How To Stake Fantom in 2024

Not only do you help secure the Fantom network by staking FTM tokens, but you also stand a chance to earn financial rewards for your efforts. Moreover, all FTM holders can participate in Fantom staking even without becoming a validator.

In this guide, we’ll explain exactly how FTM staking works, how to stake your FTM tokens, the best platforms to stake FTM, how much rewards you can earn from staking, and much more.

Top FTM Staking Platforms

What is FTM Staking?

Staking is a method used to secure proof-of-stake (PoS) networks like Fantom by validators who lock up their tokens for a specified period. The act of staking (locking up tokens) incentivizes validators to obey the rules while protecting the network from threats like Sybil attacks.

Fantom validators lock up a minimum of 500,000 FTM tokens, so they pledge a significant part of their money to the process and must not act maliciously, or else they lose their tokens.

Besides the incentive to not lose their money, validators also earn financial rewards in the form of more FTM tokens which serves as more incentive to keep staking and thus keep securing the network.

But even without being a validator, anyone can participate in the Fantom staking process and earn rewards by delegating a minimum of 1 FTM to a validator who’s responsible for the validation process.

Staking aims to secure the Fantom network like mining does for Bitcoin. But a significant difference is that staking uses less energy, has a lower risk of hardware failure, and has a lower barrier for entry as it doesn’t require specialized hardware like mining does.

FTM Staking – Useful Terminology

• Delegation – This is where stakers select a validator who stakes their FTM tokens on their behalf.

• Validators – These are individuals who are selected to validate transactions on the Fantom blockchain network.

• Liquid Staking – Liquid staking is a solution that lets participants stake their FTM tokens while retaining access to their liquidity. When you opt for non-liquid staking, your FTM tokens are locked, and you won’t have access to them.

• Unbonding Period – This is the period when users cannot withdraw their stake. The unbonding period helps to prevent malicious actors from withdrawing their stake before the effects of their attack are noticed.

How to Stake FTM

You can stake FTM tokens in various ways, and each method differs in the requirements, staking amount, skill level, and effort required for the task. Below, we describe the main ways for staking FTM:

1. Staking FTM On A Centralized Exchange – Easy

Centralized exchanges (CEXs) are the easiest and least technical way to stake your FTM since they don’t require you to set up a private wallet, use specialized hardware, transfer tokens, or understand technical concepts. Essentially, centralized exchanges take care of the heavy lifting by handling the technical aspects of the staking process for you.

Staking FTM with a centralized exchange can be as easy as opening an account and selecting the coin to stake. This makes CEXs the most beginner- and user-friendly option for staking your Fantom tokens.

The main downside is that you’re entrusting a third party to manage your tokens, which makes it especially important to pick a secure and reliable platform.

To find out which are the best CEXs for staking FTM and how you can do this, see the ‘Where To Stake FTM’ section below.

2. Staking FTM Using The Fantom fWallet – Intermediate

FTM staking isn’t as widely supported by cryptocurrency exchanges as some other tokens. However, that won’t be a problem as Fantom provides a relatively simple solution for staking your FTM through its native Fantom fWalltet. But you will still need a centralized exchange like Binance to buy FTM tokens and fund your Fantom fWallet.

Staking with the Fantom fWallet is a slightly more technical approach than using CEXs. It requires you to open a personal wallet and transfer tokens. But even then, using the Fantom fWallet isn’t as difficult as becoming a validator or pledging 500,000 FTM, and you don’t need much technical know-how or specialized hardware.

The entire process is straightforward and takes only a few minutes as you only have to set up the wallet, fund it, and select a validator to stake with.

3. Using FTM Liquid Staking Protocols – Intermediate

There is some technicality involved in using a liquid staking protocol as they require a personal wallet, an understanding of how liquid staking works, and the ability to navigate DeFi apps. Besides these factors, staking your FTM within a liquid staking pool is straightforward. This option has the added benefit of allowing you to receive extra rewards with liquid tokens in addition to the original staking reward.

4. Becoming a Fantom Validator – Hard

Staking as a Fantom validator is the most technical approach, and it involves more work as you need to install software, get specialized hardware, and have some technical knowledge to set up a validator node.

