How to stake Cosmos (ATOM)
Do you want to earn ATOM staking rewards by staking Cosmos? Cosmos has many different ways of earning interest and they are all relatively easy to do. We will go over 3 exchanges and 3 wallets where you can stake your ATOM and start earning interest.
Earn ATOM Staking Rewards
1. Keplr Wallet
Keplr is the recommended Cosmos wallet for desktop. Like many desktop wallets, it is installed as a browser extension and requires any Chromium-based browser to run (Chrome, Opera, Brave, etc.). It can also be paired with a Ledger hardware wallet for more safety.
- Go to https://www.keplr.app/ and install the extension for your browser.
2. Open the Keplr wallet extension and choose whether to sign in with Google, create an account just for Keplr, or use your Ledger hardware wallet if you have one. We recommend creating an account or using Ledger because you will have a recovery phrase that can be used to restore your ATOM to any other wallet that supports ATOM, whereas choosing to sign in with Google will only work for wallets that also support signing in with Google.
3. Upon successful creation/sign in, the extension will close. Reopen Keplr and you will now see your account overview. Click “Deposit” to get your ATOM address.
4. Send your ATOM to the provided address.
5. After receiving your ATOM, go back to your account overview and click “Stake”.
6. You will be provided with a list of validators to stake with. Click the manage button for each validator to possibly see their website and description.
7. After deciding on a validator to stake with, click “Delegate”.
8. The new window will allow you to set how much ATOM you wish to stake. We recommend staking nearly everything if you plan on holding your ATOM long-term. Leave at least $0.50 worth of ATOM in your wallet to pay for future fees. Be aware that staking your ATOM will lock it for 21 days. Unstaking will also take an additional 21 days if you choose to do so.
9. A transaction popup will appear allowing you to set the fee. We recommend keeping the fee on average as the cheapest fee is unreliable and there is a chance for delegation to fail. Click “Approve” when you’re ready to finalize the delegation.
10. After approving the transaction, your ATOM is now staked and you will begin earning interest!
2. Cosmostation
Cosmostation is the recommended Cosmos wallet for your mobile device. It is simple to use and like Keplr, it can be paired with a Ledger hardware wallet.
- Download Cosmostation on your mobile device’s app store (iOS and Android supported).
2. Create a new wallet. Choose “Cosmos Mainnet” in the following screen.
3. After finalizing your wallet’s creation, you will see your account overview. Send your ATOM to the provided address.
4. After receiving your ATOM, press the “Delegate” button.
5. Go to the “Top” tab and you will be provided a list of the top validators to stake with.
6. After choosing a validator, press the “Delegate” button for them.
7. The new window will allow you to set how much ATOM you wish to stake. We recommend staking nearly everything if you plan on holding your ATOM long-term. Leave at least $0.50 worth of ATOM in your wallet to pay for future fees. Be aware that staking your ATOM will lock it for 21 days. Unstaking will also take an additional 21 days if you choose to do so.
8. Continue until you get to the transaction fee. We recommend choosing “Average” to prevent the delegation from failing.
9. Press next and confirm the transaction in the final screen.
10. After approving the transaction, your ATOM is now staked and you will begin earning interest!
3. Ledger (Safest Option)
Having a Ledger hardware wallet is the absolute safest way to keep your cryptocurrencies safe. Cosmos is one of the cryptocurrencies that can be staked directly through Ledger. If you have a Ledger hardware wallet, this is the recommended method of staking it.
- Install the Cosmos app onto your Ledger hardware wallet on Ledger Live.
2. When the app finishes installing, click “Add account”.
3. Follow the on-screen prompts until the account is added successfully.
4. Go to your new Cosmos account and click the “Receive” button or click the “Receive” button on the side bar.
5. Follow the on-screen prompts until you get your Cosmos address. Send your ATOM to this address.
6. After receiving your ATOM, you will now have an “Earn rewards” button in your Cosmos account. Click this.
7. Continue through the on-screen prompts until you see a list of validators. Unfortunately, ledger’s validator list can’t be sorted easily so you’ll need to use a validator website such as https://stake.fish/en/cosmos/leaderboard/ to see which validators are the most popular. Almost all validators should provide about 10% interest per year on your ATOM.
