By Daniel Lanyon on Monday 6 February 2023
Neo-banking challenger Revolut has made crypto a core part of its growth strategy for a number of years.
Revolut, the UK-based neo-banking challenger that claims 25 million customers worldwide, has soft-launched crypto ‘staking’ for customers in the UK and European Economic Area.
A full launch of staking will begin being rolled out this week, AltFi understands, allowing users of its app to earn income on crypto assets with the product in 'soft testing'.
The rollout of crypto at Revolut has occurred over a number of years with the company first offering trading to users in November 2017.
Since then it has become an important driver of revenues with product launches such as crypto cash back offered to premium users.
The company now offers trading in almost 100 different crypto tokens and assets as well as having the option of making purchases using crypto balances.
Revolut has also been offering free courses to its users on crypto and blockchain basics, with those who complete the programme rewarded with free crypto. Over 1 million people did the course in its first month or so in July 2022.
Staking is currently limited to the DOT, XTZ, ADA & ETH crypto assets with yields ranging from 11.65 per cent to 2.99 per cent. These are of course not guaranteed.
What is crypto staking?
Crypto staking is when the holder of a cryptocurrency in a wallet lends their assets, for a certain period of time, to help support the security and operation of a blockchain network.
In return for their support, the ‘staker’ earns rewards in the form of newly minted tokens or a portion of transaction fees. This process helps secure the network.
For example, when a cryptocurrency allows staking — and not all do - you can “stake” some of your holdings and earn a percentage-rate reward over time. Popular stackable crypto assets include Ethereum, Tezos, Cosmos, Solana, and Cardano.
Bitcoin, in contrast, doesn’t allow staking. While it is the original decentralised cryptocurrency, meaning there is no central institution in charge, it operates vial a proof-of-work consensus mechanism called ‘mining’.
Is crypto staking safe?
Cryptocurrencies that allow staking use a ‘consensus mechanism’ called Proof of Stake. This is how they ensure all transactions are verified and secured without a bank or payment processor in the middle. Your crypto, if you choose to stake it, becomes part of that process.
Staking involves risk, which is why it is rewarded with a financial return. The safety of crypto staking depends on several factors, including the security of the staking platform or wallet being used, the overall security of the blockchain network, and the risk of hacking or other malicious attacks.
21 March 2023
Daniel Lanyon