Earlier in the week, Crypto News Australia published a guide on the five most interesting NFT projects launching on the Cardano blockchain this month. Follow this article for the low down on the five most interesting projects set for launch on the Solana (SOL) blockchain this month.
SolGame
SolGame allows NFTs to be traded new or on the secondhand market.
SolGame, a win-to-earn platform and Squid Game crypto fan project, is powered by a collection of 3,333 unique NFTs. Players can collect HD NFTs and generate passive income by holding specific NFTs. The project includes ultra-rare, animated drops, and cross-platform gaming. The concept allows users to mint new or trade SolGame NFTs on the secondhand market to make up their team, and participate in the daily competition for a chance to win.
Aurory Project
Encounter NPCs and Nefties in the Aurory game universe.
Aurory ($AURY) is a P2E (play-to-earn) desktop game in which players are invited to explore a rich and diverse universe. Players can travel across two different areas and biomes, called “Antik” and “Cryptos”, where they will meet an array of “NPCs” and “Nefties”, magical creatures which can be caught or traded. $AURY token can be earned via PvE and PvP game modes and through staking, while also tradable through a traditional DEX on Aurory’s in-game marketplace.
StarLaunch
StarLaunch is the first insured IDO launchpad and incubator for SOL projects.
StarLaunch, an Initial DEX Offering (IDO) launchpad for the SOL blockchain, is set for imminent launch. The project is an incubator for blockchain projects built atop SOL, which aims to connect projects with a community of backers. StarLaunch is the first insured IDO launchpad and incubator for SOL projects, with a stated goal of connecting its “community of backers with trusted and thoroughly vetted Solana blockchain projects”.
SolCaps
Customisable SolCaps.
SolCaps is a collection of 1,616 unique and randomly created NFTs and as a project aims to gather different users from different blockchains through fashion, specifically caps with crypto designs. The project is adamant that the community making it possible must have a voice and a vote on the future of SolCaps. This means that the project will donate to NGOs and the community will decide the best cause to help.
The SolCaps NFTs will be available for minting at a price determined through a vote by the community via the project’s Discord. Each item has a unique design based on different cryptocurrencies and will be available for users to use for a profile picture on Twitter or Discord, for example.
Dessert Girls
Aime, one of the Dessert Girls available for purchase.
Consisting of 2,222 algorithmically generated NFTs, Dessert Girls is a first-generation collection with a future breeding feature that will live in the Sweet Metaverse. Owning a Dessert Girl NFT will be the starting point, with players able to buy a Dessert Boy to make a couple. Each NFT will have visible physical traits but also character traits. After minting, the project will add ‘trait-extras’, allowing for customisation on the second market.
The Sweet Metaverse will make use of $SWEET coin, which will hold utility in the metaverse as a currency. The coin will be distributed to Dessert Girls holders at the start of 2022.
ZLaunch: A Token Reward Program for Zipmex Users and Launchpad for Token Creators.
Zipmex, Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing digital assets platform, is bringing further innovations to the crypto space with the release of ZLaunch – a platform that allows Zipmex users to stake the platform’s native token, Zipmex Token (ZMT), and in return, receive token rewards from participating ZLaunch token projects.
The first token project on ZLaunch is Sydney-based company Yieldly (YLDY), the world’s first and largest DeFi (decentralised finance) protocol built on the Algorand blockchain. Yieldly currently features 3 innovative products on Algorand: No-Loss Prize Games (ALGO and NFT rewards), Multi-asset Staking Pools, and Cross-chain Bridges.
ZLaunch connects Zipmex users to new token projects where they can receive new tokens as a reward for “staking” ZMT, or as Zipmex calls it – “locking” ZMT. While ZLaunch offers users the opportunity to receive token rewards over a flexible period of time, the platform also aims to further develop the digital asset ecosystem across APAC by boosting the visibility of participating projects and helping them acquire a large initial user base in the region.
