Which PoS Token Should I Stake?

We understand that the Proof of Stake (PoS) ecosystem has grown immensely and is still growing at a quick pace. There is now such a large array of network tokens that can be purchased and staked that it can be difficult to know which ones to go for.

Our team provides exhaustive financial analysis to provide support for only top-tier staking networks. We have been early participants and stakers for networks such as XTZ, ATOM, SOL, DOT, MINA... and proven to have a knack for choosing highly successful networks to stake with. Below we provide you with descriptions, links, and staking mechanics for our list of tokens that we offer staking services for to help you decide which token is best suited for your preferences!

The following content is for educational and informational purposes only and of a general nature; we make no warranties or representations, whether express or implied, and accept no responsibility, including in relation to the accuracy, completeness, nature, quality, fit for the purpose, or reliability of the content. We recommend you take independent legal, financial, tax, and/or other professional advice before making any decisions. We are not responsible for any information obtained through the links below or otherwise.

Staking Mechanics

Below is a table with the staking mechanics for each token we stake. Depending on your circumstances and/or preferences, this will help you select which tokens you would like to stake.  

Token Descriptions

Below we provide you with a quick overview of each tokens' network to help raise your interest. We provide links to their website, white papers, our staking page, and to our guides to help you further inform yourself and get started with your staking journey.

The Cosmos ecosystem, referred to as the internet of blockchains, is a decentralised network of scalable and interoperable blockchains each with an independent governance structure. With its unique feature of independent sovereignty, blockchains built on cosmos do not need to rely on underlying governance rules, simplifying and increasing the speed for fixes and upgrades. At its core, Cosmos hub is a blockchain that serves as the primary connectivity point in the ecosystem, and in the future it is going to provide shared security among all networks built in the ecosystem. Cosmos native token, ATOM, serves the purpose of paying for transaction fees, can be used to vote on proposals, and can be staked to earn block rewards and helps secure the network. The ecosystem has and is still growing quickly and grabbing a lot of attention in the crypto space.

Website: https://cosmos.network/
White paper: https://v1.cosmos.network/resources/whitepaper
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cosmos
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/cosmos
Guides: Ledger, Kepler + Ledger, ImToken

Polkadot is a layer 0, decentralised, parallelised multi-chain blockchain system with the main goals being security and building interoperability amongst networks. Interoperability is the key to blockchain usability, allowing to leverage each blockchains value amongst each other. The architecture of Polkadot consists of the main relay chain and its multiple parachains. The relay chain is responsible for governance and ensuring shared consensus amongst all parachains. Parachains are individual networks with their own use case which all share their state with the relay chain, and can communicate amongst each other to avoid relay chain congestion. Separate blockchains can also be linked to the Polkadot ecosystem via bridges. With its experimental sister chain - Kusama - developed as a testing environment network for Polkadot, as well as its use of treasury, the Polkadot network is also designed around innovation and rapid implementation.

Website: https://polkadot.network/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Polkadot
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/polkadot
Guides: Ledger, Polkadot.js + Ledger, Polkadot.js no ledger

Solana is a smart contract platform with a high-performance permissionless blockchain, solving scalability issues suitable for decentralised applications requiring high throughput. Using a Proof-of-History (PoH) consensus mechanism, Solana has the capacity to handle an impressive 710,000 transactions per second with extremely low transaction fees. PoH is similar to PoS, however it uses an element of time providing specific timestamps to blocks, improving the organisation of block validation and allowing for a quicker sequencing. Using the RUST programming language, Solana enables the creation of smart contracts which can be run in a parallel manner. Solana has experienced extraordinary growth and brand recognition and is one of the stronger cryptocurrencies in 2021.

