Seeking expert advice on staking etherium options.

[Felix Unger]

With the various Ethereum staking options, I am needing a bit of expert advice on choosing the most appropriate path. Would appreciate some dialogue with someone knowledgeable in this field. Thank you...

[RafPinto]

Advice on ASEANNOW?????????

 

I know Rob, I meet him always at his favourite bar in Pattay, he is a financial wizzard.

[mjnaus]

If you have 32 ETH to spare, running your own validator would be the most secure option. Even without the technical know-how, it's still viable path for larger holders as there are many service providers that'll configure and run your validator for you. If going down this path, choosing a trustworthy provider is important though, since if your validator goes offline, doesn't update to the latest version or does something else that hinders properly validating a block, it is your 32 ETH at stake (doing something not-quite-right can result in you loosing some of your staked ETH).

 

If running your own validator isn't your cup of thee and you're looking to lock up less then the required 32 ETH, joining a pool is the next best thing. When going this route, you've got a number of options, ranging from the large, centralized exchanges to more decentralized pools. Nobody can make this choice for you; and both have trade-offs. Keep in mind that most exchanges provide custodial staking services, meaning THEY control when you get to un-stake your ETH (even though they might claim they do not).

 

I have personally chosen NOT to let a centralized party stake ETH on my behave and went with a more decentralized pool service named Lido. Lido is a so-called "liquid" staking pool. This means that, in return for locking up your ETH, you get a token in return (sETH) which has a couple of benefits: first off, the sETH token can, at any time, be converted back into regular ETH and thereby bypassing the lock-up period (albeit at a slight loss) and the second being that sETH allows you to play in DeFi (you can LP your sETH on Curve for example, opening the doors to yield farming with an APY of around 15%). Lido is not yet fully decentralized, but they're on the right path. Another popular decentralized pool is RocketPool.

 

I guess the order of decisions you'll need to make can be summarized as such:

How much ETH am I willing to lock up?

If >= 32 ETH, looking into your own validator is good option.

If < 32 ETH, are you comfortable with a centralized exchange staking for you?

Yes: Coinbase/eToro/BInance/etc
No: Lido/Rocketpool

 

There might be more to unpack when it comes to making your decision, but the above are broad outlines of the current staking landscape. Happy to provide more info if wanted.

[mike123ca]

On 10/26/2021 at 6:03 PM, mjnaus said:

If you have 32 ETH to spare, running your own validator would be the most secure option. Even without the technical know-how, it's still viable path for larger holders as there are many service providers that'll configure and run your validator for you. If going down this path, choosing a trustworthy provider is important though, since if your validator goes offline, doesn't update to the latest version or does something else that hinders properly validating a block, it is your 32 ETH at stake (doing something not-quite-right can result in you loosing some of your staked ETH).

 

If running your own validator isn't your cup of thee and you're looking to lock up less then the required 32 ETH, joining a pool is the next best thing. When going this route, you've got a number of options, ranging from the large, centralized exchanges to more decentralized pools. Nobody can make this choice for you; and both have trade-offs. Keep in mind that most exchanges provide custodial staking services, meaning THEY control when you get to un-stake your ETH (even though they might claim they do not).

 

I have personally chosen NOT to let a centralized party stake ETH on my behave and went with a more decentralized pool service named Lido. Lido is a so-called "liquid" staking pool. This means that, in return for locking up your ETH, you get a token in return (sETH) which has a couple of benefits: first off, the sETH token can, at any time, be converted back into regular ETH and thereby bypassing the lock-up period (albeit at a slight loss) and the second being that sETH allows you to play in DeFi (you can LP your sETH on Curve for example, opening the doors to yield farming with an APY of around 15%). Lido is not yet fully decentralized, but they're on the right path. Another popular decentralized pool is RocketPool.

 

I guess the order of decisions you'll need to make can be summarized as such:

How much ETH am I willing to lock up?

If >= 32 ETH, looking into your own validator is good option.

If < 32 ETH, are you comfortable with a centralized exchange staking for you?

Yes: Coinbase/eToro/BInance/etc
No: Lido/Rocketpool

 

There might be more to unpack when it comes to making your decision, but the above are broad outlines of the current staking landscape. Happy to provide more info if wanted.

I found your above information very informative.

My apologies for hijacking the thread.

I would like to get your opinion on staking stablecoin esp. USD Coin. 

Edited January 9, 2022 by mike123ca
Grammar, spelling

[mjnaus]

20 minutes ago, mike123ca said:

I would like to get your opinion on staking stablecoin esp. USD Coin. 

I'd need to know a little more about what it is exactly that you're looking to do; and where you're looking to do it. 

 

If you're simply looking for some options on earning yield with stables, I'd recommend looking at Yearn Finance. Yearn has been around since the beginnings of DeFi and provides automated yield farming strategies; ie all you need to do is deposit your assets and the protocol automatically deploys it in such a way that your assets earn the highest possible yield (compounded as well). Their basic USDC vault generates around 5% APY. I have been using one of their EUR bases vault which has done around 14% APY to date. 

USDC wouldn't be your highest earning stable though, and if you're not locked into USDC I'd explore other options as well. Terra's USD stable (UST) has excellent rates as well (I believe around 13%), but this wouldn't be through Yearn (and setting this up will be slightly more complex). If you're looking for the easiest possible yield, Yearn would be the way to go. Their Tether vault does around 11% as well if that's something you're interested in (I wouldn't touch Tether with a ten foot pole, but to each their own). 

 

Hope that helps. If you have any more specific questions, I'd be happy to help.

[TimBKK]

Anchor Protocol?

[mjnaus]

Anchor Protocol is a DeFi protocol on Terra's blockchain, so if one was interested in earning yield on UST or other Terra stables, Anchor would be the place to do it. It's solid platform with good yields (I've been investing in Terra's ecosystem since day one).

However, the available range of options is limited. You'd have more options, and some with way better yields on Ethereum. While browsing Yearn just now, ran into a vault for EUR stables (ibEUR and sEUR) with currently returns around 40% APY.

[mjnaus]

One caveat with Ethereum I should probably touch on is gas/transaction fees which currently aren't exactly low. When entering a DeFI position on Yearn, you're looking at $200/$300 in fees (depending on the day of the week, time of the day, etc as gas prices do fluctuate). This doesn't matter a whole lot if you entering a 5/6 figure position, but if you're looking at opening a small position, this would be a problem.