TL;DR

Binance offers one of the best investment platforms with Binance Earn. Users can use multiple staking tools to help grow their crypto, including Binance locked and flexible staking, Binance DeFi staking, Binance ETH 2.0 Staking, Binance Savings, Binance Launchpool, and Binance Liquid Swap.

Binance supports 182 staking coins with flexible terms and locked terms ranging from 5 to 120 days. Interest is compounded (APY), and multiple potential APY of more than 100% are on offer on selected coins.

Binance has taken the complexity out of staking and has made it accessible to the masses, with an easy-to-use platform on both the desktop and mobile versions of Binance Earn.

Pros

Multiple staking options with an extensive amount of coins
Exposure to new coins with Binance Launchpool
Extremely user-friendly platform and equally so on the Binance mobile app
A chance to stake on the upcoming ETH 2.0 network

Cons

Crypto isn't secured by Binance if using DeFi staking

Types of staking on Binance

Let’s start with the basics. What is staking? The simplest way to put it; staking is a way to earn rewards on your crypto by locking it into an exchange for a certain period. It’s similar to how some traditional banks pay you interest for storing your fiat currency with them. The rewards are in the form of more crypto and lock-in periods vary per exchange. Some can have no lock-in period; others can be for 14, 30, or 90 days. There’s no set mould.

Exchanges want you to stake because it means that more crypto is stored on its platform, which means that the exchange can execute trades for other traders faster and cheaper, which ultimately attracts more users and traffic. It adds liquidity to an exchange.

Binance has one of, if not the best, staking platforms on the market, and it’s called Binance Earn. You can think of Binance Earn as a conglomerate; it has a combination of products under the same umbrella, all operating differently but providing multiple ways of staking to ultimately make your crypto grow. It gets confusing if you look at it holistically, but we’ve summed up all of these products to understand and explain each one better.

Binance Locked Staking – Low Entry, High Yield

Locked staking is the most basic form of staking, the staking world’s bread, and butter. It involves holding your crypto in a wallet on the exchange, which is used to support the operation of a blockchain network. Binance offers 110 coins for locked staking, and lock-in periods vary from 10 days to 120 days. Generally, the longer you commit to your coin being locked in, the higher the interest potential will be. Interest is distributed daily in an annual percentage yield (APY), meaning your interest is compounded over time.

Some high-yielding lesser-known coins include Axie Infinity (AXS), with an estimated APY of 120.69% if you lock it in for 90 days, and Biswap (BSW), with an estimated APY of 100.23% with a lock-up period of 90 days. A higher market cap coin like SHIB can also be staked, with 10, 30, 60, 90, and 120 days available and APY varying between 10.12% and 12.09%.

It’s important to note here that staking has its risks. Cryptocurrency is very volatile, and if your staked coins suffer a significant drop while they’re locked in, the loss of value can outweigh the interest you’ve gained on them. This probably won’t matter if you’re holding and storing crypto for the long term, as prices fluctuate anyway. But, if you have a day trading strategy and want to capitalise on market fluctuations, this will affect your strategy. 

Binance Locked Staking example
Binance Locked Staking example. Source: Binance.com

Binance DeFi Staking – High Yield, Equally High Risk

DeFi, or decentralised finance, is an anonymous group of systems that lets users participate in financial transactions through smart contracts, without interference from a third-party broker or governing body, in other words, a bank. Binance DeFi Staking lets you stake DeFi projects by basically stepping in as that third-party service and makes these DeFi products more readily available. Some reading this will be thinking, “is it really DeFi then?”. It technically still is; Binance just provides the tools to make it more accessible.

DeFi staking involves managing private keys, acquiring resources, and making trades, among other complicated tasks. Binance does all of this for you and offers the best DeFi staking projects like BTC, ETH, and BUSD. The main difference between Binance DeFi Staking and Locked Staking is the security risks involved. Binance explicitly warns that they are not responsible for any losses incurred due to on-chain security issues when DeFi staking. Binance simply provides the tools to make DeFi staking more accessible and will not compensate users for any losses.

Binance DeFi Staking gives you access to 13 assets, most with flexible locking and a couple with 120 days lock periods. You can stake BUSD with a flexible lock-in period and an estimated APY of 3.21% or a 120 lock-up period with an estimated APY of 13.33%. This is a perfect example of how lucrative locked staking can be, but again, with high risk as the asset is susceptible to price drops and security issues without protection from Binance.

Binance DeFi Staking options
Binance DeFi Staking options. Source: Binance.com

Binance ETH 2.0 Staking – Less Risk, High Yield

ETH 2.0 is the next upgrade to the Ethereum network that will improve the network’s speed, sustainability, scalability, and efficiency without compromising on security and decentralisation. It will be rolled out in three phases, and Binance offers the chance to get in early and stake in ETH 2.0.

Binance lets you stake your ETH on the Binance blockchain and converts it into BETH (Binance Ethereum), which can be swapped with ETH on a 1:1 basis on the ETH 2.0 network when the first phase is complete. There’s a catch, however; you can earn up to 5.20% APY and rewards will be paid out daily, but you will only be able to get your initial ETH back after the first phase of ETH 2.0 rollout is complete, which will be in about two years.

Eth 2.0 Staking process
Eth 2.0 Staking process. Source: Binance.com

Binance Savings – Flexible Transfer, Stable Earnings, Zero Fees

Binance has a way to earn rewards on your crypto with considerably less risk than all of the other staking tools. Binance Savings is a crypto savings account that lets you store your crypto and earn interest on them, much like staking. The only difference is that staking rewards are generated from validating transactions on a blockchain, whereas savings are locked into the exchange, and Binance issues the rewards.

