Overview

You can stake eligible crypto assets to earn rewards. Staking is when you offer some of your own crypto assets as collateral in order to be the one to validate transactions on a blockchain. The validator of the transaction is given more crypto as a reward. Staking rewards are a combination of the network transaction fees paid by users and the issuance of new crypto. Learn more about crypto staking.

Eligible crypto assets for staking

To stake crypto with Wealthsimple, you must own an eligible crypto asset. We offer staking for the following crypto assets:

• Solana (SOL)
• Ethereum (ETH)
• Cardano (ADA)
• Polkadot (DOT)

For more specific details on each asset, check out its unique staking reference article.

How you earn rewards while staking

Staking your crypto assets earns you a percentage of rewards, known as an Annualized Percentage Yield (APY), on the amount you hold with a given staked asset. Generally, the rewards are paid out in the native crypto asset of the protocol, like as ETH for Ethereum.

Warm-up period

Before you can earn rewards on a staked crypto asset, it must go through a warm-up period. The warm-up period varies for every crypto. 

Reward-earning period

After a crypto asset finishes its warm-up period, it'll earn its first reward. Going forward, it'll be eligible to earn rewards at the end of each reward-earning period. You can learn more about the reward-earning period for each crypto asset in their unique staking reference articles.

Cool-down period

As with staking warm-up periods, staked assets must go through a cool-down period to unstake from the network. Cool-down periods are different for every crypto. 

How staking works with Wealthsimple

Below are some things to keep in mind about crypto staking with Wealthsimple: 

• Wealthsimple uses third-party validators
  We use third-party validators to stake your crypto assets. Wealthsimple delegates your assets, as instructed by you, from our cold storage custodial wallets. Validators take on the role of validating transactions that take place within a blockchain. We perform thorough due diligence on our partner validators to ensure they have sophisticated staking operations that ensure uptime, mitigate risks, and provide seamless access to clients if they don't want to stake independently.
  
  
• Wealthsimple charges a fee
  We charge a fee for staking your crypto assets. Refer to our Crypto Fee Schedule to learn more.
  
  
• You can't sell or withdraw your staked crypto
  You must stake some assets for a minimum amount of time before you can unstake them. You can learn more about minimum staking times in each asset’s unique staking reference article.
  
  
• Your crypto holdings may fluctuate
  The average price of your crypto holdings may fluctuate depending on the historic values of the rewards and when these rewards are paid out. For example, if you stake a portion of your ETH on January 1st, the total average price of your ETH holdings will be based on the ETH's market price on January 1st (rather than the average of the previous day's market price).  

Tax considerations

The value of staking rewards is taxable and may be considered income. Additionally, selling staking rewards can have income and capital gain or loss implications.

If you have tax-related questions, we encourage you to consult a qualified tax professional regarding your personal tax situation and the tax implications of using the Staking Functionality.

Set up crypto staking with Wealthsimple

To set up crypto staking with Wealthsimple, you must own an eligible crypto asset for staking. Follow these steps to stake a crypto asset:

1. Log in to the Wealthsimple app
2. Tap your Crypto account
3. Choose the eligible crypto you wish to stake
4. Scroll down to Staking rewards
5. Tap the arrow
6. Read through the information provided and tap I understand
7. Choose the amount you'd like to stake
8. Tap Continue
9. Review your staking information and tap Confirm

Automatically stake your future crypto purchases

You can turn on the option to automatically stake future crypto purchases of the same asset. To turn on auto-staking, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the Wealthsimple mobile app
2. Select your Crypto account
3. Under Portfolio, choose the staked crypto
4. Scroll down to Staking rewards and tap Manage to view or manage your rewards
5. Tap the toggle button next to Auto-staking to turn on this feature

View or manage your rewards

Follow these steps to view or manage your crypto staking rewards:

1. Log in to the Wealthsimple mobile app
2. Tap your Crypto account
3. Under Portfolio, choose the staked crypto
4. Scroll down to Staking rewards and tap Manage to view or manage your rewards

Related articles

• Understand your crypto staking yields
• Unstake your crypto