#1
Firmachain
FCThigh riskDeFiAPY
85.57%
Market Cap
$9.6M
Total Staked
$4.3M
Min Stake
None
Firmachain offers 85.57% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Firmachain network.
Best DeFi Staking Protocols 2026
Live data62 assets ranked
DeFi staking protocols offer some of the highest yields in crypto by combining native staking rewards with additional protocol incentives. These protocols operate entirely on-chain, giving you full custody of your assets while earning yield.
The DeFi staking landscape in 2026 includes restaking protocols, yield aggregators, and cross-chain staking platforms. Yields tend to be higher than native staking because you are compensated for additional risk and protocol participation.
Higher returns come with higher complexity and risk. Smart contract bugs, governance attacks, and liquidity issues are all real concerns. We rank DeFi staking protocols by APY while clearly flagging risk levels so you can make informed decisions.
Our Ranking Criteria
How we selected these assets
- DeFi staking protocol with audited smart contracts and active bug bounty program
- Current APY as the primary ranking factor for yield-seeking users
- Total value locked as a signal of community trust and protocol maturity
- Clear risk profile including smart contract risk, governance risk, and liquidity risk
Rankings
Best DeFi Staking Protocols 2026 — Live Rankings
#2
Lava Network
LAVAhigh riskDeFiAPY
65.78%
Market Cap
$9.1M
Total Staked
$4.4M
Min Stake
None
Lava Network offers 65.78% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Lava Network network.
#3
Saga
SAGAhigh riskDeFiAPY
60.79%
Market Cap
$5.3M
Total Staked
$3.2M
Min Stake
None
Saga offers 60.79% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Saga network.
#4
AtomOne
ATONEhigh riskDeFiAPY
57.96%
Market Cap
$26.1M
Total Staked
$11.6M
Min Stake
None
AtomOne offers 57.96% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the AtomOne network.
#5
Medibloc
MEDhigh riskDeFiAPY
51.51%
Market Cap
$15.3M
Total Staked
$7.0M
Min Stake
None
Medibloc offers 51.51% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Medibloc network.
#6
MANTRA
MANTRAhigh riskDeFiAPY
51.04%
Market Cap
$34.7M
Total Staked
$15.4M
Min Stake
None
MANTRA offers 51.04% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the MANTRA network.
#7
Hippo Protocol
HPhigh riskDeFiAPY
44.09%
Market Cap
$13.1M
Total Staked
$6.1M
Min Stake
None
Hippo Protocol offers 44.09% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Hippo Protocol network.
#8
Humans.ai
HEARThigh riskDeFiAPY
33.81%
Market Cap
$2.8M
Total Staked
$1.2M
Min Stake
None
Humans.ai offers 33.81% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Humans.ai network.
#9
Shentu
CTKhigh riskDeFiAPY
25.21%
Market Cap
$16.7M
Total Staked
$8.0M
Min Stake
None
Shentu offers 25.21% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Shentu network.
#10
Ethena
ENAmedium riskDeFiAPY
25.00%
Market Cap
$707.6M
Total Staked
$229.4M
Min Stake
0.01 ENA
Ethena offers 25.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Ethereum network.
#11
USDa
USDAhigh riskDeFiAPY
24.23%
Market Cap
$96.2M
Total Staked
$65.2M
Min Stake
None
USDa offers 24.23% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the USDa network.
#12
USDA
USDAhigh riskDeFiAPY
24.23%
Market Cap
$84.9M
Total Staked
$26.5M
Min Stake
None
USDA offers 24.23% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the USDA network.
#13
USDA
USDAhigh riskDeFiAPY
24.23%
Market Cap
$10.0M
Total Staked
$3.0M
Min Stake
None
USDA offers 24.23% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the USDA network.
#14
Anzens USDA
USDAhigh riskDeFiAPY
24.23%
Market Cap
$6.8M
Total Staked
$3.0M
Min Stake
None
Anzens USDA offers 24.23% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Anzens USDA network.
#15
Hyperliquid
HYPEhigh riskDeFiAPY
20.00%
Market Cap
$15.0B
Total Staked
$2.8B
Min Stake
1 HYPE
Hyperliquid offers 20.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Hyperliquid network.
#16
Pendle
PENDLEmedium riskDeFiAPY
20.00%
Market Cap
$258.8M
Total Staked
$51.7M
Min Stake
0.01 PENDLE
Pendle offers 20.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Ethereum network.
#17
Fuel Network
FUELhigh riskDeFiAPY
19.00%
Market Cap
$6.0M
Total Staked
$2.2M
Min Stake
None
Fuel Network offers 19.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Fuel Network network.
#18
Bifrost Voucher MANTA
VMANTAhigh riskDeFiAPY
14.70%
Market Cap
$3.2M
Total Staked
$1.1M
Min Stake
None
Bifrost Voucher MANTA offers 14.70% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Bifrost Voucher MANTA network.
#19
MegaUSD
USDMmedium riskDeFiAPY
14.34%
Market Cap
$273.5M
Total Staked
$18.6M
Min Stake
None
MegaUSD offers 14.34% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the MegaUSD network.