ZLaunch is a platform that will reward participants in this program and provide the opportunity to use ZMT to receive new tokens. In addition, ZLaunch enables token projects to gain exposure and grow their initial user base. We look forward to working closely with projects to help market their project and to support the progress of their token through ZLaunch
Marcus Lim, CEO and Co-Founder, Zipmex
This new product launch marks a key milestone on the ZMT Roadmap and makes Zipmex one of the first regulated digital assets platforms in Australia and Southeast Asia to launch such an innovative token reward program.
About Zipmex
Zipmex is one of Asia-Pacific’s fastest-growing digital asset platforms and enables anyone with an internet connection to invest in a growing number of digital assets with its easy, safe, and secure platform.
Zipmex offers innovative, industry-leading products to nearly 1 million clients with over US$4 billion traded to date. Its mission is to give the next billion users access to new ways of building wealth. To enable its clients to do this, Zipmex continuously launches market-leading products such as ZipLock and ZipUp in addition to its crypto trading platform.
Zipmex targets clients and investors and constantly expands its network of individual, retail, and institutional clients and partners. By educating and exciting people about the possibilities of building digital wealth, Zipmex is well-positioned to lead the crypto boom for the next generation of digital wealth builders.
In this guide we’ll take a look at how you can earn interest on your cryptocurrencies using Zipmex Australia. You can earn daily passive income on your cryptos just by storing your coins with Zipmex.
Zipmex is an established and regulated digital asset exchange where you can buy, sell, and earn interest on digital assets 24/7 in Australia. Your digital wallet is insured for up to US$100 million through a BitGo insurance policy. Read our full review on Zipmex.
Continue with KYC verification process: verify Australian mobile phone number, citizenship status, driver’s licence number, name, DOB, address and mobile phone selfie. The verification approval usually takes around 5 minutes, but in some cases may take up to 48 hours to complete
Optionally, set up your two-factor authentication. Go to Settings and click “on” and enter the code on your mobile Google authentication app
Zipmex account successfully verified
Buy or Deposit Some Coins
To stake your coins, you’ll need to either buy some or deposit some into your Zipmex account.
How to buy coins
Log in to Zipmex
Click Wallets
Click Deposit
Click AUD and enter your bank account details and click Confirm Details.
You’ll then get a deposit into your bank instantly; you need to enter that number into the box and click Verify Account.
Once completed, you will be able to deposit funds using direct bank transfer through a BSB and Account Number (the first AUD deposit may take up to 24 hours to confirm depending on whether your bank holds deposits to a new payee. After that, if your bank account is a New Payments Platform-enabled account (Osko), transfers will then be instant).
How to deposit coins
Click Wallets
Click Deposit
Select BTC (or the coin you want to deposit) and click deposit address
Send the coins to that address
Deposit BTC to Zipmex
How to Stake Your Coins
To stake your coins on Zipmex to start earning interest, you’ll first need to move your coins from the Trade Wallet to the Z Wallet free of charge between wallets to start staking.
Move coins into staking wallet
Click Wallets
Click the exchange icon between the wallets (shown below)
Enter the amount you wish to transfer and confirm
Moving funds from trading wallet into staking wallet
Choose your staking option
Click Wallets
Click Z Wallet
There are now three options:
ZipUp – flexible staking with daily interest and no lock-in period
ZipLock – fixed interest staking with 45 days lock-in period
Z-Launchpool – coming soon
Flexible earning using ZipUp
Click ZipUp
Click “Sign up” and agree to the terms
That’s it – now your assets in Z Wallet will earn daily interest
Flexible staking on your Zipmex crypto wallet
Fixed earning using ZipLock
Click ZipLock
Choose the coin to stake by enter the amount and clicking “Lock”
That’s it – now your assets in Z Wallet will earn daily interest
Fixed staking on your Zipmex crypto wallet
Daily BTC earnings using Zipmex fixed staking
Get started with Zipmex now and earn interest on your cryptos.