Binance Savings comes with two options: flexible and locked savings. As the name suggests, flexible savings lets you earn interest on certain crypto if you store it in your savings account, with the option to withdraw your crypto at any point. The interest is paid out daily, and every coin has different minimum deposit requirements. Binance offers 182 flexible savings products. Most flexible savings products have estimated APYs of between 0% – 5%, with a handful offering more, like AXS and WAVES at 20% and CAKE at 12%.

The locked savings feature lets you earn higher rewards by storing your crypto for a fixed period. Like locked staking, you can withdraw your locked savings at any time, but you will lose all of the interest accrued up until that point. Interest will only be paid out at the end of the agreed fixed term. Binance offers 14 locked savings products with fixed terms ranging from 7 days to 90 days. Some coins include AXS with a 70% APY if you lock it in for 15 days and USDT with a 9% APY if you lock it in for 60 days.

Binance Launchpool – Simple, Secure, and Access to the Latest Tokens

Binance Launchpool, also known as DeFi yield farming, is an excellent way to gain exposure to new tokens. Launchpool staking gives rewards in the form of new tokens instead of the crypto staked. Users are given the option to stake certain coins, each with different lock-up periods and APY.

So, for example, the current launchpool is Project Galaxy (GAL), and users can stake either BUSD, CAKE, or BNB. CAKE has a lock-up, or farming, period of 30 days with an APY of 13.81%. The APY will be in the form of GAL and can be claimed hourly. Similarly, with the other staking products, you will lose all rewards if you redeem staking coins before the 30 days are up.

Binance Launchpool
Binance Launchpool. Source: Binance.com

Binance Liquid Swap – Double Rewards: Low Trading Fees with Interest

Binance liquid swap lets users trade tokens from liquidity pools instantly and, in return, earn rewards in the form of BNB, GMT, or BSW. Users can add funds, i.e., liquidity, to a liquidity pool and earn rewards in the form of lower fees and more crypto. It is a decentralised exchange and yield farming application built on the Binance centralised exchange. It uses AMM (Automated Market Maker), which cuts out the other trader, and a smart contract fills the trade for you.

The benefit of using liquid swap is that traders can pay less trading fees because the liquidity pool they put their coins into makes it possible for other traders to swap with and vice versa. It allows anyone to become a liquidity provider without needing complex DeFi wallets or paying hefty blockchain fees.

Binance currently has 97 liquidity pools to choose from, each with at least $1 million in liquidity, with the biggest pool containing more than $300 million in crypto assets. Binance Liquid Swap is the only DeFi platform that offers BNB rewards.

Binance Liquid Swap
Binance Liquid Swap. Source: Binance.com

Staking Management

If you navigate to Wallet on the top right of your screen and select Overview, you can manage your staking functions from one screen. Find the Earn page on the navigation panel on the left of the screen, and you can access a central dashboard. With the complexity and the amount of staking options available, Binance has made it easy to manage and switch between the different products.

Binance Earn dashboard
Binance Earn dashboard. Source: Binance.com

Staking on the app

It’s rare to find a mobile app as well-equipped as a desktop platform. Binance has every staking product you can find under the Binance Earn umbrella on the desktop platform, accessible on the mobile app, and with ease, we may add. You’ll need to switch to the Binance Pro UI first, which can be found in settings, and then just head over to the Earn icon from the app’s home screen, and you’ll be able to select the staking option you want. Staking on the go made simple.

Binance Earn available on the mobile app
Binance Earn is available on the mobile app. Source: Binance.com

Conclusion

Staking is an excellent way to earn rewards and interest on your idle crypto. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more attractive staking option with Binance. Binance Earn gives you multiple entry points into the staking realm, and the rewards can be highly lucrative if you know what you’re doing. Rewards are attractive, with compounded interest, and the daily interest payouts make it even better.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. We love a good stablecoin. It’s a less volatile coin than traditional crypto as it’s pegged to a fiat currency. You can find most of them through the DeFi Staking option, and the stablecoins include BUSD, USDT, USDC, and DAI, among others. 

This purely comes down to the user’s choice and strategy. Binance offers locked and flexible staking options, ranging from 5 days to 120 days. The locked staking options offer higher rewards but always remember, with higher reward comes higher risk.

Rewards vary depending on the coin, flexibility of the staking contract, and the product. The highest we found on Binance was AXS, with an estimated APY of 120.69% if locked in for 90 days. You can also earn rewards in the form of different coins using Binance Launchpool.

Reward times are different depending on the staking product you use and the staking option. Most rewards are issued daily. With Binance Launchpool, rewards are calculated on the hour, and users can claim them at any time. 

With its sheer volume of coins available to stake, you will struggle to find a more attractive staking offering. The APY earning potential on top of that, with the number of different staking options and tools at hand, the whole Binance Earn package is one of the most attractive options on the market.

Binance has 182 coins available to stake depending on which product you use, with more coins constantly being added. Users have access to some of the largest coins by market cap, including BTC and ETH. Binance also has many altcoins, some we haven’t even heard of before. The list is extensive but includes coins like ACA, PNT, and PORTO.

The biggest thing that makes Binance staking so appealing is that Binance has developed its staking features well enough so that even a trader that hasn’t participated in staking before can get involved with a couple of clicks. It’s a complex process, but Binance does all the work behind the scenes. You just need to provide the crypto.

The fundamental difference is that staking is locked directly on the blockchain, and rewards come from validating transactions and creating blocks. With savings, the coins are locked in on the Binance exchange, and Binance uses your crypto to generate the rewards. Both options offer locked and flexible staking, and the rewards are similar; it’s up to you which option you want to choose.