Website: https://solana.com/
White paper: https://solana.com/solana-whitepaper.pdf
Twitter: https://twitter.com/solana
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/solana
Guides: Phantom, Solflare, Solflare + Ledger

Kusama is a more experimental version of Polkadot, allowing networks to build and test cheaper and quicker before potentially launching on Polkadot. Kusama is a decentralised parallelised multi-chain blockchain system with the main goal of building interoperability amongst networks. Interoperability is the key to blockchain usability, allowing to leverage each blockchains value amongst each other. The architecture of Kusama consists of the main relay chain and its multiple parachains. The relay chain is responsible for governance and ensuring shared consensus amongst all parachains. Parachains are individual networks with their own use case which all share their state with the relay chain, and can communicate amongst each other to avoid relay chain congestion. Separate blockchains can also be linked to the Kusama ecosystem via bridges. Even if Kusama is usually seen as a testnet for Polkadot, it merits to be considered as a standalone project.

Website: https://kusama.network/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kusamanetwork
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/kusama
Guides: Polkadot.js, Polkadot.js + Ledger

The Graph is a decentralized protocol for indexing blockchain data making information more accessible for developers to develop usable dapps for Web3. Indexing is the process of organising blockchain data into subgraphs which allows developers and dapps to find and make use of information in a much quicker manner by simply querying for it. Indexers, like P2P Validator, stake GRT tokens and run nodes in order to index subgraphs, and by doing so earn GRT token rewards. Curators use GRT tokens to signal which subgraphs they believe are the most interesting to index and will earn rewards if their subgraph becomes popular in the future. Delegators, can delegate their GRT tokens to indexers to earn a portion of the indexing rewards earned by indexers. Using this architecture, theGraph manages to create a trustless and decentralised system for organising blockchain data, with the vision of becoming the google of blockchains. GRT is a utility token, deeply involved in the Network economics on day-by-day basis.

Website: https://thegraph.com/en/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/graphprotocol
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/thegraph
Guide: Metamask

Tezos is an open-source blockchain network for peer-to-peer transactions. It serves as an decentralised application platform for deploying and executing highly secure smart contracts in a simple manner. It raised an impressive $232M during its ICO in July 2017 and managed to ride out the bear market out, reaching all time highs of $3.80 in Feb 2020. Tezos solves some of the drawbacks of Ethereum: High gas fees, disagreements on upgrades, and smart contract issues. Tezos is one of the first to run a delegated proof of stake (Dpos) consensus mechanism, where “bakers” (such as P2P Validator) secure and manage the network by validating transactions and are advocates in the governance of the chain. Unlike other blockchains, Tezos uses a self-amendment process to upgrade without the need for long winded and costly forks. New proposals are brought forwards and voted on by bakers. If enough support is given to the proposal, it is tested and executed. XTZ token holders can delegate their tokens to bakers who support their vision, creating a democratic and decentralised system for the growth of the network.

Website: https://tezos.com/
White Paper: https://wiki.tezosagora.org/whitepaper
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tezos
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/tezos
Guides: Trust Wallet, Kukai Wallet

Kava is an open sourced, cross-chain, decentralised lending platform that runs on the Cosmos blockchain. Users can use their cryptocurrencies as collateral in exchange for their stable coin, USDX. Users of the Kava platform will receive KAVA for their participation. Once a loan is returned, lenders will need to pay a “stability” fee in KAVA tokens which gets burned and reduces the overall supply of KAVA tokens. KAVA is an inflationary token but the increase in supply is distributed to stakers. Therefore, KAVA stakers could see high returns as they receive staking rewards to combat the inflationary aspect of KAVA, but also see their tokens increase in value once the Kava platform activity grows and more KAVA tokens get burned to pay for fees.

Website: https://www.kava.io/‌
‌Twitter: https://twitter.com/kava_platform‌
‌P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/kava‌
‌Guide: Keplr

Cardano is a third generation blockchain based on fundamental research with a goal to provide a highly scalable smart-contract platform for financial and social decentralised applications. Its Ouroboros PoS system ensures a highly secure and scalable way to grow sustainably and ethically - combining unique technology, mathematically-verified mechanisms, behavioural psychology and economic philosophy. Using a treasury growing from fees, Cardano manages to incentivise innovation by rewarding contributions made by their community.  Cardano seeks to fulfil cross chain bridges through KMZ side chains in order to ensure the highly valued interoperability aspect that is needed for blockchain technology to grow in usability. Cardano has already generated positive global impact with their digital identity verifications system used for Ethiopian students.

