finbold.com
Staking in cryptocurrency is gaining popularity over its ability to offer investors benefits such as passive income. Therefore, several crypto projects are dominating this area based on the value staked in their respective networks.
As of February 2, 2023, Ethereum (ETH) ranked top among leading smart contract crypto projects by staking market cap with a valuation of $29.1 billion, followed by Cardano (ADA) at $10.4 billion, while Binance Coin (BNB) occupies the third spot at $7.5 billion, according to Cardano Daily data.
Elsewhere, Avalanche’s (AVAX) market cap ranks fourth at $5.6 billion, while Polygon (MATIC), with a valuation of $4.3 billion, occupies the fifth spot. Interestingly, Polkadot (DOT) accounts for the highest reward rate at 14.47%, with a market cap of $3.8 billion to rank sixth overall.
Other smart contract crypto projects making the top ten list based on market capitalization include Tron (TRX), NEAR protocol (NEAR), Algorand (ALGO), and Fantom (FTM).
Ethereum and Cardano’s staking dominance
It is worth noting that both Cardano and Ethereum have undergone extensive network development activity that has contributed to their high ranking. For instance, after the Merge upgrade, Ethereum investors got an opportunity to start staking their ETH.
In this line, the Ethereum community is looking forward to withdrawing their staked ETH once the Shanghai hard fork goes live. In the meantime, ETH stakers are currently simulating the withdrawal process after the Zhejiang testnet was rolled out.
Indeed, the staking feature is considered monumental for the Ethereum ecosystem that has been touted to help the second-ranked crypto by market capitalization.
Cradano’s ecosystem growth
Elsewhere, Cardano’s staked amount currently contributes to over 70% of ADA’s supply. Notably, the staking feature on Cardano has recorded significant growth in recent months. For instance, a Finbold report in October 2022 noted that the platform added about 20,000 new staking addresses on average for more than a year.
Overall, the network has been a hub of development activity that continues to be received well by the crypto community. In this line, features such as smart contracts have surpassed the milestone of over 5,000 as the blockchain moves to realize its potential to become an ‘Ethereum killer.’
Lastly, the platform also ranks second among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by GitHub development activity as of February 2023.