Staking

At a very basic level, “staking” means locking your crypto assets in a proof-of-stake blockchain for a certain period of time. These locked assets are used to achieve consensus, which is required to secure the network and ensure the validity of every new transaction to be written to the blockchain. Those who stake their coins in a PoS blockchain are usually called “validators.” For locking their assets and providing services to the blockchain, validators are rewarded with new coins from the network.
For a blockchain to perform efficiently, validators are required to provide stable and secure services. Blockchains often enforce this by slashing a validator’s stake for dishonest or malicious behavior. To run a successful validator node, an agent needs to be committed to a selected blockchain and run a secure and continuously available infrastructure. Some blockchains have a significant lockup period (during which validators cannot retrieve their coins) as well as certain minimum thresholds for staking. To avoid dealing with all these requirements, many owners of crypto assets prefer to delegate their coins to a validator running a staking pool. Some blockchains (like Tezos) have a built-in mechanism that allows anyone who does not want to be a validator to delegate their coins to a validator on the network. This validator then performs all the work and shares the reward with their delegators.
Every PoS blockchain has a specific set of rules for its validators. These rules define the technical and financial requirements to become a validator (for example, a minimum stake size), the algorithms of selecting validators to perform an actual validating task and the principles of the reward distribution among the validators. The rewards are usually calculated based on the stake size, the actual participation in the consensus mechanisms and the total amount of coins at stake.

As of July 2020, the capitalization of the staking market is estimated at over $35Billion (for comparison, the overall crypto market cap is over $250B). The number of assets to stake has increased significantly over the last year with the growing popularity of PoS blockchains with annual rewards ranging from 5 to 150%.
With many assets and service providers to choose from, there are several things to keep in mind when deciding what and how to start staking.
Obviously, the choice of which coin to stake is paramount. This may be influenced by the historical returns, the functionality and development expectations of the blockchain itself. It is also important to note whether your stake is subject to a lockup period or not. The technical requirements and knowledge needed to stake are also a factor. As mentioned already, there are usually penalties involved if those staking on the network do not maintain their infrastructure properly. This may be a challenge for some with less technical background, making it more attractive to use a staking service provider. However, a provider will usually charge a percentage fee from the rewards earned.

Ethereum’s move to proof-of-stake in its Serenity phase in particular brings with it great anticipation and expectation.