Website: https://cardano.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cardano
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/cardano
Guides: Daedalus + Ledger, Yoroi

Threshold is a decentralised secret management network where a group of nodes (workers) perform a suite of cryptography services. It allows safe data exchange without the ability for proxies to learn the plain text info. Correctness of worker behaviour is guaranteed by staking and cryptographic proofs. Additional token emission incentivizes node operators to maintain high availability infrastructure and in the case of network rules violation a portion of their holdings will be slashed.
 
Important: Minimum stake is 3M $T

Website: https://threshold.network/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheTNetwork
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/networks/threshold

IRISnet is a service infrastructure and protocol built using the Cosmos SDK and Tendermint consensus layer. The aims to be one of the first regional Cosmos network hubs outside of the Cosmos Hub. The IRIS Hub, an independent Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain, will serve as the "center" of the IRIS network that will connect the other zones within the IRIS network both to each other and to the greater Cosmos ecosystem. IRISnet's service infrastructure and modules for adjacent zones will aim to support DeFi applications.

Website: https://www.irisnet.org/
Whitepaper: https://github.com/irisnet/irisnet/blob/master/WHITEPAPER.md
Twitter: https://twitter.com/irisnetwork
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/irisnet

Crypto-collectibles have gained a lot of traction and non-fungible tokens (NFT) widespread adoption and popularity is growing quickly. Due to Ethereum scaling limitations and aggravating user experience, a new blockchain platform that could address mainstream consumer scale needs, while offering an unparalleled user experience was needed. Flow is a layer-1 blockchain built for the next generation of apps, games, and the digital assets that power them. Using Flow, users can build and own digital assets and trade them on open markets. Flow is designed for better user experience with multi-role architecture that allows the achievement of speed improvements without sharding, ensuring composability of applications. Resource oriented programming and upgradeable smart-contracts provide flexibility for developers. Flow has the potential to become the leading platform for building decentralised gaming applications and power the growth of crypto-collectible economies, already attracting some big players such as Ubisoft, La Liga, UFC, NFL, NBA, and more.

Website: https://www.onflow.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/flow_blockchain
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/flow
Guide(s): Blocto, Flow port + Ledger

Oasis protocol is a decentralised privacy-preserving platform for cloud computing that allows safe data sharing and ownership, enabling computationally complex applications. Oasis provides confidentiality at every layer of the protocol. The network is secured by proof-of-stake where the rectitude of validators responsible for consensus and nodes providing computations is provided by slashing in case of misbehaviour. At the outset, validators are incentivized by gradually decreasing emission schedule and transaction fees. Oasis native token is a staking unit with limited liquidity and low volatility serving the purpose of securing the network and incentivizing nodes to follow the protocol rules. Transaction fees are also denominated in ROSE as well as a payment for provided computations.

Website: https://oasisprotocol.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/OasisProtocol
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/oasis
Guides: Oasis official wallet

Terra protocol is a public blockchain built using the cosmos SDK with the intention to create a mass payment processing system as well as creating algorithmic stablecoins. By using a decentralized oracle, users can mint stable coins with the native token LUNA as collateral. Luna can also be used to pay for network transaction fees, participate in governance votes and be staked to secure the network and earn rewards. Arbitrators can profit from arbitraging the peg between the stablecoins, thus also helping ensure a fixed price. The Terra ecosystem is rapidly growing at the moment with new DeFI and NFT projects popping up everyday.

Website: https://www.terra.money/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/terra_money
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/terra
Wallet: Terra station + Ledger

NEAR Protocol is an open-source platform built to streamline the development and growth of decentralized applications (dapps). NEAR is designed with security and performance at the core, allowing developers to create applications which manage high-value assets including money, identity and contractual information, whilst at the same time allowing for quick and efficient access. With a focus on providing developers with a clean, user-friendly experience, NEARs approach to development is one focused around accessibility and scaling blockchain applications to accelerate the world’s transition to open, decentralized technologies. The protocol is a public, sharded, developer-friendly, proof-of-stake blockchain, making it an efficient platform due to its scalability and ease of use. NEAR is compatible with Ethereum 1.0 today providing a complete integration with Solidity contracts (without the need for rewrites). Furthermore, an ETH-NEAR bridge allows for cross-chain interoperability and communication. This provides developers with flexibility and removes the need to fully commit to just one tech stack.

