What is ADA (Cardano)?

ADA is the native token of Cardano, and is a digital currency that can be used as a secure exchange of value anywhere in the world, without needing a third party. Each and every transaction is permanently, securely and transparently recorded on the Cardano blockchain. 

Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain platform - the first to be founded on peer-reviewed research and developed through evidence-based methods. It combines pioneering technologies to provide unparalleled security and sustainability to decentralised applications, systems and societies.

If you are looking to buy ADA, you can get some at most of the top crypto exchanges.

What is Staking?

Staking is the process of setting aside cryptocurrency that can be used to validate transactions made on the proof-of-stake blockchain. By locking your cryptocurrency, you can earn more of that cryptocurrency, as a reward for contributing to the blockchain network. To put it simply, staking is like placing money in a bank, where you leave your funds and receive interest.

Top Places to Stake ADA (Cardano)

#1. Uphold Exchange - easiest to use when staking ADA

Uphold is an extremely versatile cryptocurrency platform that allows purchase of over 125+ coins, as well as other assets such as US stocks, precious metals, and even forex. In 2022, Uphold added the ability to stake cryptocurrencies, and ADA is one of the coins offered.

Uphold is our recommended option for those that are not too familiar with cryptocurrency and the whole idea of staking. If you use some of the other staking options here, it is easy to get confused with staking pools, linking wallets, transferring ADA from one wallet to another, etc. With Uphold, all you need to do is buy ADA and then stake it from within your account. The estimated APY (annualized percentage yield) for ADA is only 4%, which isn't the highest, but is decent, considering how much hassle you save.

One downside is that staking ADA is not available in Singapore and Japan, so if you are from those countries, you will need to select another option. Another drawback is that your staked ADA may be subject to an unbounding period of usually 30 days, where you cannot withdraw, transfer or exchange your ADA. Uphold aims to manage liquidity to allow earlier withdrawing of your staked ADA before the end of the unbounding period, but it is not always possible.

#2. Binance Exchange - highest returns when staking ADA

Binance is the world's largest crypto exchange based on trading volume, and offers staking as one of its many features. Staking is easy on their platform - you do not need to select any staking pools, you just need to choose the time period you want to lock in your ADA. If you want an easy guide on how to stake ADA on Binance, click here.

Binance offers the best returns when locking in ADA. You can lock in ADA for either 30, 60, 90, or 120 days and the returns are as follows:

30 days: 2.7% APR

60 days: 3.2% APR

90 days: 4.2% APR

120 days: 5.7% APR

Note: the 120-day staking period is often sold out, so you may need to settle for the 90 day period with the lower interest rate. The 90-day APY of 4.2% is still high compared to other options for staking ADA.

If you don't already own any ADA (Cardano) coins, you can purchase it easily on Binance. For more information about Binance exchange, read our review here.

There are some downsides of using Binance to stake ADA, the first one being that you cannot choose which staking pool to use, nor can you distribute ADA tokens across multiple staking pools. Secondly, since your ADA tokens are stored on the exchange, they are not as secure as if you held them in your own personal wallet (either soft or hard wallet). Finally, your ADA is locked in, and you cannot withdraw it until the selected period has expired. There is a flexible staking option on Binance, but the returns are only 1.5% APY.

#3. Guarda Wallet - stake ADA and 14 other coins

Guarda Wallet is our best option for staking ADA using a wallet, as opposed to an exchange. Using a crypto wallet is a more secure method for staking, as you are doing so in a non-custodial way. When you use a crypto exchange like Uphold or Binance, your crypto is in their custody, and if anything happens to their exchange, you can lose all your funds. On Guarda, your staked ADA is just as safe as keeping ADA in your wallet. You maintain complete control over your tokens while staked, and you can even unstake your funds at any time.

There are 15 coins available for staking, and one of them is of course ADA. The annual yield is good, at ~5%, and you only need to stake a minimum of 10 ADA. The ability to unstake your ADA at any time is great, as it gives you more flexibility and peace of mind.

Besides staking, Guarda Wallet is an extremely secure option for storing digital assets. An impressive feature of Guarda is that you can store almost any cryptocurrency you can think of. It supports more than 50+ major blockchains, and more than 400,000+ tokens! You can download the Guarda Wallet on desktop or mobile, or even use it as an online wallet if you prefer.

Guarda is very user-friendly with its basic interface. Also, if you do not yet own any ADA, it is simple and convenient to buy it directly from Guarda. 

#4. Daedalus Wallet - most secure place to stake ADA

Daedalus is the official desktop wallet created by IOHK (Cardano's developers) and is the most secure and advanced way to stake ADA. It is available on desktop only, and after installation you can access the full copy of the Cardano blockchain, in other words, it is a full node wallet. Since you have a direct connection to the Cardano blockchain network, you won't find yourself struggling with third party network issues that could occur if you use a wallet such as Yoroi during periods of high demand.

The staking reward is 5% APY and you retain full control over your coins - they are not locked in, so you can sell them or transfer them at any time. For even higher levels of security, you can store your ADA on a hardware wallet like Ledger Nano X and connect it to Daedalus. 

A downside of using Daedalus is that you need to select your staking pool. Although this has its benefits, e.g. distributing your ADA across several pools, it can be confusing for newbies who haven't done it before. You need to look at various factors such as fees, margin, saturation, pledge and server uptime. Also, the initial set up takes a lot of storage and time because the entire blockchain needs to be downloaded. In the screenshot below, only 17% has been synced after more than half an hour, and you can see that you are unable to use Daedalus until this is complete.

