Picture this. You are a believer in Ripple’s potential and so you buy a lot of native token and since you don’t want to sell in the short term, you want to consider XRP staking. At least that would give you passive income as you wait for your bags to moon even if it takes months or years.
The Ripple blockchain developers have been aggressively aiming to become the decentralized protocol that replaces the SWIFT banking system. Ripple’s offerings are a much more efficient alternative and have already been adopted by some banks in various countries. Its native cryptocurrency XRP would thus play a vital role in upgrading the global banking system. This is why some are optimistic about XRP’s future, hence why XRP staking would make sense for many holders.
XRP Staking possible?
XRP staking is not exactly possible in the traditional sense; Proof-of-stake blockchain networks such as Ethereum have staking as part of the mechanism that supports the network’s performance. The Ripple blockchain relies on the Federated Byzantine Agreement (FBA) model as its consensus mechanism. It does not require validation through staking or mining.
Ripple’s consensus mechanism has something called the Unique Node List (UNL), which are trusted validator nodes that maintain transactions at 3 to 5 second intervals. Also, there are 100 billion XRP in existence thanks to a pre-mine in the project’s early days.
Alternative Ways to Earn Interest beyond XRP staking
Although XRP staking may not be possible on the Ripple blockchain, there is an alternative that would allow you to access to passive income through XRP. There are many crypto lending facilities that allow people to lend out their cryptocurrencies. This allows the lender to earn passive income using their assets.
Most of the lending platforms where you can lend out your XRP for passive returns are crypto exchanges. However, it is worth noting that the rate of return might be different from one exchange to another. The rate of return is calculated as an annual percentage yield (APY). Here is a chart showcasing the XRP lending rates you can expect from lending your XRP on various platforms.
| Exchange | XRP lending rate |
| OKX | Up to 1% apy |
| M2 | Up to 8% APY |
| YouHolder | Up to 4% APY |
| NEXO | Up to 12% APY |
| Yield App | Up to 3% APY |
| Binance | Up to 1.16% |
| WhiteBIT | Up to 17.39% |
How does XRP staking work on Binance?
The security of your assets should be paramount. This is why we recommend that you opt for a reputable platform. For example, Binance is in the list and it happens to be one of the best crypto exchanges out there, albeit centralized. Nevertheless, it holds a track record of performance and therefore, it might be the safest option in our list.
In case you do decide to go the Binance route, you will find the staking option under the simple earn which is a sub-section of the Finance segment. Here’s a visual aid on what how to access the ability to earn passively using your XRP on Binance.
XRP staking Conclusion
Now that you know a bit about the Ripple network’s consensus mechanism, it is abundantly clear that XRP staking on the mainnet is not possible. Nevertheless, there option of XRP lending is akin to staking, allowing XRP holders to enjoy earning passive income just as they would with a staking option. Also note that this option may require a large sum of XRP token to make meaningful returns.
Also read about The Best Digital wallet companies To Consider While Accumulating Crypto