One of the new DeFi kids on the block has shot up over 300 percent in seven days, making it the top gainer on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) over the past week.
TRAVA.FINANCE (TRAVA) is a decentralised marketplace for cross-chain lending. What TRAVA does to stand out is that it performs blockchain data analysis to optimise pool parameters to calculate a credit score. This is done to increase profit and decrease risks for all users using the platform.
After the coin’s listing and official launch on September 14, it was initially quiet until it broke out with a 343 percent price increase, most of that movement in the past four days. The protocol currently has a US$60 million locked supply and $9.9 million value locked within the protocol.
Existing approaches provide only one or a few lending pools with their own parameters, such as borrow/supply interest rate, liquidation threshold, or a limited list of exchangeable cryptocurrencies. TRAVA offers a flexible mechanism where users can create and manage their own lending pools to start a lending business.
TRAVA also offers the credit score function based on financial data on-chain analysis as a useful tool that reduces risk.
Based on the knowledge graph, TRAVA evaluates credit scores for users. Pool owners can define minimum credit scores for pool members to reduce lending risks and offer high Loan to Value ratios for those with high credit scores to stimulate borrowing.
TRAVA allows users to use special assets such as NFT or stock tokens as collateral. Previously, these assets had to be priced through auctions, with auction winners involved in the lending contract to either earn a profit or buy the assets at a low price.
There are various opportunities for people to earn rewards for staking their coins. Check out Crypto News Australia‘s list of the top 10 crypto staking websites for that purpose and getting daily returns.
The emergence of new cryptocurrency markets (such as Stablecoins and DeFi tokens) opens new opportunities to earn interest on your cryptos by participating in something called “Crypto Staking.”
We have listed the 11 best crypto staking platforms in Australia based on a number of factors. This includes staking rates, eligible cryptocurrencies, ease-of-use and additional benefits.
What is crypto staking?
Crypto staking refers to locking up your coins or tokens in a blockchain network in order to earn a reward. This reward can be accumulated, withdrawn or traded. In that sense, staking is a method of passively earning income on top of your digital assets, much like a crypto savings account.
Staking is vital to minting new cryptocurrency and helps validate transactions on the network. This process is known as a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism and without it, many cryptocurrencies would simply stop working. Because of this, stakers can earn interest as well as ensure the long-term health of their investment and its associated blockchain.
Staking can sometimes be more profitable than crypto mining or trading, although it does come with its own unique risks, which we will cover in this article.
The pros and cons of crypto staking
Risks of staking cryptos
Pros of staking cryptos
Price volatility – the underlying crypto asset could drop significantly in dollar price
High interest returns compared to the banks
Not your keys, not your crypto – if you store your crypto with a third-party they control your crypto
Some pay interest daily
Failing projects – new DeFi coins offering high yields could collapse and leave you with nothing
Some have flexible staking, allowing you to withdraw at any time
Hacks – your custody provider could get hacked and you lose your coins
It is now possible to stake your coins using your hardware wallet
Understand the risks of staking cryptocurrencies
Bestwebsites to stake your crypto for daily returns:
Australian-based crypto exchange Swyftxlets users earn interest on some of the top crypto assets to give cryptocurrency holders passive income while they show off their diamond hands. The Swyftx Earn feature, formerly known as Staking, has over 20+ crypto assets that users can earn interest on.
They offer Earn on the most popular coins including ETH, BTC, ADA, SOL, ATOM, DOT, ALGO, KAVA and other DeFi markets.
There are no fees associated with Swyftx’s Earn feature, and the minimum spend is AU$1 with no maximum currently.
Swyftx users can earn up to 101% APY which is paid out daily. Swyftx is our top pick for earning interest on your crypto.
2. Zipmex Australia
Eligible coins
ZMT, BTC, ETH, USDC, USDT, SOL, LTC, XRP, ADA
Fees
Up to 0.2% trading fee
Rates from
6%
Earn yield on stablecoins?
