Maximizing Algorand staking APR/APY and earning more $ALGO is important to any Algorand owner, but it can be difficult to determine which Algorand wallets and exchanges offer the highest staking rewards. This guide will help you determine where to stake your ALGO to maximize your earnings.
There are four main ways to earn with your $ALGO. Click on the links below to learn more.
1. Staking on Exchanges (low effort, low earn)
2. Liquid Staking with Messina.One (moderate effort, high reward)
3. Governance (moderate effort, moderate to high reward)
4. Algorand DeFi Staking (moderate effort, high reward, very high risk)
Note: New to Algorand? Start here.
Staking $ALGO on Crypto Exchanges
Earning Algorand on Crypto exchanges is the easiest way to stake and still results in a decent APR and rewards percentage. By staking on an exchange, you allow the exchange to participate in Algorand’s Governance Protocol on your behalf, but they take a sizeable chunk of the governance rewards for doing so.
Binance Algorand Staking APR/APY: 6.59%
Effort: Very Low
Binance $ALGO Rewards APR: The APR for staking on Binance Earn is 1.54% to 5.1% depending on staking duration.
Notes: Binance is the largest crypto exchange, but is less trusted than Coinbase and other U.S based exchanges. If you hold $ALGO on Binance, it may be worth exploring self-custody wallets where you can both own your crypto and earn higher Algorand APR.
Kraken Algorand Staking APR: ~4%
Effort: Very Low
Kraken $ALGO Reward APR: Kraken’s Staking APR is between 1 and 4%, paid out weekly.
Notes: Kraken is a trusted U.S crypto exchange on par with Coinbase.
Effort: Very Low
Coinbase $ALGO Rewards APR: The APR for staking on Coinbase is currently 6.52%. They estimate it to be ~5.75% annually. Rewards are paid out quarterly.
Notes: Coinbase is a trusted U.S exchange that holds customer assets 1:1, but is still not self-custody. There are ways to easily earn higher algorand wallet staking rewards, but this is not a bad option for beginners.
Liquid Staking with Messina.One
This September, Messina.one launched mALGO, a liquid staking product that accepts $ALGO and accrues governance rewards over time. This adds a liquid staking option back to Algorand, making it so that you can earn the rewards of governance while having the flexibility of using your funds in the Algorand ecosystem.
How Does Liquid Staking on Messina.one work?
The idea is that the value of $mALGO, which is initially pegged 1 to 1, will continue to increase over time as it accrues governance rewards.
You can stake your $ALGO before the start of the first staking period, which is October 14th, 2023. You can unstake your $ALGO at any time, including during governance periods, with the exchange rate being whatever the $ALGO <> $mALGO liquid pool sets. Locked tokens are automatically re-staked, making it less painful to manage and vote.
Effort: Low
mAlgo Reward APR: Not yet available, but likely to be in-line with that of governance.
Notes: Initial reward periods for mAlgo staking may be higher than expected, due to a governance period 8 boost.
Maximize $ALGO Staking Reward APR through Governance
Participating in Algorand Governance through a self custody wallet is a great way to increase rewards earnings while participating in the ecosystem, and it is not very hard to do.
Effort: Low
Algorand Governance APR: 5.6% (Governance) and 9.77% (DeFi Governance) for Period 6 in 2023. Likely to be in a similar range for Period 7.
Notes: Governance is a self-custodial process, meaning you are in complete control of your $ALGO and Algorand Wallet keys at all times.
Participating in Algorand Governance is a simple process through which you connect an Algorand Wallet and commit a minimum balance for a duration of a couple months. In order to remain eligible for the reward at the end of the quarterly period, you must maintain the committed balance of $ALGO and you must vote in all of the governance proposals within the timeframe.
Link to Sign up for Governance
How to Earn Algorand APR in Governance
To participate in Governance, you must move your algo off an exchange and onto a self-custodial hot wallet. Popular choices in the Algorand include Defly and Pera Wallet. You can follow my guide for a short primer on how to move algo off an exchange.
Participating in Algorand Governance
Once you have $ALGO in an Algorand Hot Wallet or Ledger, participating in governance is very easy. You can follow the Algorand Foundation’s official guide to governance, which is very easy to follow.
A few things you need to keep in mind for governance:
- If your wallet balance dips below your committed amount, you will be ineligible for that period’s governance rewards. Keep an eye on it! Some people recommend a separate wallet for governance to make sure this does not happen.
- You must vote in the governance session measures within the two week voting period. This is easy to do but important to keep an eye on. You can see the voting schedule here.
And that’s all! Participating in Algorand Governance takes an active action towards improving the Algorand Ecosystem. Win-win!
Algorand Staking on Cometa
Cometa is an Algorand staking platform where you can stake algorand ASAs and liquidity pool tokens for rewards. In the example above, you can stake the $COOP coin ASA for $META at a rate of ~7% APR. With Cometa staking, your algorand tokens are held in custody by the platform — though you can unstake at any time.
Cometa Algorand Farms
Cometa’s “Farms” are another way to put your liquidity pool tokens to work. Farms work similarly to staking in that they pay out apr rewards for locking up algorand tokens, but they are specific to liquidity pool pairings. Because LP pool pairings often have higher risk than regular tokens, the APR for these pools can be very high.
Coinbase Algorand Staking APR/APY: NO LONGER AVAILABLE
Update: As of March 29th, 2023; Coinbase no longer offers Algorand Staking rewards.
Why did Coinbase stop offering algorand staking?
Coinbase has not yet released an official statement, but it seems very likely that this decision is due to a recent crack down by the SEC on staking. Coinbase recently received a “Wells notice,” from the SEC, an act that often predetermines legal action. This notice included Coinbase Earn, their staking program, it states “The SEC staff told us they have identified potential violations of securities law, but little more.”1
Learn More About Algorand
Follow the @algonautblog on twitter.
Keeping up with this blog and reading other articles is a great way to learn about the ecosystem. Here are the most popular articles I’ve written.
- Algorand Explained: Without Using A Single Crypto Term
- The Ultimate Guide to Easing Into the Algorand Ecosystem
- Crypto Wallets on Algorand: Exchange, Self-Custodial and Ledger
About the Author
Nathan has been running the AlgonautBlog for the last two years. He is focused on creating guides that help people safely the Algorand ecosystem and all it has to offer. He was a product manager on the Coinbase Wallet team and a UC Berkeley Economics graduate.