Stake your crypto assets

In this article:

Overview

You can stake eligible crypto assets to earn rewards. When you stake, you lock up some of your crypto to help run the blockchain network. In exchange, you earn more of that 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.

Note: It's important to review the risk disclosures before staking your crypto. You can learn more about the risks of crypto staking in our Wealthsimple Crypto Product Risk Disclosure.

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:

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 on the amount you hold with a given staked asset. Depending on the asset, this is shown as an Annual Percentage Rate (APR) or an Annual Percentage Yield (APY). Generally, the rewards are paid out in the native crypto asset of the protocol, like ETH for Ethereum.

Note: The APR/APY can change at any time, and isn't guaranteed, as it depends on the network. Learn more in our Wealthsimple Crypto Product Risk Disclosure.

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 the asset articles linked under Eligible crypto assets for staking.

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. You tell us which assets to delegate from our cold storage custodial wallets. Validators take on the role of validating transactions that take place within a blockchain. We do our due diligence on our partner validators to confirm they can stay online and manage risk, so you can stake without running a validator yourself.
  • 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 staked crypto right away
    Some assets must stay staked for a minimum amount of time before you can unstake them. You can learn more about minimum staking times in the asset articles linked under Eligible crypto assets for staking.
  • 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 1, the total average price of your ETH holdings will be based on the ETH's market price that day (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.

Note: Canadian tax authorities haven't published any guidance regarding the application of sales or income taxes to staking rewards.

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:

Note: You won't be able to stake your crypto if you have a negative cash balance in your Crypto account.
  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 app
  2. Select your Crypto account
  3. Under Portfolio, choose the staked crypto
  4. Scroll down to Staking rewards and tap Manage
  5. Tap the toggle button next to Auto-staking to turn on this feature
Note: Crypto you receive from crypto swaps won't be staked automatically, even if you have auto-staking turned on. Auto-staking only applies to crypto that you buy on Wealthsimple or deposit from an external wallet.

View or manage your rewards

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

  1. Log in to the Wealthsimple 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

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