Yes
Payout frequency
Daily
Zipmexis an established and regulated digital asset exchange with over 300,000 registered users across Australia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia.
You can earn daily interest on your digital assets such as BTC, ETH, LTC, USDC, USDT and more. Through ZipMex’s ZipUp+ offer, you can enjoy daily earnings of up to 7% on US dollar stablecoins and earn up to 10% on your crypto.
To earn even higher interest on your crypto holdings you can join the ZipMex ZipLock program and earn 14% interest on Zipmex Token ZMT and up to 11% interest on US stablecoins. The Zipmex ZMT token is an ERC-20 traded digital asset native to Zipmex, where users can enjoy multiple benefits such as trading fee discounts, higher interest rates on earnings, and much more.
All digital assets staked with Zipmex are insured with BitGo, which provides insurance of US$100M protection.
The Zipmex mobile app is available to download through the Google Play store and Apple store. Watch the video below on how to participate and benefit from investing with Zipmex.
3. Crypto.com Earn
Eligible coins
ETH, BTC, CRO, USDC, AVAX, 35+ More
Fees
Up to 0.3%
Rates from
Up to 12%
Earn yield on stablecoins?
Yes
Payout frequency
Weekly
Crypto.com Earnoffers an extensive number of supported tokens and coins, with 40+ cryptocurrencies and stablecoins available on their crypto staking platform.
Through Crypto.com you can earn up to 14.5% on Polkadot (DOT); 14% p.a. on stablecoins including USD Coin (USDC), Tether (USDT), Dai, TrueUSD (TUSD), Paxo Standard (PAX); 8.5% p.a. on BTC and ETH; 6% p.a. on native token CRO, and 5% on many others including Litecoin (LTC), Cardano (ADA), Binance Coin (BNB), ChainLink (LINK), and even DogeCoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB).
Calculate your earnings by visiting crypto.com and find out what interest your crypto could be making.
4. Digital Surge
Eligible coins
ETH, BTC, LINK, SOL, AVAX, MATIC, AAVE
Fees
No Fee
Rates from
Up To 23%
Earn yield on stablecoins?
No
Payout frequency
Monthly
Digital Surgerecently launched a staking feature that allows users to earn staking rewards that can be added to their crypto portfolio and crypto SMSF.
Rewards are paid out on a daily and monthly basis, with no fees charged for opting in and out of staking. The staking process is simple with Digital Surge purchase any of their eligible crypto’s which include ADA, ATOM, DOT and 6+ more. Then add the purchased asset to your earn wallet.
Digital Surge users can gain up to 23% APY on their staked crypto.
5. Binance Australia
Eligible coins
ADA, DOT, SOL, AVAX, 10+ More
Fees
0.1% trading fee
Rates from
Up to 75%
Earn yield on stablecoins?
Yes
Payout frequency
Daily
Binance Staking is dedicated to increasing user staking income offering people earn rewardsby just by having their coins held on the exchange. Binance offers a variety of ways to stake crypto.
Locked Staking: the process of holding funds in a crypto wallet to support the operations of a blockchain network.
DeFi Staking: DeFi (Decentralised Finance) is a way of providing financial services to users through smart contracts. Existing DeFi projects aim to provide higher annualised earnings for specific currencies.
The BNB Vault: As a BNB yield aggregator, BNB Vault will combine Flexible Savings, BNB DeFi Staking, and Launchpool to give you the best APY returns, up to 20%.
6. Gemini Earn
Eligible coins
ETH, DOGE, USDC, XTZ, 40+ more
Fees
No Fees
Rates from
8.05% APY
Earn yield on stablecoins?
Yes
Payout frequency
Daily
Gemini Earn is a lending program through which you may choose to lend your crypto to certain institutional borrowers and earn interest on your crypto.
