of your assets.
Centralized exchanges subject to regulations
The fact that centralized exchanges are subject to regulatory oversight is another noteworthy argument in favor of staking your cryptocurrencies on decentralized finance. This is in addition to the other risks associated with centralized exchanges. Staking services across centralized exchanges have recently come under pressure from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which refers to them as “securities offerings.”
Kraken, a well-known cryptocurrency exchange, recently agreed to pay $30 million to resolve claims that it broke SEC regulations by allowing investors to earn rewards by “staking” their coins. The agency also filed a complaint against Genesis Global Capital and Gemini in January for the “unregistered offer” and sale of securities to investors through the Gemini Earn crypto asset lending program.
All these could suggest that staking your cryptocurrencies on decentralized finance platforms provides greater security and control over your assets and eliminates the risk of running afoul of regulatory authorities . By choosing decentralized finance, you can enjoy the benefits of staking without worrying about potential legal consequences.
Where to Stake Cryptocurrencies Anonymously?
The Best Wallets for Cryptocurrency Staking
Exodus (+7 Cryptocurrency Staking)
Exodus is a decentralized cryptocurrency wallet that allows staking for seven different cryptocurrencies, including Algorand (ALGO), Cosmos (ATOM), Solana (SOL), VeChain (VET) , Cardano (ADA), Tezos (XTZ), and Ontology (ONT) .
It allows users to stake cryptocurrencies anonymously and start earning based on annual percentage rates (APR) ranging from 1.00% to 21.20% at the moment.
Exodus enables you to stake your tokens in a non-custodial manner, indicating that it is just as secure as keeping coins in your own wallet. Once your tokens are staked, you have complete control over them and can withdraw your money at any time.
Yoroi Wallet (ADA)
The Yoroi wallet exclusively supports the Cardano (ADA) cryptocurrency, unlike other decentralized wallets that offer to stake several cryptocurrencies. It is the first wallet for Cardano users that is lightweight and has an easy method for allocating and staking ADA to receive rewards.
Users on Yoroi have the option to anonymously stake their ADA tokens by running or joining a stake pool , participating in the management and oversight of the Cardano proof-of-stake network, and validating new blocks and transactions. They are then compensated for their efforts with new ADA tokens.
Atomic Wallet (+10 Cryptocurrency Staking)
Atomic Wallet is also a cryptocurrency custody service with an easy-to-use built-in staking function . As soon as you stake your cryptocurrency in Atomic Wallet, Atomic is chosen as your validator.
This non-custodial wallet makes it possible for any cryptocurrency user to get steady payouts in a totally decentralized and anonymous way. Meanwhile, it doesn’t charge any fees and instead lets you receive earnings straight from validators.
Participants just select the cryptocurrencies they want to stake from a list of up to 13 popular proof-of-stake (POS) coins.
Guarda Wallet (+10 Cryptocurrency Staking)
Guarda Wallet has been operational since 2017 and began as an Ethereum wallet before expanding its support to over 40 coins and over 10,000 tokens within its web, desktop, mobile, and Chrome Extension wallets.
The Guarda staking platform currently allows users to stake 12 digital assets. Furthermore, by depositing and holding funds on the decentralized wallet, users can increase the worth of their holdings by earning monthly or yearly rewards and dividend income.
The cryptocurrencies supported by the platform include Ethereum (ETH), Tron (TRX), Ontology (ONT), Harmony (ONE), Cosmos (ATOM), ChangeNow (NOW), Komodo (KMD), Cardano (ADA), Zilliqa (ZIL ), Qtum (QTUM), Tezos (XTZ), and Callisto (CLO), with rewards ranging from 4.09% to 28.87% presently.
Solflare (SUN)
Solflare is another decentralized cryptocurrency wallet, but it only supports staking for Solana (SOL) coins as it is natively built on the Solana blockchain network. It allows users to stake SOL using a passcode or by connecting a Ledger hardware wallet, providing much higher security.
Users will be able to delegate their coins to one of the validators on the platform once they have created a “New Staking Account” directly from their wallet. It should be noted that each SOL staking account requires a 0.002 Solana network fee from Solflare to be opened . However, you receive a refund of the fee once you withdraw and close your stake account.
TronLink (TRX)
Tronlink is a native wallet on the Tron blockchain network. Staking TRX on the TronLink wallet involves locking up your TRX coins to earn rewards for contributing to the Tron blockchain’s validation process.
TronLink is a browser extension wallet that supports TRX staking, allowing users to participate in the Tron network’s consensus mechanism and earn passive income in return. To stake TRX on TronLink, you need to have TRX coins in your wallet and access the staking feature through the wallet’s interface.
