Binance US, the U.S. cryptocurrency trading platform of major crypto exchange Binance, is set to introduce staking rewards, according to recent announcement. Staking rewards will be collected when a user leaves crypto-assets in the hot wallets controlled by Binance. The new staking will be made available for Algorand (ALGO) and COSMOS (ATOM) starting this month.
Staking has been increasing in popularity and seems part of a larger mission for Binance to make crypto-assets easier to hold, and to provide a way for holders to earn returns, possibly with tax reporting handled by Binance. Ms Coley said:
Staking is just one of the many attractive ways we are bringing new people into the digital asset marketplace. We consider this another step towards achieving our goal of financial inclusion for an ever-growing pool of people.
Proof of Stake is the main consensus mechanism alternative to proof-of-work (PoW) mining. Users who stake coins, that is lock them into an address for a defined period of time, then receive rewards for that staking. The addresses/nodes with staked coins are punished if they fail to verify transactions in accordance with the consensus mechanism. Practically speaking staking is an easier way for holders of coins to participate in assisting a network to function and Binance's offering makes staking even easier.
The announcement follows the launch of a dedicated staking platform by Binanceat the end of September 2019.