How To Earn Crypto Rewards

The crypto market is a lucrative industry with multiple potentials for generating profits. The most common way is direct investing. However, there are tons of other opportunities that do not involve trading tokens every time.

These methods generally include earning rewards for the contribution of tokens to lending, staking, and savings accounts. Earning crypto rewards generally comes with less risk than trading, which makes it a favorite among many investors. This guide will look at the different ways to earn crypto rewards and how investors can start earning rewards from crypto holdings today.

Top Crypto Rewards Platforms

	Name	Score	Visit	Disclaimer
	1Coinbase	8.4	Visitcoinbase.com
	2Kraken	7.6	Visitkraken.com
	3Uphold	8.4	Visituphold.com
	4Nexo	7.0	Visitnexo.com
	5Binance	9.1	Visitbinance.com

Crypto Staking Rewards

Staking is a popular way of earning crypto rewards involving contributing tokens to a pool to verify transactions on a blockchain. The method is employed by proof of stake blockchains that use staked tokens to maintain their network's security.

Validators earn rewards by running software to process transactions. However, many blockchains also enable regular token holders to earn rewards by delegating their tokens to a validator. This process is made even simpler when you stake through a centralized platform.

Staking rewards tend to come from the emission of new tokens, transaction fees, or a combination of the two. The reward rate can depend on where you stake, as platforms and validators may charge different commissions.

One of the most common risks to staking is slashing, which occurs when tokens are deducted from a stake pool as a penalty for malicious behavior on the network. PoS networks reward stakers for good behavior and resort to slashing as a penalty to ensure stakers behave appropriately.

Best Crypto Staking Rewards Platforms

We’ve analyzed and compared a range of staking platforms. Below are some of the best options in terms of rewards, accessibility, and security.

Coinbase

Coinbase is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange that offers staking services for several cryptocurrencies. Staking tokens through Coinbase is as simple as holding tokens in a wallet before choosing the desired cryptocurrency to stake. There is also a loyalty program to earn rewards on USDC. Coinbase’s attraction is its user-friendliness, strong security features, and educational resources.

Kraken

Kraken is another crypto exchange that offers staking services with high APYs and quality service. The platform stands out for being one of the oldest crypto exchanges in operation, which signifies their wealth of experience. Kraken offers both flexible staking for instant withdrawals and bonded staking for higher rewards.

Uphold

Another great option for staking crypto assets is Uphold - a crypto exchange that supports 32 cryptocurrencies for staking. Uphold makes staking easy for beginner investors and has a simple and clear fee structure. Rewards are earned weekly, and users can get up to 13% APY depending on the staked asset.

Crypto Savings Accounts

Another good way to earn crypto rewards is via savings. Crypto savings accounts are similar to regular savings accounts - you deposit crypto to earn an annual interest rate. The platform usually generates this interest by lending your crypto. However, crypto savings interest rates are often much higher than the interest rate your bank will pay on regular savings.

Opening a crypto savings account can be done easily on platforms like crypto exchanges. You can usually start saving in a couple of clicks, and the interest will be deposited into your account at regular intervals in the form of more crypto. On some platforms, you will find the savings products in the Earn section. You may be given the choice between flexible and fixed-term savings.

However, crypto savings accounts bear more risk than their traditional counterparts. Two key risks of using crypto savings accounts are the potential loss caused by a generally volatile market and the lack of insurance for crypto deposits on many platforms.

Best Crypto Savings Accounts

With big names in the crypto savings industry like BlockFi declaring bankruptcy, it’s more important than ever to select the right platform. Below, we’ve selected some of the top crypto savings accounts that have the strongest measures in place to keep your savings safe.

Nexo

Nexo is one of the most trusted platforms for crypto savings because of its positive customer reviews. The platform offers savings for more than 35 cryptocurrencies. Another reason Nexo is rated highly is its attractive interest rates, which can reach up to 16%. To access the highest rates, you’ll need to hold the NEXO token and opt for fixed-term savings. You can also earn up to 2% extra interest when you choose to receive your interest in NEXO.

Binance

Binance has the largest number of crypto tokens available for savings. The platform offers a decent yield on its savings accounts, as well as different options for its savings services, thus giving users more variety. Binance also has an automatic subscription feature that compounds savings on behalf of users. The platform is one of the most trusted available because it has certified operating licenses from trusted financial regulatory bodies.

Crypto.com

Crypto.com is another crypto savings and asset exchange platform that offer attractive interest rates on savings. The platform supports 21 cryptocurrencies and offers daily rewards that can reach up to 6.5% per annum for stablecoins. Crypto.com also pays an additional 2% per annum to members of its private club. The highest interest rates are reserved for those who opt for a 3-month fixed term and lock up enough of the CRO token.

Crypto Lending Rewards

Crypto lending is exactly what it sounds like - lending cryptocurrencies to individuals, organizations, and businesses in exchange for interest. One of the advantages of lending cryptocurrencies is the significantly higher interest, especially compared to traditional lending rates.

Borrowers deposit crypto as collateral in order to take out a crypto loan. They have to overcollateralize the loan as crypto is volatile and its price might fall. They pay back their loan with interest, which is paid to the lender as an incentive.