On the Gemini platform, customers can view their combined trading balance and earn balance, as well as the interest they’ve earned. You can receive up to 7.4% APY on your cryptocurrency, which compounds daily against your crypto (including held stablecoins).
To earn interest on your crypto with them, just open an account and purchase any amount of cryptocurrency, then opt-in toGemini Earn program to start earning interest directly on your balance.
Unlike many staking competitors, with Gemini you can redeem and move your cryptocurrency back to your trading account (plus interest) at any time.
Watch the promo video for Gemini Earn:
7. Kraken Staking Coins
Eligible coins
ADA, ETH, ATOM, FLOW, KAVA, 10+ More
Fees
No Fees
Rates from
Up to 12% APY
Earn yield on stablecoins?
No
Payout frequency
Weekly
Kraken Staking Coins offers staking to earn money on your crypto, just buy assets to fund your Kraken account and choose from the assets that are eligible for staking.
Kraken offers a wide range of cryptos for staking with a 20% return on KAVA, 12% returns for staking DOT and KSM, and 4-7% for ETH, SOL, ADA, ATOM and XTZ. Kraken also offers small annual percentage returns for others including BTC and USD.
Visit Kraken.com to see all of the cryptocurrency coins they offer for staking, or watch the video to learn more:
8. Coinspot Staking
Eligible coins
KAVA, MATIC, DOT, 19+ More
Fees
No Fee
Rates from
Up to 78% APY
Earn yield on stablecoins?
No
Payout frequency
Daily
Coinspot is an Australian exchange that launched their staking feature in 2021. Coinspot users can currently stake 22 eligible assets, with more stakeable asset being added over time.
Some notable assets include ADA, AXS, AVAX and SOL. Coinspot’s staking feature offers up to 78% APY on certain cryptocurrencies.
Coinspot have also announced plans to transition their staking feature to Earn, to make more assets available.
9. BlockFi
Eligible coins
BTC, ETH, ADA, SOL, +25 More
Fees
No Fees
Rates from
Up to 15% APY
Earn yield on stablecoins?
No
Payout frequency
Daily
BlockFi have a BlockFi Interest Account (BIA) offers earnings of up to 7.5% APY on your cryptocurrency. BlockFi claims to be available in Australia, although we have had reports with account problems outside of the U.S.
The interest accrues daily and is paid monthly to your account as BlockFi aims to bridge the worlds of traditional finance and blockchain technology to bring financial empowerment to clients on a global scale.
10. Nexo
Eligible coins
AXS, RUNE, DOT, MATIC, 6+ More
Fees
No Fee
Rates from
Up to 36% APY
Earn yield on stablecoins?
No
Payout frequency
Daily
Nexo is a website which offers you to earn up to 12% on your idle digital assets with interest paid out daily.
Nexo offers 8% APR on top coins such as BTC, ETH, DOT, XRP, BNB, LTC, ADA, LINK and others. Holders of its native token NEXO and other stablecoins including USDT, DAI, USDX, USDC, HUSD, PAX can earn 12% APR. They have an interest calculator on their website to see how much interest you could be generating over a time period of 1 year.
With Nexo your assets are insured up to $375 million by BitGo and Ledger. They also claim to have 2 million platform users worldwide.
11 Bonus. Finder Crypto Earn
Eligible coins
TAUD
Fees
No Fee
Rates from
Up to 6% APY
Earn yield on stablecoins?
No
Payout frequency
Daily
Last but not least is one of the best Australian-based comparison websites who have just launched support for cryptocurrencies on their Finder.com.au App.
Is staking crypto safe?
Staking crypto can be safe when done on a trusted platform, but there are still a number of risks that must be considered before you start earning.
Lock-in periods
By far the most common risk factor encountered by stakers are lock-in periods. Certain platforms or networks will require tokens to be staked for a set duration before they can be withdrawn. This leaves investors unable to react to market volatility. A staked coin could plummet in price and you would be able to do nothing to mitigate your losses. Not all cryptos require a lock-up period to be staked and this is something to look out for when choosing a platform.
