Crypto staking allows owners of cryptocurrency to earn a return on their holdings, paying them more cryptocurrency. The easiest way to do that for the owners of major cryptocurrencies is by working with one of the best crypto exchanges for staking. These exchanges make staking easy for everyone and make it possible for those with small crypto positions to enjoy staking rewards.

Here are the top crypto staking platforms of 2024 and some of their key details.

What is crypto staking?

Cryptocurrencies must validate the transactions on their platforms, and many use those who have a direct stake in the crypto to do so. These currencies use “proof-of-stake” validation to verify transactions in the blockchain database. Usually, a currency’s owners must have a minimum amount of the crypto coin to be able to act as a validator and approve transactions.

For helping to regulate the cryptocurrency, validators are paid with some of the cryptocurrency. However, if validators approve a fraudulent transaction that doesn’t meet the cryptocurrency’s rules, they could lose some of their investment, so it’s not a riskless proposition.

Even those who don’t have enough of a stake can participate in these staking rewards, however. On their own, they can pool their resources with other crypto owners and participate, though this process may be somewhat complex. Alternatively, if their assets are held with a crypto exchange, they can stake their assets more easily and still earn an attractive return.

Many of the most popular cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum, use proof-of-stake validation, so crypto fans have quite a few choices when it comes to earning staking rewards.

Best crypto staking platforms

The ability to stake your crypto through a crypto exchange is not a given, and the best crypto exchanges let you stake many coins and charge a reasonable fee or even no fee to do so.

Binance.US

Binance has one of the largest selections of available cryptocurrencies, so it’s not too surprising that it also offers one of the largest selections of coins with staking rewards. It offers staking on Ethereum, Solana, Cardano and Polkadot, along with 17 other tokens. The exchange charges a service fee of 25 to 35 percent, depending on the coin, for facilitating the staking.

Number of coins available for staking: 21

Coinbase

Coinbase is another exchange that offers trading on a ton of coins — more than 200 at our last count — and offers staking rewards on nine of those coins. They include Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, Avalanche and Polkadot. Coinbase charges a fee between 25 and 35 percent, depending on the coin you’re staking, and its published rates reflect that fee already.

Number of coins available for staking: 9

Gemini

Gemini offers around 100 cryptocurrencies, though clients will be able to stake just three of those: Ethereum, Solana and Polygon. Unfortunately for U.S. investors, Solana is off-limits, so they have just two options. Staking fees are relatively low, with Gemini taking a 15 percent cut of the total reward. Clients can stake any amount of cryptocurrency, with no minimum amount.

Number of coins available for staking: 3

KuCoin

KuCoin offers more than 900 coins, a veritable smorgasbord of cryptocurrency, with 43 of those available for staking rewards. KuCoin offers the usual options for staking, including Ethereum, Solana, Cardano and Polygon, as well as less typical options such as Persistence One and Conflux. The downside for Americans is that they’re not legally permitted to be customers.

Number of coins available for staking: 44

ByBit

ByBit has nearly 170 cryptocurrencies available for staking rewards, and it offers different reward structures for many of them, giving crypto owners flexibility in how they earn income. ByBit also lets users earn income on Bitcoin, and it charges no fees for staking. American traders are not legally able to open an account here, however, nor are citizens of the U.K., France, mainland China and other nations.

Number of coins available for staking: 166

Crypto.com

Crypto.com features trading in more than 380 coins by our count, and 37 of those can generate you income as part of the exchange’s Rewards+ program. It includes big names such as Ethereum, Solana, Cardano and Avalanche, and Crypto.com lets you earn on Bitcoin, too. Unfortunately for American crypto fans, however, staking is not available in the U.S. Crypto.com also offers among the lowest trading fees, especially if you can bring some trading volume.

Number of coins available for staking: 37

Kraken

With more than 200 coins available on its platform, Kraken offers quite a buffet for crypto traders, and those looking to generate income will find a sizable selection. A total of 24 cryptocurrencies will generate returns here, including the big names such as Ethereum and Solana, as well as Tezos, Cosmos and Algorand. You can also generate income from your Bitcoin position. However, American traders will not be able to participate in Kraken’s staking program.

Number of coins available for staking: 24