Borrowing and lending crypto can be done on both CeFi and DeFi platforms. CeFi lending platforms are easier to use and may provide strong security and insurance, but they require you to relinquish control of your crypto and have the potential to mismanage funds or go bankrupt. DeFi platforms are controlled by their users and operated by smart contracts, but they are a little more complex to use and may suffer from security breaches and a lack of insurance.

Many crypto lending platforms also have fewer requirements for obtaining loans, making them a popular choice for many borrowers. However, this means that crypto lending platforms generally carry more risk of defaults and missed payments, especially as no insurance laws protect the crypto industry.

Best Crypto Lending Platforms

In the table below, you’ll find some of the best crypto lending platforms available in both CeFi and DeFi.

CoinLoan

Coinlaon is a digital asset platform that doubles as a crypto exchange and a lending platform with a European Financial license. The platform stands out for having the best options when it comes to fixed-term loans. Coinloan offers attractive APY on lending accounts which reach 9.2% for fixed accounts and 6.2% for flexible accounts without a lock-in period.

Compound

Compound is a decentralized lending protocol that stands out for having no fixed term limits on loans. Users can repay loans anytime, and the platform offers a decent interest rate for borrowers. One of the key features of Compound is that it requires a significant level of know-how before it can be used appropriately.

Aave

Aave is one of the most comprehensive lending platforms in the entire decentralized finance industry. The platform offers two types of loans, regular over-collateralized crypto loans and uncollateralized flash loans. Lenders can start earning the supply APY by connecting their wallets. The rate they earn will fluctuate with changing market conditions.

Crypto Rewards Credit Cards and Debit Cards

The next method of earning interest with cryptocurrencies is via the use of crypto debit cards and crypto credit cards, which are very similar to their traditional counterparts with only a few differences.

A crypto credit card allows users to spend money from a line of credit in exchange for receiving crypto rewards. Such cards are issued by regular banking institutions, which then partner with crypto exchanges and other digital asset platforms.

When using crypto credit cards, users borrow and spend fiat, but their rewards come in cryptocurrency. A crypto debit card, on the other hand, is a card that allows users to spend their crypto holdings by converting crypto to fiat at the point of sale. Crypto debit cards also tend to provide crypto rewards in return.

Crypto credit and crypto debit cards could be useful for those who value crypto rewards over other forms of cashback and rewards, and could be a good way to build your crypto portfolio and/or avoid selling off your crypto to make purchases.

As crypto rewards cards are generally Mastercard or Visa cards, they come with the same accessibility and security features as regular cards. However, the companies that issue them don’t have the same levels of regulation and insurance as banks, so you could be at risk of loss if the issuer gets hacked or goes bankrupt.

Best Crypto Rewards Card

Here are some of the top crypto platforms that offer rewards in crypto when you use their credit card, debit card, or prepaid card.

Coinbase Debit Card

The Coinbase Card provides the opportunity to easily spend your crypto anywhere Visa cards are accepted. The accompanying app lets you choose which crypto wallet you want to pay with and manage your spending. It also provides world-class security. You can get 1% back when you choose to earn rewards in major cryptocurrencies like BTC or ETH, and as much as 4% back in other coins such as GRT or XLM.

Crypto.Com Card

Another good option for using crypto cards to earn interest is Crypto.com's prepaid Visa card, which rewards users with attractive bonuses and rewards. Crypto.com's card has one of the best reward policies. Their cards earn a 10% purchase rebate on each Expedia or Airbnb booking, a 100% rebate for the standard Spotify subscription plan, 100% for basic Netflix subscriptions, and up to 5% back on local and overseas spending. Crypto.com's card also has no minimum or maximum spending required to qualify for earning rewards.

Gemini Credit Card

One of the best crypto cards to earn rewards is Gemini's credit card which pays rewards in over 40 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. With Gemini, the crypto rewards users earn are delivered instantly without any delays. Gemini's credit card offers 3% back on dining, 2% back on groceries, and 1% back on everything else. The platform also doesn't charge exchange or foreign transaction fees for cryptocurrencies earned.

Crypto Learning Rewards

In the crypto industry, incentivizing user behavior is not a new phenomenon, so it makes sense that learn and earn crypto programs are not new. These programs involve platforms paying users some cryptocurrencies in exchange for completing educational materials on the platform.

Crypto learn and earn campaigns often involve learning about a new crypto project that wants to boost its publicity. Upon completing quizzes, users receive the token issued by that project in their platform account or private wallet.

Thanks to learning and earning crypto programs, investors gain valuable insight into the world of crypto, making them more valuable participants in the industry. Such programs are the easiest way to earn cryptocurrencies because they involve zero risk on the part of investors willing to spend their time to complete crypto learn-to-earn materials.

Best Crypto Learn Rewards Platform

Below are some of the most popular crypto platforms that regularly provide the opportunity to earn free crypto through learning.

Coinbase

Being one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world gives Coinbase the leverage to roll out comprehensive learn-to-earn programs that give us a wide understanding of the crypto market. Learning materials on Coinbase come in clear articles and high-quality animated videos. Users can earn a few dollars in crypto tokens for each project that they complete quizzes on, and Coinbase periodically adds new projects into the mix.