Illiquidity
Obscure cryptocurrencies often come with very lucrative crypto staking rewards rates – sometimes over 100% per year. However, these digital assets often have low market liquidity. It may take weeks (or longer) to convert any accrued coins into fiat or other cryptocurrencies. Earning a lot on a coin that can’t be traded is almost the same as earning nothing. Staking coins with low liquidity can also leave investors susceptible to rug pull scams.
Slashing
Slashing is a protection mechanism put in place by blockchain networks to prevent node operators (validators) from misbehaving – either intentionally or mistakenly. Node operators are responsible for organising a “pool” of staked tokens and ensuring they are running at 100% efficiency. If the validator’s node doesn’t abide by the blockchain’s rules, they will be penalised. The most extreme penalty is known as slashing. If your tokens are delegated to a validator who is slashed, there’s a chance your tokens will be completely lost.
Smart contract bugs
Staking tokens involves locking them up in a smart contract on an associated blockchain. Smart contracts are still relatively new technology and can be prone to bugs or holes. Experienced hackers or coders can occasionally exploit these bugs and steal the tokens being staked on a network.
Is staking profitable?
Staking cryptocurrency can be profitable, although not without its risks. It can be a great way to earn passive income atop otherwise idle assets. It’s an especially solid strategy for long-term investors who are unlikely to actively trade their assets regardless of market movement.
However, staking can actually result in significant losses if there’s a significant lock-up period. For example, say you were staking a token at 20% APY for a 3-month period. Ten weeks in, the market for this token crashes and it drops 50% over the next fortnight. Even though you’re passively accruing interest, you will still have incurred a substantial loss due to the lock-in period.
Mining vs staking
Mining (proof of work)
Mining was the very first technology associated with cryptocurrency and forms the foundation of how Bitcoin actually works. Mining involves high-powered computers competing to solve increasingly complex mathematical algorithms.
As mining has become more saturated, the amount of power required to solve these equations has exponentially grown. This has resulted in Proof-of-Work blockchains requiring exorbitant amounts of electricity to operate effectively. Mining has come under fire as of late due to its negative impact on the environment, and many cryptocurrencies are phasing it out.
Staking (Proof of Stake)
Proof-of-Stake is beginning to overtake mining as the primary technology of modern blockchains. Instead of solving complex math equations, validators are simply required to lock-up a certain number of tokens on a blockchain. The blockchain will then select a validator to execute the next transaction depending on how many tokens they’ve staked, among other factors. When a validator is chosen, they will receive additional cryptocurrency as a reward.
Proof-of-stake requires less electricity than mining, is far more sustainable, and its lower requirements to operate make it easier to decentralize.
Is crypto staking taxed in Australia?
Yes, crypto staking is taxed in Australia. However, unlike gains made from trading small amounts of cryptocurrency, earnings from staking are not taxed as a Capital Gains event. Instead, they are viewed as income, and will be taxed according to your income bracket.
When you stake, you will generally receive income in the form of cryptocurrency, not cash. This means you have to work the relative value of your staking rewards when it comes to tax time.
If, however, you decide to sell the new crypto you have received as rewards, this triggers a capital gains event. If the price of the crypto you earned through staking increases, then this is a capital gain. Once disposed of, this will then be added to your other sources of income to form your total assessable income and is taxed at individual tax rates.
Flexible vs locked staking
There are two different types of staking: flexible vs locked staking. Both are viable options depending on your personal investment strategy.
Flexible staking
Flexible staking involves staking your tokens without a lock-in period. Generally, you can withdraw your principal investment plus rewards at any given time. This is optimal for active traders, or those looking to mitigate risk in case of market volatility.