#20
Mento Dollar
USDMhigh riskDeFiAPY
14.34%
Market Cap
$14.2M
Total Staked
$4.4M
Min Stake
None
Mento Dollar offers 14.34% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Mento Dollar network.
#21
USDM
USDMhigh riskDeFiAPY
14.34%
Market Cap
$9.6M
Total Staked
$3.9M
Min Stake
None
USDM offers 14.34% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the USDM network.
#22
Core
COREhigh riskDeFiAPY
14.32%
Market Cap
$30.8M
Total Staked
$9.1M
Min Stake
None
Core offers 14.32% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Core network.
#23
Oraichain
ORAIhigh riskDeFiAPY
14.26%
Market Cap
$5.1M
Total Staked
$2.7M
Min Stake
None
Oraichain offers 14.26% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Oraichain network.
#24
GMX
GMXmedium riskDeFiAPY
14.00%
Market Cap
$58.4M
Total Staked
$17.9M
Min Stake
0.01 GMX
GMX offers 14.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Arbitrum network.
#25
Stake DAO FXN
SDFXNhigh riskDeFiAPY
13.44%
Market Cap
$395.7K
Total Staked
$113.5K
Min Stake
None
Stake DAO FXN offers 13.44% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Stake DAO FXN network.
#26
Djed
DJEDhigh riskDeFiAPY
13.01%
Market Cap
$4.0M
Total Staked
$1.2M
Min Stake
None
Djed offers 13.01% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Djed network.
#27
Raydium
RAYmedium riskDeFiAPY
12.00%
Market Cap
$182.1M
Total Staked
$50.3M
Min Stake
0.01 RAY
Raydium offers 12.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Solana network.
#28
Livepeer
LPTmedium riskDeFiAPY
12.00%
Market Cap
$76.1M
Total Staked
$29.9M
Min Stake
0.1 LPT
Livepeer offers 12.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Ethereum network.
#29
YieldNest RWA MAX
YNRWAXhigh riskDeFiAPY
10.96%
Market Cap
$8.3M
Total Staked
$2.4M
Min Stake
None
YieldNest RWA MAX offers 10.96% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the YieldNest RWA MAX network.
#30
Canton
CChigh riskDeFiAPY
10.79%
Market Cap
$5.0B
Total Staked
$58.8K
Min Stake
None
Canton offers 10.79% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Canton network.
#31
Xion
XIONhigh riskDeFiAPY
10.09%
Market Cap
$11.3M
Total Staked
$2.5M
Min Stake
None
Xion offers 10.09% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the XION network.
#32
Bedrock
BRhigh riskDeFiAPY
10.00%
Market Cap
$42.3M
Total Staked
$9.0M
Min Stake
None
Bedrock offers 10.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Bedrock network.
#33
Treehouse
TREEhigh riskDeFiAPY
10.00%
Market Cap
$6.3M
Total Staked
$2.8M
Min Stake
None
Treehouse offers 10.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Treehouse network.
#34
Stake DAO
SDThigh riskDeFiAPY
10.00%
Market Cap
$5.9M
Total Staked
$3.1M
Min Stake
None
Stake DAO offers 10.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Stake DAO network.
#35
Hipo Governance Token
HPOhigh riskDeFiAPY
10.00%
Market Cap
$2.4M
Total Staked
$528.9K
Min Stake
None
Hipo Governance Token offers 10.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Hipo Governance Token network.
#36
Looping Collective
LOOPhigh riskDeFiAPY
10.00%
Market Cap
$907.2K
Total Staked
$291.8K
Min Stake
None
Looping Collective offers 10.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Looping Collective network.
#37
bAlpha
BALPHAhigh riskDeFiAPY
10.00%
Market Cap
$26.2K
Total Staked
$11.2K
Min Stake
None
bAlpha offers 10.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the bAlpha network.
#38
Blaze
BLZEhigh riskDeFiAPY
10.00%
Market Cap
$0
Total Staked
$0
Min Stake
None
Blaze offers 10.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Blaze network.
#39
tx
TXhigh riskDeFiAPY
9.60%
Market Cap
$24.6M
Total Staked
$11.2M
Min Stake
None
tx offers 9.60% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the tx network.
#40
Venom
VENOMhigh riskDeFiAPY
8.94%
Market Cap
$24.8M
Total Staked
$14.1M
Min Stake
None
Venom offers 8.94% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Venom network.
#41
Curve DAO
CRVmedium riskDeFiAPY
8.00%
Market Cap
$314.7M
Total Staked
$97.7M
Min Stake
1 CRV
Curve DAO offers 8.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Ethereum network.
#42
The Graph
GRTmedium riskDeFiAPY
8.00%
Market Cap
$188.8M
Total Staked
$78.9M
Min Stake
100 GRT
The Graph offers 8.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Ethereum network.
#43
Starknet
STRKmedium riskDeFiAPY
6.81%
Market Cap
$196.1M
Total Staked
$56.6M
Min Stake
None
Starknet offers 6.81% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Starknet network.
#44
ZIGChain
ZIGhigh riskDeFiAPY
6.27%
Market Cap
$63.8M
Total Staked
$12.6M
Min Stake
None
ZIGChain offers 6.27% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the ZIGChain network.
