Staking and Savings on KuCoin - Everything You Need to Know

KuCoin’s numerous trading tools and features provide ample opportunity to earn passive revenue. The tools this guide explores and explains include KuCoin Earn, the Rewards Hub, the Bonus Plan, Crypto Lending, Cloud Mining, and Trading Bots.

We also explain how you can stake crypto on KuCoin, and clarify the important technical terms you need to know to benefit from using its services.

First, we’re going to explore how you can earn passive revenue from staking crypto through KuCoin Earn.

KuCoin Earn

But before we dive too deep into KuCoin's staking services, let’s quickly recap what staking is and how it works.

Staking Cryptocurrencies

KuCoin Earn: Staking

KuCoin, like many other exchanges, lets you stake dozens of cryptocurrencies from a single account. This is much easier for new crypto users who would inevitably struggle to stake multiple cryptos one by one using different wallets.

You can stake some cryptos for a fixed term, which allows you to earn a higher percentage return than you would from soft staking. Other cryptos can be staked with a flexible agreement, which allows you to stake and unstake your funds whenever you choose.

KuCoin occasionally offers promotional staking rates which are higher than the standard fixed and flexible rates. However, they are only available for a set time and to a limited number of users.

How to Stake Crypto on KuCoin

Staking crypto on KuCoin is a quick and effortless process, and can be done from your phone or web browser. However, keep in mind that staking Ethereum or Polkadot is a bit more complicated than staking other cryptos, and we explain how to do so in the following two sections.

To stake a cryptocurrency or token on KuCoin, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your KuCoin account
2. Click the “Earn” tab on the taskbar
3. Search for the cryptocurrency you wish to stake
4. Click on the grey down arrow to view the different terms available
5. Click the green “Subscribe” button on the right-hand side
6. Read the agreement terms carefully
7. Enter the amount you wish to stake
8. Click “Subscribe”

KuCoin: Ethereum Staking

Once The Merge is completed, Ethereum will reportedly be much faster, cheaper, and more energy-efficient.  Even though Ethereum 2.0 isn’t live yet, you can still stake your ETH tokens for the new PoS chain, which is also called the Beacon Chain.

Staking Ethereum with KuCoin, on the other hand, is comparatively faster and easier.

Through KuCoin, you can stake Ethereum via pooled staking, where a group of people combines their resources and stake as a group. When you stake ETH through KuCoin, you receive an equivalent quantity of ETH2 tokens in return, which has an identical value to your ETH tokens.

You can either keep these ETH2 tokens in your wallet and accrue staking rewards, which are paid out daily, or you can sell them. They are not locked until the merge. So if Ethereum’s value drops, your funds are not locked away and therefore impossible to sell.

Also, KuCoin only asks you to stake a minimum of 0.01 ETH before you can earn rewards, which is considerably more affordable than the 32 ETH required to run a validator node. As such, staking Ethereum through KuCoin is an excellent way to make some passive revenue.

Staking Ethereum on KuCoin is easy. Just work through the following steps:

1. Click the “Earn” tab on the taskbar
2. Hit “KuCoin Earn”
3. Click the “ETH 2.0” tab on the central taskbar
4. Press the green “Start ETH 2.0 Staking” button
5. Enter the quantity of ETH you wish to stake
6. Click the green “Convert Now” button

KuCoin also provides access to the Polkadot and Kusama parachain auctions, which are another great way to earn passive profits from your crypto. Let’s take a look at how that works.

KuCoin: Polkadot’s Parachain Auctions

So what is Polkadot exactly? Polkadot is the brainchild of Gavin Wood, a computer scientist who also helped establish Ethereum. The platform aims to become the base layer for a global network of decentralized services.

Polkadot’s main chain, which is also called the relay chain, supports a network of connected smaller chains called parachains. Parachains share the main chain’s speed and security and can interact with the other parachains. Projects that want a parachain slot need to win an auction by staking DOT tokens.

If a project’s team does not want to put up the DOT themselves, they can raise it through a crowd loan, where their supporters and investors – like us – can stake DOT on their behalf in exchange for rewards like airdropped native tokens. Keep in mind that if a project you support wins its parachain auction, your DOT tokens will be locked until the end of the parachain lease, which usually takes about a year.

Overall, parachain auctions are ideal for earning revenue by supporting promising crypto projects, and KuCoin makes taking part just that little bit easier.

To look through Polkadot’s current parachain auctions, head over to KuCoin “Earn,” then click “Polkadot” in the central taskbar and follow the links.

KuCoin Earn: Lending

Lending is comparatively low risk when compared to KuCoin’s more advanced trading features like margin and futures trading. It’s also far more user-friendly, as all you have to do is check that the interest rates are suitable and accept the contract. The interest rates vary from crypto to crypto and fluctuate depending on what the market is doing at the moment.