Binance

Binance also offers a comprehensive collection of learning materials, thus giving users a wide understanding of the goings on in the crypto industry. Before using Binance's learn-to-earn program, users must sign up for Binance Academy, which arranges their learning modules by difficulty. It’s a good idea to keep up with Binance’s blog and social media if you want to find out when a new learn-and-earn campaign is launched.

Phemex

Another great option to get crypto learn-to-earn rewards is Phemex - a centralized exchange that rewards users for completing educational materials on the platform. Phemex's educational materials include articles, videos, and quizzes. The courses tend to teach users about trading crypto and reward them with trading bonuses in the form of USD.

Other Ways of Earning Crypto Rewards

Mining

Mining involves using high-end computers to solve complex mathematical algorithms in exchange for the right to validate transaction blocks. Mining is employed by proof-of-work blockchains like Bitcoin and Litecoin. Miners are rewarded with extra tokens as a reward for their efforts.

Providing liquidity

Liquidity providers contribute tokens to a liquidity pool that crypto exchanges and platforms use to enhance trading activities. Providing liquidity involves contributing tokens in a trading currency pair, e.g., BTC/ETH. Liquidity providers are then rewarded with fees generated from trading.

Airdrops

Airdrops involve businesses and projects handing out free tokens to users for specific actions like registering on their platform. Airdrops are among the most popular ways to earn money from new cryptocurrency projects.

Crypto faucets

Crypto faucets refer to applications that reward users with small amounts of cryptocurrencies in exchange for completing CAPTCHA puzzles, watching adverts, and streaming videos. A good example is Moon Litecoin - a platform that rewards users for streaming videos.

Brave Browser

Earning crypto rewards from the Brave browser works by watching ads on the browser's ad platform in exchange for Basic Attention Tokens (BAT), which can be traded for money on a crypto exchange.

Welcome Bonuses

A welcome bonus includes extra tokens given to investors who sign up for an asset exchange. They are used to incentivize people to join exchanges and start trading cryptocurrencies. They also increase the amount of capital at an investor's disposal. Crypto exchanges like Coinbase offer welcome bonuses.

Are Crypto Rewards Taxable?

Cryptocurrency earned from mining, savings, staking, yield farming, etc., is considered income and so is subject to income tax based on the fair market value when a user receives the coins. If a user decides to sell their crypto rewards, then a Capital Gains Tax is triggered, and it is calculated by subtracting the value of when they were received from the value when they were sold. Calculating tax on crypto rewards can be difficult, especially for users who receive frequent rewards. However, the process can be simplified using tax software platforms.

Are Crypto Rewards Safe?

Crypto rewards that don’t require any money from users (such as learning rewards or crypto faucets) don’t pose any dangers. However, most other forms of crypto rewards do come with certain risks that users should be aware of before deciding whether they want to earn them. Some of the most important safety considerations are detailed below.

Lack of Insurance

One of the main risks of using money to earn crypto rewards is that most crypto businesses lack insurance coverage. Furthermore, there are no insurance laws for cryptocurrencies meaning users can lose their funds if the platform runs into trouble.

Lack of regulation

Secondly, there is no adequate regulation for the crypto industry, so many companies operate without proper oversight to stop them from acting immorally or incompetently. A good example is Sam Bankman-Fried, whose careless actions brought about the crash of the hugely-popular FTX exchange.

Lock-up periods

When earning crypto rewards through staking, savings, or lending, there may be a lock-up period for tokens involved. This lock-up period prevents users from gaining access to their funds for a certain amount of time, which could be unfortunate if there is a change in the market or the user suddenly requires their funds.

Credit Risk

Another danger of participating in crypto rewards services like lending and savings is the credit risk involved. Most crypto companies do not do as many background checks as traditional platforms, so they are more likely to run into businesses and individuals that will default on loans. This is particularly a danger for platforms that rehypothecate, ie lend out borrowers’ collateral to other borrowers, as they could be unable to pay back all lenders and savers if there is a run on the bank.

Slashing

One major risk specific to staking tokens is slashing, which involves losing some of the staked tokens as a penalty for bad behavior. This can apply to validators who fail to maintain the required amount of uptime, as well as other stakers who delegate to them. This is why it’s important to choose trustworthy validators or staking platforms, or else stake coins that don’t impose slashing penalties.

Volatility

Prices of assets in the crypto market are generally volatile, affecting the size of profits or losses an investor makes. Volatility in the crypto industry is also enough to send some platforms bankrupt.

Final thoughts

Earning money from the crypto industry doesn't have to be limited to trading cryptocurrencies on an exchange. Other methods require less risk while offering attractive rewards. Some methods of earning crypto rewards, like completing learn-to-earn programs, don't require any financial investment. When it comes to earning rewards, a few platforms, like crypto exchanges, can offer a user all types of services.

	Name	Score	Visit	Disclaimer
	1Coinbase	8.4	Visitcoinbase.com
	2Kraken	7.6	Visitkraken.com
	3Uphold	8.4	Visituphold.com

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