Once you select the amount of TRX you want to stake, you can start earning rewards based on the amount you contributed to the network’s consensus mechanism. Staking TRX on TronLink is a straight forward process that can be completed within a few clicks.
Metamask Staking
With 30 million active users, MetaMask is the most popular non-custodial wallet in the Ethereum ecosystem , enabling users to control their private keys while owning their assets. You can participate in liquid staking through the MetaMask Portfolio DApp with two well-known providers, Lido and Rocket Pool, where you can deposit your Ethereum (ETH) while receiving a token in return that represents the value of your stake.
However, there are differences between the two services that Metamask offers . For instance, while both of them offer different reward percentages, Rocket Pool requires a minimum stake of 0.01 ETH while Lido does not have a minimum requirement.
Projects where you can stake anonymously
Pancakeswap (CAKE)
Both non-active and active cryptocurrency traders can benefit from staking CAKE on PancakeSwap as a passive source of income. To stake their tokens, users can connect their non-custodial cryptocurrency wallets, such as Trust Wallet and Metamask, to the decentralized exchange Pancakeswap.
However, once you’ve staked your tokens, you have four options for changing your position. These options, which include staking more, converting your flexible stake to a locked stake, converting your locked stake to a flexible stake, claiming rewards, and unbinding, will be available on the CAKE Staking Portal .
Lido (ETH, SOL, DOT, MATIC, KSM)
Lido has been a market leader in the liquid staking sub-sector since its launch in December 2020. It is a non-custodial cryptocurrency staking platform that provides a simple entry into the market.
The platform provides a reliable site for staking various cryptocurrencies built on a number of well-known blockchain networks, such as the Ethereum 2.0 Beacon blockchain , Solana, Polkadot, Kusama, and Polygon, and earning daily rewards on them without giving up your funds’ liquidity. Meanwhile, there is no minimum staking requirement for Lido.
ANKR (ETH, MATIC, BNB, FTM, AVAX, DOT)
Ankr is a decentralized crypto platform that connects blockchains to developers, dApps, wallets, exchanges, and any other use cases. It offers streamlined access to its worldwide network of nodes, which operate on 18 different blockchain networks.
Together with that, Ankr’s “ Liquid Staking ” feature enables users to stake well-known currencies including ETH, MATIC, BNB, FTM, AVAX, and DOT. But, you may also use the platform’s “Delegated Staking” option to stake Gnosis (mGNO) and its native token (ANKR). The APRs Ankr currently offers range from 3.48% to 16.41%.
Rocket Pool (ETH)
Rocket Pool is an Ethereum 2.0 staking pool that aims to reduce the financial and equipment requirements for ETH 2.0 staking, contributing to Ethereum’s decentralization and security. To do this, Rocket Pool enables users to stake in a trustless manner in a network of node operators.
Furthermore, it gives users two options to participate in anonymous Ethereum (ETH) staking. The first is to “stake and run a node,” and the second is to only “stake ETH”. While the former offers about 7.08% APR with “RPL Rewards”, the second offers just about 3.88% based on a seven-day average. As of April 7, 2023, Rocket Pool boasts having 442,208 ETH staked on its platform, as well as 2,256 node operators.
Polkadot (DOT)
Polkadot (DOT) provides a platform where users can stake their DOT cryptocurrency coin. This Polygon Staking Dashboard is free to use and offers an attractive interface through which you’re able to stake or unstake your tokens, appoint validators, view their metrics as well as network statistics, view your staking rewards, and much more. The dashboard currently shows that 47.25% of the total DOT supply is staked on the network.
Polygon (MATIC)
Layer 2 blockchain platform Polygon enables anyone to join the mainnet as a validator and get rewards while maintaining the Polygon PoS network. According to Polygon, funding staking rewards comprises 12% of the 10 billion MATIC supplies overall.
As a validator, you set your own commission for accepting delegates to your node. Similarly, you can receive incentives by “delegating” staking tokens to a validator of your choice.
Conclusion
Although the process of staking cryptocurrencies anonymously comes with risks like the loss of private keys, it remains the best option and an emerging trend for people who want to protect their identity and prevent the greater risks that come with staking on centralized exchanges.
With several wallets like Metamask, Yoroi, Solflare, Exodus, and so on, as well as blockchain projects available, investors have the flexibility to choose the best option that meets their needs. So, whether you are a seasoned investor or just starting, exploring the world of anonymous crypto staking is a worthwhile endeavor.