If you decide to lend out some crypto through KuCoin, you have a few decisions to make. You need to choose for how long you want to do that, how much money you want to lend, and what daily interest rate you are willing to accept. KuCoin helpfully suggests the average rate based on what other lenders offer.

Occasionally, a borrower will repay the loan much faster than was expected, in which case you will have to submit a new lending contract and find a new one. This can be annoying, especially if you can’t spare the time to manually allocate all of your funds for lending.

For such cases, KuCoin has an auto-lend feature, through which your funds can be automatically lent out when they become available. You just have to set up some risk and return parameters you feel comfortable with and you’re ready to go.

If you’re worried about not being paid back, KuCoin has you covered, as your money will be automatically recouped by liquidating the borrower’s capital. If your borrower lacks sufficient funds, KuCoin’s insurance fund will repay the money you are owed.

KuCoin’s Rewards Hub

KuCoin’s Rewards Hub tasks are divided into two key sections: basics and challenges.

Rewards Hub: Basics

Basic rewards are available all the time and are, for the most part, fairly simple to complete. For instance, by opening a KuCoin account you complete your first basic task, for which you receive a $5 rebate voucher whenever you first use a trading bot.

Other basic challenges include a $5 USDT bonus for depositing $150 or more to your KuCoin account by credit or debit card and $2 USDT bonuses for using KuCoin’s trading tools.

The Basic area also hosts a Learn to Earn section, where you can get a few bucks by learning about KuCoin’s tools and features, as well as historical crypto trivia like the birth of Bitcoin.

Rewards Hub: Challenges

Challenges, on the other hand, change regularly but offer slightly higher rewards, as well as a continuing source of passive income from reaching trading quotas.

At the time of writing, KuCoin’s most popular challenge involved reaching $600 in trading volume within a week, for which you would earn a $2 USDT reward. Another challenge involved reaching $1,000 in trading volume using futures within a week, also for a $2 USDT bonus.

While KuCoin’s rewards probably won’t buy you a house, you will still consistently earn some passive revenue by trading as you normally would, which other exchanges don’t offer.

KCS Bonus Plan

By holding at least six KCS tokens in your KuCoin account, you can earn a daily bonus that comes from the exchange’s trading fee revenue. Obviously, the number of tokens you hold will influence the rewards you can earn, which range from 3-30% APR.

To claim your daily KCS bonus, head over to the “Assets Overview” page on the KuCoin web page, then click “My Bonus” and then “KCS bonus.” Your reward should land in your main account within thirty minutes. KuCoin suggests that you should claim your bonus every day. However, if you forget, your bonus won’t expire, and you can claim it later on.

KuCoin also rewards KCS token holders with a 20% discount on trading fees, but only when they are paid using KCS tokens. If you’re a high-volume trader, a 20% reduction in fees will add up to a lot of money in the long term.

KuCoin: Cloud Mining

For instance, you can stop mining whenever you want without worrying about needing to sell your equipment or pay for warehouse space. You don’t need to worry about losing income from power outages or equipment maintenance either, nor do you need any technical know-how relating to mining equipment or software.

KuCoin’s cloud mining service launched in March 2022 and is openly available to all KuCoin users. You can access it through your KuCoin account by clicking “Earn” on the homepage taskbar, and then the “Cloud Mining” tab. From there you choose which cryptocurrencies you want to mine. So far, KuCoin offers Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ethereum mining.

Keep in mind that many other cloud mining providers will take up to 50% of your mining profits as fees, which can make cloud mining a poor investment decision. KuCoin, on the other hand, gives you 100% of your mining revenue immediately after your initial purchase period ends.

KuCoin: Trading Bots

Trading bots are computer programs that aim to buy and sell cryptocurrencies in order to generate profit. For example, let’s say you have $100 to invest each week. You would simply load up your KuCoin account and your bot will buy and sell cryptocurrencies on your behalf, (hopefully) making you money while you sit back and relax.

Exactly how much profit you can expect largely depends on which bot you choose, and how you configure it. KuCoin offers five distinct trading bots that use varying strategies to generate profits. Some of the bots use simple and time-tested strategies, like dollar-cost averaging, while others use more advanced features and tools, like futures contracts.

If you would rather not use a standard trading bot, you have the option of manually configuring your bot’s parameters yourself. You could also copy a configuration used by one of KuCoin’s top-performing bots.

And remember: just like with regular trading, there’s no such thing as a guaranteed return in crypto. Still, trading bots are, for the most part, incredibly easy to use and provide a useful revenue stream for people who are new to cryptocurrency. They are also free to use for anyone with a KuCoin account, but there are some transaction fees to pay, just like with regular trading.