Website: https://near.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nearprotocol
Whitepaper: https://near.org/papers/the-official-near-white-paper/
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/near
Guide: ​​Near Wallet

The Mina protocol is best described as the world's lightest blockchain. It has been built to maintain a constant size of 22 kb no matter how much it grows in usage. This allows any user to verify the whole protocol history since it’s genesis block without needing large amounts of storage. This is achieved by using recursive zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs), to verify that the information is valid without needing to reveal it. This constant size also allows the network to scale in terms of decentralisation since it’s much easier for anyone to run a node. The native token, MINA, is required to participate in block production. It can also be used to purchase SNARK proofs via the Snarketplace. Snapps (SNARK-powered decentralised apps), allow MINA participants to benefit from a vast array of use cases. Potential use cases include Verification of Asset Ownership and Proof of Trade. Both aim to solve current DeFI problems that users experience everyday.

Website: https://minaprotocol.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MinaProtocol
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/mina
Guides: Clorio, Auro, StakingPower

Elrond is a massively scalable, fast and secure blockchain that utilises sharding to achieve incredibly cheap and fast transactions. This is realised by using “Adaptive State Sharding'' which combines three different sharding types, State, Transactions and Network sharding. Elrond also utilises a novel approach to Proof-of-Staking called “Secure Proof of Stake”. This streamlines and optimises a lot of the computational work resulting in better network performance. The Elrond network also supports a native token, eGold, that is used to pay for transaction fees and reward stakers for securing the network. As a way to reward developers and increase network adoption, Elrond allows 30% of the smart contracts fees to be earned as royalties.

Website: https://elrond.com/
Whitepaper: https://elrond.com/assets/files/elrond-whitepaper.pdf
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElrondNetwork
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/elrond
Guides: Elrond Wallet, Maiar

Agoric is a secure JavaScript smart-contract platform that allows developers to reuse a set of trusted components to build decentralised applications (dapps). Critical smart-contract bugs result in million dollar losses for developers and users of dApps. They are still considered risky and difficult to use. Agoric simplifies building an application allowing developers to focus on it's purpose and makes interaction with contracts much safer. With the Zoe framework developed by Agoric even a buggy contract won't lead to the loss of funds put inside as they become automatically escrowed. Another well-known problem is a lack of developers in crypto. Inflow of new talents can boost the ecosystem’s growth adding to composability. JavaScript remains the most fast-growing programming language having over 10 millions developers all over the world. We believe that a composable framework built by Agoric is capable of attracting a significant portion of JavaScript developers into the space.

Website: https://agoric.com/
Whitepaper: https://agoric.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Agoric-White-Paper-v1.0-1.pdf
Twitter: https://twitter.com/agoric
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/agoric
Guide: Keplr

Agriculture sustainability and its impact on climate change is potentially one of the most important problems we need to tackle. Soil erosion and land degradation not only has an effect on farmers and the food we eat, it also branches out to water quality, the energy sector, urban infrastructure, and our landscapes - compromising the well-being of billions of people around the world. The acknowledgment of the environmental crisis is set and increasing, and consumer demand for environmentally friendly products is growing fast. Technological advancement allows us to achieve incredible results in this area if used correctly. Regen has built a platform for ecological agreements between brands and farmers and uses blockchain technology - built into the Cosmos ecosystem - to bring trust and transparency towards the verification of the data and ensures the outcome of contracts created. Sustainability and blockchain technology are inevitable and are both in its early phases. By holding and staking Regen you will be supporting their planetary regenerations efforts with the potential to see high returns if both industries grow.