#5. Yoroi Wallet - best mobile wallet for staking ADA

Yoroi is a secure wallet that is perfect for staking ADA, and is available as a mobile app (iOS & Android) or as a browser extension so you can use it on your desktop. Unlike Daedalus, Yoroi does not download the Cardano blockchain, but instead it connects to a full Cardano node hosted by Emurgo, a third party. This makes Yoroi a light wallet, with instant initial setup, and it's fast and easy to use, without heavy system requirements. Staking on ADA is more secure than on Binance because private keys are stored encrypted on your device and not shared with third-party servers. There is also added security if you prefer to store your ADA on a hardware wallet, as Yoroi connects easily with Ledger and Trezor cold wallets. 

When you stake on Yoroi, you will need to select a staking pool, similar to Daedalus wallet. You will need to check fees, margin, saturation, pledge, server uptime and APY. Most of the staking pools will reward you with approximately 5% APY. A benefit of staking on Yoroi is that your ADA coins are not locked in for a set time period, you can withdraw at any time unlike Binance. Staking rewards are paid every 5 days, as opposed to at the end of the locked period on Binance. However, you do have to wait 15-20 days after your initial staking before you start to earn rewards. 

The main downside of Yoroi, like Daedalus is that you need to select your own staking pool. While this is not a major issue, for newcomers to staking, this may be confusing. It can be difficult to know what to look for and how to decide on a pool.

#6. Exodus Wallet - best for staking several coins

If you are after a wallet that you can use to store AND stake a variety of coins, Exodus is an excellent choice. It is one of the best crypto wallets, is available for desktop and mobile, and supports over 100+ different cryptocurrencies. Exodus Wallet supports staking on 8 different cryptocurrencies: ADA, ALGO, ATOM, DAI, ONT, XTZ, VET and SOL.

Staking your ADA tokens in the Exodus wallet is safe, as you still retain total control of your funds. Your ADA is just as safe as if you were to hold it in your wallet unstaked. With Exodus, you are actually staking your Cardano address, and not the ADA tokens themselves. This means that you stake your total balance (you can't choose how much to delegate to the pool) but the upside is that you have the flexibility to continue performing your usual transactions while your ADA is staked since they are not locked in. 

The returns for staking ADA using Exodus is 4.91% APY, which is quite good. It is really simple - all you need to do is send ADA tokens to your wallet, then click 'Earn Rewards'. You don't need to select a staking pool, because you are automatically delegating to Exodus' staking API provider called Everstake. If you don't own any ADA but you have other crypto in your Exodus wallet, you can easily trade it to ADA with the click of a button, which is extremely convenient. 

One point to note when staking on Exodus is that you need to wait 20 days after staking before you will start earning rewards, and then they are paid every 5 days after that. So if you stake your ADA today, you won't see your first reward until the 25th day. It is important to remember this so you don't think that you are getting scammed and not receiving rewards.

#7. Kraken Exchange - best place to stake ADA for beginners

If you are new to cryptocurrency, you may have heard about Cardano, ADA, and staking. Maybe you haven't bought any cryptocurrency yet, but you want to find out how to stake ADA before jumping into it. If this sounds like you, Kraken is a great choice because it is one of the best crypto exchanges and is easy to use - perfect for beginners. You can buy ADA along with over 185+ other cryptocurrencies and you can stake 10 cryptocurrencies (including ADA), as well as 2 fiat currencies (USD and EUR).

Staking on Kraken is easy, with rewards of 4-6% APY, and you will start earning rewards within minutes of staking your funds. This is a huge upside over wallets like Exodus and Yoroi where you won't start earning rewards until after 20 days. Your rewards will be paid twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays at 14:00 UTC, which is better than wallets (get paid every 5 days) and Binance (at the end of the locked period). 

The downside of staking on Kraken is that your ADA tokens are held on a crypto exchange, and not in your personal wallet (either a hot wallet or cold wallet). This means that in the unlikely event that Kraken is hacked, you risk losing your funds. If you want to learn more about Kraken and its security measures, read my review here.

Is staking ADA worth it?

Yes, it is worth staking ADA if you already own it and plan to hold it for a while. You are able to earn a passive income without doing anything, with staking rewards of around 5% (or up to 8.38% on Binance). 

If you don't already own ADA, and you are trying to decide whether it is worth it to buy ADA and stake it, then that depends on your appetite for risk, and how much you are willing to risk for higher returns. Staking ADA will give you a steady 5% return, but that is in ADA tokens, not fiat currency, so if the price of ADA drops, you could lose money in the long run. If you believe in ADA as a long-term cryptocurrency, then staking is worth it, as your 5% interest is higher than any bank interest rates you can receive. 

Is staking ADA safe?

Yes, it is 100% safe to stake ADA. The actual act of staking does not put your ADA at any risk. The only risk you encounter is losing access to your funds, but that is the inherent risk of owning crypto, and nothing to do with staking in itself.

For example, if you hold your ADA on a crypto exchange, whether you stake it or not, there is a chance that the exchange is hacked and you lose your funds. 

If you hold your ADA in an external wallet, there is zero risk of losing ADA when you are staking because the tokens are still in your control - the only risk is if someone gains access to your wallet (the same risk as if you held the ADA tokens without staking).

The safest way to stake ADA is to hold them in a hardware wallet such as Ledger or Trezor, connected to a hot wallet (like Daedalus) for staking.

Is staking ADA profitable?

For a long-term investment, staking ADA is profitable, as you receive around 5% returns per year (up to 8.38% on Binance). However, if you are thinking of making a lot of money quickly by staking ADA, then it's not the thing for you. 

Where do I buy ADA?

If you don't own any ADA, you can buy it at top cryptocurrency exchanges. Some exchanges like Binance and Kraken allow staking directly on the exchange. This saves you the hassle of setting up an external wallet and transferring the ADA across before staking.

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