Locked staking
Locked staking involves putting your coins into a smart contract for a set duration. Staking platforms will often let you choose between different timeframes, such as 3 months, 6 months, or a year. In that sense, locked staking is a bit like a term deposit. The greater the locking duration, the greater the interest rate on offer. Locked staking is riskier as investors aren’t able to trade alongside the market. However, long-term holders of crypto may prefer the superior rates of locked staking.
Conclusions
Staking your crypto held with third-parties is risky and your capital is at risk as a result or not controlling your private keys. The main questions to ask yourself are: If you’re not staking and earning rewards, are you leaving money on the table? How risky is crypto staking? Can you lose your coins? How long will staking rewards last with high percentage returns?
To get started with crypto staking, all you need to do is buy and hold your coins with one of the third parties listed above. They will then add them to a service or mining pool that provides market liquidity, and in return you will earn a small interest. The realised profits you gain from staking are determined by what provider you choose, what digital asset you invest in, how much you hold, and for how long.
Electric Coin Co (ECC), the company behind the Zcash ecosystem, has hinted at moving the privacy cryptocurrency from a proof-of-work (PoW) to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.
Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox made this known in a recent blog post where he shared his opinion on why such a transition will benefit users.
Wilcox Believes PoS will Make ZEC More Valuable
Zcash (ZEC) is a privacy-focused coin that currently runs on proof-of-work as it was forked from Bitcoin. PoW involves miners who compete to solve mathematical puzzles using intensive energy for newly minted coins as a reward. However, PoS is lighter and only requires validators who deposit their coin as collateral to verify transactions and secure the network.
Wilcox argues that moving Zcash to PoS will reduce downward pressure on the crypto, given there will no longer be miners who are bound to sell their coins to recover operating costs. He says that staking would add utility to ZEC and also encourage users to eventually become long-term holders.
The plan to transition ZEC to PoS also comes amid concerns around the intensive energy usage in PoW, which the court of public opinion believes endangers the planet.
Wilcox also mentions it was easy to maintain the security of a network with PoS as offenders or violators can be published without affecting the overall network.
While there are many who prefer PoW, I believe PoS would make ZEC more valuable to more people! The benefits are great, and they far outweigh the drawbacks and risks.
Zooko Wilcox, Zcash founder
Community Remains Unconvinced
Some people, including Justin Ehrenhofer, are not in support of this. In a post on reddit, the crypto compliance analyst opined that transitioning ZEC to PoS indicates “they prioritise wealth over privacy“.
Ehrenhofer claims that 20 percent of the block rewards for the first four years were allocated to the founders. Thus, staking this massive number of coins will give them an advantage to earning new block rewards. He also notes that staking could impact the coin’s privacy.
It is not clear that shielded staking will be supported. If only transparent staking is supported, or if shielded funds must publicly share significant information to stake (which would make them more like transparent funds in effect), then Zcash will forever be largely transparent, not private.
Justin Ehrenhofer
In one of a series of tweets, Luxor CEO Nick Hansen also argued against the move, saying staking is a major centralising force:
"PoS provides a way for large numbers of Zcash holders to become Zcash users"
By staking, you're just getting compensated for the inflation in supply. This isn't a "user". This is also a *major* centralizing force.
The ECC hasn’t yet finalised on transitioning Zcash to proof-of-stake. This is more like a proposal to understand which consensus mechanism the community believes adds more value to the Zcash network. It’s left for the community to decide whether the proposal should be passed.
Whether Zcash itself changes is determined by whether the Zcash community chooses to run that software.
Zooko Wilcox
Regardless of the contradictions, there are already a good number of cryptocurrencies running on proof-of-stake. These include Tezos, Algorand, Cosmos, Cardano, and so on. The development also comes at a time when Ethereum is preparing to move to PoS.
Crypto News Australia revealed this week that a major upgrade “London“ hard fork would be activated on the blockchain on August 4, preparing the path for Ethereum 2.0, which is based on PoS.