Unlike regular FTM stakers, the validator plays a more technical role as they’re directly involved in securing the network and forging new blocks. Becoming a Fantom validator has its benefits, as you can receive the maximum reward with an extra 15% commission on delegator rewards. Despite this, most participants don’t become validators due to the cost and effort involved.

FTM Staking Options Compared

Where To Stake FTM

You can stake Fantom tokens on multiple platforms, but below are our top 3 picks when it comes to staking FTM:

1. Uphold – Best for Transparency

Uphold is an FCA-regulated platform that prides itself on simplicity and safety. The platform is very intuitive and easy to use for beginners. It is also fully reserved, never loans out customer money, and publishes its assets and liabilities in real time.

Uphold has one of the more comprehensive offerings when it comes to on-chain staking. There are 32 coins available to stake, some with very competitive APYs. Rewards are paid out weekly and users can unstake at any time but may need to wait for an unbonding period of 3 days. However, Uphold will shorten the wait if liquidity allows.

It’s worth noting that Uphold’s staking service isn’t available in the US, Canada, Singapore, or Japan.

How to stake FTM on Uphold

If you haven’t already, you’ll need to sign up to Uphold and deposit or buy some FTM. Then you can simply follow the steps below.

Step 1: Go to the Staking section

Go to the ‘More’ section in your account by clicking on the three dots on the left. Click ‘Staking’, read the information provided, and then click ‘Next’.

Step 2: Select FTM

You’ll see a list of the assets available for staking. Scroll through it or use the search bar to find FTM.

Step 3: Start staking

You will be provided with some information such as the estimated APY, rewards payout, and the preparation and unstaking periods. If you are happy with these details, click the ‘Start staking FTM’ button.

2. Binance – Best For Beginners

Binance is among the best cryptocurrency exchanges and is the leader in terms of liquidity and daily trading volume. It ranks as one of the best CEXs for staking FTM because of its ease of use, staking flexibility, low minimum stake, and competitive APR.

Staking FTM with Binance is easy because you don’t have to open a wallet, transfer tokens between platforms, or follow technical procedures. Additionally, CEXs like Binance provide robust and reliable security measures that safeguard your FTM tokens against theft or hacks.

Even when compared to other exchanges, Binance stands out with multiple advanced features and tools, hundreds of cryptocurrencies to trade, and a vast range of earning opportunities.

How to stake FTM on Binance

Follow the steps below to stake FTM on Binance:

Step 1: Create a Binance Account

If you don’t already have a Binance account, you start by signing up and verifying your identity before you can stake FTM.

Step 2: Go to the Simple Earn Page

At the top of the Binance homepage, hover over “Finance” and click “Simple Earn”.

Step 3: Search for “FTM”

On the Simple Earn page, search for the “FTM” token using the search bar provided.

Step 4: Click the “Subscribe” button

Once the “FTM” token option comes up, click on the “subscribe” button to open a window where you will complete the staking process.

Step 5: Select a “Duration” and “Amount”

A new window will pop up. Select your desired staking duration and amount, then click the “confirm” button to finish the procedure. If you don’t have any FTM to stake, you’ll need to buy some first by clicking the “Buy Now” button.

3. Stader Labs – Best FTM Liquid Staking Platform

Stader Labs is a multi-chain liquid staking protocol and one of the best options for staking FTM tokens. Over 85,000 stakers use Stader because the platform isn’t only a convenient place to stake FTM and other tokens but is also secure and reliable, has relatively low transaction fees, and provides a chance to earn additional rewards on DeFi applications with liquid staking.

Other perks of using Stader include maximum DeFi interoperability, which allows easy integration with all types of DeFi protocols. In addition, Stader minimizes the slashing risk for stakers by distributing your FTM tokens across carefully selected validators.

Once you connect a wallet to Stader, the remaining process of staking FTM tokens is quite simple, and the experience is smooth. In addition to staking FTM, Stader offers six other crypto tokens for liquid staking.

How to stake FTM on Stader Labs

Below are the steps it takes to stake FTM on Stader:

Step 1: Visit The Stader Labs Website

Go to Staderlabs.com and click on the “Fantom” network option under the “Supported Networks” section of the homepage.

