Crypto lending and staking are ways for crypto holders to make money on their holdings without selling. But what is the difference between the two? Is one better than the other?
A CryptoCurrency Primer
If you’re already well-versed in cryptocurrency, you can skip down to the next section. But because there is still so much confusion and misinformation, let’s define a few terms for the uninitiated.
Cryptocurrency is a virtual or digital currency. Until 2009, most of the world’s currency was what is referred to as ‘fiat money.’ At one time, currency was tied directly to physical assets like gold.
Cryptocurrency, or just Crypto, aims to avoid an institutional or governmental “middleman” by “decentralizing” money – giving the power back to the people. This decentralization can make the transfer of “value” between parties easier, reduce the costs of said transfers and also reduce potential corruption by the middlemen.
Blockchain is the technology that allows Crypto to do all this. To put it simply, blockchain is the database that proves the value of Crypto by maintaining a record of transactions in the cloud in a decentralized manner, accessible by all and alterable by none.
Bitcoin is almost synonymous with Crypto. Technically, bitcoin is just one form of virtual currency but it has become a ubiquitous term for cryptocurrency in general.