3 of the Best Cryptocurrency Staking Coins for Beginners

If you are holding a Proof-of-Stake cryptocurrency, then you may be able to stake your coins to earn a safe, passive yield, generally in the range of a 5-20% APR. Sometimes this is a simple process, requiring just a few clicks to start generating a profit, whereas other times it can be a complex, risky task that is best left to the experts.

For those just getting to grips with cryptocurrency staking, it’s best to stick with beginner-friendly assets, keeping things straightforward and reducing risks to a bare minimum. Here are three of the best cryptocurrencies to begin staking with now.

Qtum (QTUM)

Qtum (pronounced Quantum) is an advanced blockchain application platform that has been kicking up quite the storm ever since it launched its mainnet in 2019. The platform takes the best parts of several other older blockchain systems and integrates them into a single combined solution that produces something that is more than the sum of its parts.

Like many newer blockchains, Qtum runs on an energy-efficient Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, but also makes use of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) through a custom-built layer known as the Abstract Account Layer (AAL) to power smart contracts. This setup is designed to be as accessible as possible to businesses and enterprises, allowing them to create and deploy their own smart contracts with whatever business logic they need.

Although Qtum is designed for enterprise adoption, the Qtum token (QTUM) is accessible to everybody and is one of the easiest assets to stake. The QTUM token has appreciated by more than 50% in the last year, which when combined with its annual staking yield of more than 6.3% (as of writing), makes QTUM one of the highest-yielding assets there is in terms of absolute capital appreciation.

Last month, Qtum enabled its offline staking upgrade, which is arguably the easiest and safest staking mechanism out there. Instead of needing to run a full node (essentially a data-heavy wallet running on a computer), QTUM holders instead delegate their assets to a Super Staker. This is completely non-custodial, eliminating any risk of loss, while reducing massively reducing the barrier to entry for QTUM staking making it perfect for beginners.

NewsCrypto Coin (NWC)

Few platforms can boast about being as beginner friendly as NewsCrypto, a platform that aims to make cryptocurrency trading more accessible and more profitable by providing an extensive range of educational resources, market insights and tools to cryptocurrency traders.

Since its launch last year, NewsCrypto has seen its popularity skyrocket thanks to the sheer variety of tools and features the product offers — which make it a must-use platform for many cryptocurrency traders. These features include NewsCrypto Academy, a free, organized cryptocurrency trading educational course that covers the basics to more advanced trading strategies.

On NewsCrypto, users will also find arguably the most extensive range of market analytics tools available anywhere, including a trading simulator, automatic arbitrage detection, sentiment analysis, and whale alert tools — plus dozens of others which can be unlocked with a NewsCrypto membership plan using NewsCrypto Coin (NWC) and other payment methods.

The NewsCrypto Coin asset is also one of the simplest to stake. Users holding NWC in an external wallet can simply head over the staking section of the NewsCrypto website, where they can select how many NWC coins they want to stake and pick a staking duration. They’ll then be able to transfer their NWC to the address provided, after which a yield of up to 30% APR will be applied.

Orion Protocol (ORN)

Orion Protocol is an open-source DeFi project that works to aggregate liquidity from multiple different liquidity providers and make it available under one decentralized platform. This essentially allows users to access the liquidity of the entire crypto market, without needing to hop across multiple exchanges, lose custody of their crypto assets, or suffer from the slippage that can come with illiquid markets.

Widely billed as one of the most promising projects of 2020, Orion Protocol (ORN) hit the market following a sell-out Dynamic Coin Offering (DYCO) launched by DAO Maker. The platform has already established numerous partnerships with other promising platforms, including AllianceBlock, Elrond, and Holochain, and developed more than a dozen revenue streams.

Image: Orion Protocol

Unlike QTUM and NewsCrypto which can be staked via wallets, ORN can only be staked by depositing tokens to either BitMax or KuCoin and heading over to the staking section. This currently offers around 39% APR, but this will likely be reduced after October 22, 2020 when a new APR is set. Technically, this is an example of pre-staking, since Orion Protocol is due to launch the full staking solution on its own platform at a later date, but it still works to generate a safe yield.