#45
SEDA
SEDAhigh riskDeFiAPY
5.24%
Market Cap
$17.8M
Total Staked
$4.5M
Min Stake
None
SEDA offers 5.24% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the SEDA network.
#46
Aave
AAVElow riskDeFiAPY
5.00%
Market Cap
$1.3B
Total Staked
$412.7M
Min Stake
0.01 AAVE
Aave offers 5.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Ethereum network.
#47
CHEQD Network
CHEQhigh riskDeFiAPY
4.66%
Market Cap
$2.8M
Total Staked
$885.8K
Min Stake
None
CHEQD Network offers 4.66% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the CHEQD Network network.
#48
Chainlink
LINKlow riskDeFiAPY
4.50%
Market Cap
$5.7B
Total Staked
$1.9B
Min Stake
1 LINK
Chainlink offers 4.50% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Ethereum network.
#49
Uniswap
UNIlow riskDeFiAPY
4.00%
Market Cap
$2.1B
Total Staked
$587.5M
Min Stake
0.01 UNI
Uniswap offers 4.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Ethereum network.
#50
ARPA
ARPAhigh riskDeFiAPY
4.00%
Market Cap
$8.5M
Total Staked
$2.8M
Min Stake
None
ARPA offers 4.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the ARPA network.
#51
InfiniFi USD
IUSDhigh riskDeFiAPY
3.91%
Market Cap
$63.5M
Total Staked
$33.4M
Min Stake
None
InfiniFi USD offers 3.91% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the InfiniFi USD network.
#52
Arbitrum
ARBlow riskDeFiAPY
3.00%
Market Cap
$485.8M
Total Staked
$184.7M
Min Stake
0.01 ARB
Arbitrum offers 3.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Arbitrum network.
#53
Optimism
OPlow riskDeFiAPY
3.00%
Market Cap
$213.7M
Total Staked
$72.8M
Min Stake
0.01 OP
Optimism offers 3.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Optimism network.
#54
Compound
COMPlow riskDeFiAPY
3.00%
Market Cap
$164.8M
Total Staked
$53.4M
Min Stake
0.01 COMP
Compound offers 3.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Ethereum network.
#55
dYdX
DYDXmedium riskDeFiAPY
2.90%
Market Cap
$114.1M
Total Staked
$24.9M
Min Stake
None
dYdX offers 2.90% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the dYdX network.
#56
strkBTC
STRKBTChigh riskDeFiAPY
2.24%
Market Cap
$6.0M
Total Staked
$1.7M
Min Stake
None
strkBTC offers 2.24% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the strkBTC network.
#57
Hedera
HBARmedium riskDeFiAPY
1.95%
Market Cap
$3.0B
Total Staked
$1.2B
Min Stake
None
Hedera offers 1.95% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Hedera network.
#58
Osmosis
OSMOmedium riskDeFiAPY
1.77%
Market Cap
$27.2M
Total Staked
$8.6M
Min Stake
0.01 OSMO
Osmosis offers 1.77% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Osmosis network.
#59
Robinhood Wrapped ETH (Robinhood Chain)
WETHhigh riskDeFiAPY
1.74%
Market Cap
$11.8M
Total Staked
$3.5M
Min Stake
None
Robinhood Wrapped ETH (Robinhood Chain) offers 1.74% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Robinhood Wrapped ETH (Robinhood Chain) network.
#60
Lido Earn ETH
EARNETHmedium riskDeFiAPY
0.42%
Market Cap
$140.8M
Total Staked
$40.8M
Min Stake
None
Lido Earn ETH offers 0.42% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Lido Earn ETH network.
#61
Snek
SNEKhigh riskDeFiAPY
0.11%
Market Cap
$24.3M
Total Staked
$9.4M
Min Stake
None
Snek offers 0.11% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Snek network.
#62
Midnight
NIGHTmedium riskDeFiAPY
0.00%
Market Cap
$526.4M
Total Staked
$201.2M
Min Stake
None
Midnight offers 0.00% APY through its DeFi staking mechanism on the Midnight network.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What is DeFi staking?
DeFi staking involves depositing crypto into decentralized protocols to earn yield. Unlike native staking which secures a blockchain, DeFi staking can include liquidity provision, yield farming, and restaking. Yields are typically higher but so are the risks.
Is DeFi staking safe?
DeFi staking carries more risk than native staking due to smart contract vulnerabilities, protocol-specific risks, and potential governance attacks. Using well-audited protocols with large TVL and active bug bounty programs reduces but does not eliminate these risks.
What APY can I expect from DeFi staking in 2026?
DeFi staking APYs in 2026 range from 5% to 20%+ depending on the protocol and strategy complexity. Simple single-asset staking offers lower yields, while multi-layer strategies like restaking or LP staking can offer significantly higher returns with added risk.
How is DeFi staking different from regular staking?
Regular (native) staking secures a blockchain's consensus mechanism. DeFi staking uses smart contracts to generate yield through various strategies like lending, liquidity provision, or restaking. DeFi staking offers more flexibility and often higher yields, but adds smart contract risk.
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