8. After entering in the amount of ATOM you wish to stake with your chosen validator, continue and verify the transaction with your Ledger hardware device. Be aware that staking your ATOM will lock it for 21 days. Unstaking will also take an additional 21 days if you choose to do so.
9. After approving the transaction, your ATOM is now staked and you will begin earning interest!
4. Coinbase
Coinbase is famous for being one of the most beginner friendly Cryptocurrency exchange platforms. However, it does have higher fees than other exchanges. By holding Cosmos on Coinbase, you will currently receive 5% interest per year on your Cosmos.
You can buy Cosmos on Coinbase and hold or transfer it in from another wallet. You will start accruing interest immediately.
Transferring ATOM to Coinbase
Desktop:
- On the Coinbase website, click the “Send/Receive” button.
2. Click the “Receive” tab and choose Cosmos as the asset. Send your ATOM to the provided address using the provided memo ID.
3. After receiving your ATOM, you’re all done and you will start accruing interest immediately.
Mobile:
- Press the double arrow button at the bottom middle of your screen and click the Receive button.
2. Change the chosen wallet to Cosmos and send your ATOM to the provided address using the provided memo ID.
3. After receiving your ATOM, you’re all done and you will start accruing interest immediately.
5. Binance
Binance.us is another recommended exchange to buy Cosmos on. It has much lower fees than Coinbase and also boasts a higher rewards percentage for Cosmos as well. Binance.us gives 6-9% interest per year on your ATOM.
You can buy Cosmos on Binance.us and hold or transfer it in from another wallet. You will start accruing interest immediately. Rewards and distributed monthly.
Transferring ATOM to Binance.us
- Go to your wallet tab and search for ATOM. Click the ellipses and then click “Deposit”.
2. Send your ATOM to the provided address using the provided memo ID.
3. After receiving your ATOM, you’re all done and will start accruing interest immediately. Binance.us distributes its rewards monthly.
6. Kraken
Kraken is another popular cryptocurrency exchange. While it isn’t as beginner friendly as other exchanges, it is still relatively simple to use and also has one of the best support teams out of all the cryptocurrency exchanges. Kraken currently provides 7% interest per year on your ATOM.
You can buy Cosmos on Kraken and hold or transfer it in from another wallet. You will start accruing interest immediately. Kraken distributes rewards twice a week.
Transferring ATOM to Kraken:
- Go to the funding tab and click “Deposit”. Select Cosmos.
2. Click “Generate deposit address”.
3. Send your ATOM to the provided address.
4. After receiving your ATOM, go to the “Earn” tab and click “Stake”. Select Cosmos.
5. Follow the on-screen prompts and finalize your staking. You will start accruing interest immediately and rewards are distributed twice a week.
Final Thoughts
Cosmos is a great cryptocurrency to have and has many different methods to earn interest on it. The easiest option to earn interest is to just buy it on an exchange that provides interest on it and hold it in your wallet there like with Coinbase and Binance.us. The tradeoff for this is that it is the most unsafe option (although it’s still very safe) and also provides the lowest interest per year on your ATOM because the exchange takes a cut of the total interest you should be getting.
The next best option is to transfer your ATOM to a software wallet. It is much safer there and you will be provided with a recovery phrase for your ATOM that can be used to restore it on any other wallet that supports ATOM. You also benefit from getting the full amount of interest possible.
Finally, the best option is to stake directly through a Ledger hardware wallet. It has all the benefits of a software wallet but also has the most security you possibly can have for your ATOM. We definitely recommend this method if you have a Ledger hardware wallet.
Earn ATOM staking reward by staking Cosmos with Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, Keplrand, and Ledger. Visit Crypto Staking Rewards to learn how to stake crypto, earn staking rewards, cryptocurrency staking benefits, and where to find the best staking rewards.
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