Cryptocurrency staking has exploded in recent years with the global total staked crypto reaching nearly $100 Billion, according to statistics from Staking Rewards. Staking, in simple terms, is locking your crypto in for a specified period of time and earning rewards over it.
With the global staking market expected to grow rapidly in the coming years, investors are actively looking to put their crypto to use and reap the passive income it generates. Investors today have a wide choice of Decentralized Finance(DeFi) protocols that facilitate staking on different chains(smart contract platforms). In this article, we will see the top ten smart contract platforms by staking market cap as of February 2023.
As of Feb 2, 2023, Ethereum (ETH) is the leading staking smart contract with a market cap valuation of $29.1 Billion, followed by Cardano (ADA) with a market cap of $10.5B Billion, closely behind is one of the popular exchange at $7.5 Billion market cap, according to Cardano daily statistics.
Fourth place is held by Avalanche (AVAX) with a market cap of $5.6 billion, while polygon (MATIC) ranks fifth at a market cap valuation of $4.3 billion. Polkadot (DOT) is placed sixth in the staking market cap list with a market cap of $3.8 billion and also has a reward of 14.47%, the highest among all other chains.
DOT is closely followed by Tron (TRX), Near, Algorand (ALGO), and Fantom (FTM) with a market cap of $2.6 Billion, $1.2 Billion, $1 Billion, and $791 Million respectively.
Smart contract platforms Market Cap(in Billion USD
- Ethereum – 29.1
- Cardano – 10.4
- BNB – 7.5
- Avalanche – 5.6
- Polygon – 4.3
- Polkadot – 3.8
- Tron – 2.6
- Near – 1.2
- Algorand – 1
- Fantom – 0.791
Ethereum and Cardano’s dominance
Ethereum and Cardano’s dominance over the staking market cap is clearly visible. Both smart contract platforms have a combined market cap of nearly $40 Billion. This high ranking can be attributed to both smart contracts’ extensive network development activity. For example – after the Ethereum merger, many investors have chosen to stake their ETH with the smart contract platform.
Staking is a monumental feature of the Ethereum ecosystem, which has significantly helped it reach the second position in the overall market cap among all cryptocurrencies
Cardano’s growth can be attributed to the development activities around its ecosystem, which has been very well-received by its community. Currently, over 70% of circulating ADA is staked. Last year, a report by Finbold revealed the platform added an average of around 20,000 new staking addresses over a year. Lastly, the platform also ranks highly among the top cryptocurrencies with GitHub development activity as of February 2023.