Utilizing PoS (Proof of Stake) coins in your portfolio can be a great way to make passive income. It can also be a bit of a pain if you don't have the right information. You can stake coins yourself on your own computer, but you have to run that computer 24/7. You can run a masternode yourself too, if you have a virtual server and some compiling experience. Some common PoS coins are $PIVX, $DASH, $LUX and $RDD. Other coins, like $KCS and $XLM pay a daily or weekly dividend. If this sounds easier to you, that's why I have them both as #1
Kucoin Shares and Stellar Lumens
These are the easiest, and most trusted, so this is why I have them ranked first. Kucoin is an exchange that pays anyone who holds 6 or more KCS in their account. Kucoin uses 50% of the trading fees each day to purchase $KCS to distribute to holders. Simply hold the $KCS in your account and watch the rewards pile up! Easy. Kucoin also periodically burns $KCS, making it deflationary.
If you hold Stellar Lumens, did you know that you could be making interest on them? Just download the Stellar Desktop Client and then login to your wallet and click on wallet address. Then click on inflation destination and set vote to: xlmpool.com. You will get free $XLM every Monday. No need to keep the wallet running. While this is a small payment, intended to cover inflation, it's better than nothing.
Ok, now let's move on to the top 4 staking platforms. Here is a graphic that I made, and then I will get into more detail about each platform:
So, it may look pretty cut and dry, but it is important to clarify some things. If you have a specific coin you want to stake, for instance $XP coin is only available for staking on Stake United.. So, your choices may be limited. Also, in general, having your coins in a shared masternode will pay better than just a pool, but this can vary depending on which platform you choose. Also, the transparency is still fairly limited on all of these, as it's a new thing and I suspect they want to protect themselves from liability. Some experimentation on your part may be required. They are mostly not in the United States and they do not have public faces behind them. That would be a great business if you made it, please contact me if you have capital, I want to work with you. Trust is all on you. I am in no way vouching for any of these, but here they are:
StakeCube.net
New on the scene, these guys say they are going to be the biggest and most popular staking platform, and if they can nail down the trust thing, they may be right. They have the same fees as the other guys (3%) but an additional 1% goes back to the users in the form of airdrops and a lottery. Since they are new, these systems aren't in place yet, however, they do have working faucets. You can claim $BWS, $APR, $MMO and $WAGE every day once you are verified to level 4. It's easy to get verifed, simply make a deposit.
MyNode.rocks
For straight up shared masternodes with no frills, this may seem like the other side of the coin from StakeCube, so to speak. I've seen good people vouch for them, so my trust level is high. No complaints.
StakingLab.io
There's a variety of things to like about StakingLab. They have a wide variety of coins and also a wide variety of masternode slots available, often with low limits. For instance, I got a masternode seat today for less than 3 $DEV as that is what they needed to fill it. Deposits wont be staking right away and this is a little more of a learning curve than the rest, but that also gives you more control.
Stake United
These are the big guys. With that comes good and bad. About a month ago they completed a re-design of the website. There's been a big spike in complaints, I have some myself and there are long lags on support tickets. A Discord user told me he had been waiting 3 weeks for an answer. However the general community consensus is that these are good guys. Based in Germany. Hopefully they figure things out soon, but I would not recommend them right now.
So, that's my opinion, and I am sticking too it. What's some of your experiences with these guys, or do you think I left someone out? Comment below.
Note for transparency: All of these programs have referral systems, and most of the links are ref links. More details can be found at https://CryptoNinja.co/staking