Step 2: Connect your wallet to Staderlabs

Click on the “Connect Wallet” button at the bottom of the page and select a wallet containing your FTM tokens.

Step 3: Enter the amount you wish to stake

Next, enter the amount you wish to stake and click on the “Stake FTM” button at the bottom of the screen.

Step 4: Confirm your transaction in the wallet

The Final step is to confirm the transaction in the wallet you connected to Stader and you’re done.

FTM Staking Platforms Compared

How much can you make staking FTM?

How much you earn from staking FTM tokens differs based on various factors, but it mainly depends on the duration of the lock-up period. With Fantom, you earn a higher APY (Annual Percentage Yield) by locking up FTM tokens for longer periods.

At the moment, Fantom offers a base APY of 1.8% for a minimum lock-up period of 14 days and a 6% APY for 365 days. But even with a fixed APY, the amount you take home can differ based on the staking method and platform used. For example, validators receive the maximum reward with an additional 15% of delegator rewards, so they stand to earn more. Additionally, every staking platform has varying fees.

The amount of FTM you stake is also directly proportional to the reward you receive after calculating the APY. Moreover, as the value of FTM tokens fluctuates, the amount you stand to earn also fluctuates.

Interested stakers can seek to further increase their earnings by lending or restaking their rewards for more FTM tokens.

Is there a downside to staking FTM?

Although staking is relatively easy and involves less risk than trading cryptocurrencies, there are still a few downsides to watch out for:

• Malicious Validators – Despite Fantom’s strong security measures, there’s still a possibility of losing all your staked FTM funds due to malicious validators. So you must choose a validator wisely and ensure they are reputable before staking FTM to that node. Reputable validators usually have active online communities, social media accounts, and websites.

• No Access To Staked Coins – Once you stake FTM tokens, you won’t be able to trade or withdraw them until you unstake the FTM tokens first. Remember that unstaking your FTM tokens takes a 7-day unbonding period, so you can’t immediately sell them if market conditions change.

• Price Volatility – As with most tokens on the cryptocurrency market, the prices are volatile, and the same goes for FTM. At any moment, the market value of FTM can dramatically swing up or down. So you must keep this in mind when staking tokens or making any form of crypto investment.

• Security – This has always been a concern with cryptocurrency, and there’s the risk of losing your staked FTM to theft, hacks, or malfunctions from the platform you use.

Should I Stake FTM?

Whether or not you decide to stake your FTM tokens for rewards is entirely up to you. But below are a few things to consider to help you make the right decision:

• The long-term value of Fantom – Remember that the crypto market is volatile, and the value of your staked FTM tokens can fall at any moment. So as you go about staking FTM, you need to consider the tokens’ long-term value even if you’re staking for a minimum of 14 days or up to 12 months.

• Tax Implications – Because staking returns are taxable in countries like the US, you must first consider your tax obligations and what you stand to make after deducting your taxes.

• Risk Vs Rewards – As with every investment, you must consider how much you stand to make and how much you stand to lose if things don’t go as planned. For example, ask yourself if you’re prepared to make a loss if the value of FTM plunges.

• Risk tolerance – The amount of risk you can tolerate is another major factor to consider. As a rule of thumb, it’s always advisable to only stake what you can comfortably afford to lose.

• Investment goals – Everyone has different investment goals, and you must consider your own goals when staking FTM or any other token. For example, long-term holders can stake their FTM tokens to increase their holding over time by accumulating FTM. In contrast, those waiting for a chance to sell their tokens for a profit might find staking to be inconvenient.

• Experience level – Staking to earn rewards is considered a form of investment. So you must think like an investor, and have a good understanding of the market and asset you’re investing in. In this case, you must watch the Fantom ecosystem and the overall crypto market to stay informed on what’s happening and the best time to stake, unstake, buy, or sell your FTM tokens.

Final Thoughts On FTM Staking

Staking your FTM tokens can be a lucrative way of earning cryptocurrency rewards, and it comes with a relatively lesser risk than trading. The best part is you don’t have to become a validator, pledge 500,000 FTM, or understand technical aspects to stake FTM tokens. With just 1 FTM, anyone can participate in Fantom staking by simply delegating to a validator or using a Centralized Exchange (CEX).

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