Website: https://www.regen.network/
Whitepaper: https://regen-network.gitlab.io/whitepaper/WhitePaper.pdf
Twitter: https://twitter.com/regen_network
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/regen

Persistence is a DPoS layer 1 blockchain built within Cosmos, with the aim of creating an ecosystem of multi-chain dapps providing Web3 products focused on DeFi, NFTs, and PoS solutions. Persistence provides a SDK toolkit to easily build dapps connected to the main chain. Each dapp runs their own chain but are all secured within the Persistence blockchain. Not only will each dapps easily interact with each other, they will be able to take advantage of Cosmos’ IBC, allowing the transfer of tokens and information to multiple other blockchains outside Cosmos. Its native token is XPRT, a utility token used to pay for fees among the dapps in the Persistence ecosystem. These fees will be placed in a pool and redistributed to XPRT token holders who are staking. If the ecosystem attracts high demand, this could result in significant returns for early XPRT token holders. Additionally, the XPRT token also gives you the right to participate in governance, giving you a say in the direction of the network. Persistence has the backing of large and reputable institutions such as Terra, Tendermint, Interchain, Alameda research, and more.

Website: https://persistence.one/
Whitepaper: https://persistence.one/static/media/whitepaper.aa159390.pdf
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PersistenceOne
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/persistence
Guide: Keplr

Moonriver is a smart-contract parachain on Kusama and was created as a test environment for Moonbeam - a smart contract Polkadot platform. New code will be tested on Moonriver under real economic conditions first, and once proven it will move to Moonbeam. Moonbeam is a developer orientated ethereum-compatible smart contract parachain on Polkadot. This allows for Solidity (programing language used on Ethereum) based smart contracts to be deployed on the Polkadot network with little configuration required. Moonbeam bridges the Polkadot and Ethereum ecosystem, a major milestone for the interoperability goals set by Polkadot allowing both ecosystem . MOVR is a utility token for Moonriver, with its functions being: support of gas metering of the execution of smart contracts, incentivising Collators, governance, and paying transactions fees on the network. Lastly, you can stake MOVR tokens and earn staking rewards to compound your balance.

Website: https://moonbeam.network/networks/moonriver/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MoonriverNW
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/moonriver
Guide: Metamask

Marlin is a collection of open protocols built to provide the infrastructure required to run decentralised blockchains and applications. Marlin is chain agnostic and can be used by several layer-1 and layer 2 protocols to leverage the speed and scalability provided. The native network token, POND, can be used to vote on governance proposals, compensate users from the insurance fund and to secure the network via staking, allowing participants to earn rewards while doing so. The Marlin protocol leverages speed and scalability to be able to achieve web 2.0 performance in a world of decentralisation. Latencies of less than 150ms can be achieved without compromising on decentralisation.

Website: https://marlinnetwork.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarlinProtocol
Whitepaper: https://www.marlin.org/whitepaper
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/marlin
Guide: Metamask

The Vega protocol is a native Web3 derivative layer that aims to build a decentralised financial future to rival the current centralised products. Vega allows participants to trade derivatives on a purposely built blockchain while offering a comparable performance to that of a centralised system. The native VEGA token can be used to secure the network by staking, allowing participants to earn fees from trading. It can also be used to vote on the creation and closure of markets and several parameters that influence certain market behaviours. The network employs an incredibly high performance required to support all the margin calculations necessary to run a derivative trading platform. An interesting feature of the Vega protocol is that there are no gas fees on transactions, instead fees are only charged when a trade occurs.

Website: https://vega.xyz/
Whitepaper: https://vega.xyz/papers/vega-protocol-whitepaper.pdf
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vegaprotocol
P2P Staking Page: https://p2p.org/vega
Guide: Vega Wallet

About P2P Validator
P2P Validator is a world-leading non-custodial staking provider with the best industry practices and proven expertise. We provide comprehensive due-diligence of digital assets and offer only high class staking opportunities securing more than 2.5 billion of USD value at the time of the latest update.

P2P Validator is trusted by over 24,000 delegators across 25+ networks. We are a major player in all networks we support because of our experience, commitments and our reputation. We pay special attention to the process of governance. P2P has the intention to contribute and provide long term support to all networks they stake with.