Crypto Staking Rewards Calculator
Estimate the simple-interest rewards from staking cryptocurrency over a chosen period using your staked amount, APY, and staking duration in days. The result is your projected payout in USD.
Last updated: May 2026
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About this calculator
This calculator uses the simple-interest formula Rewards = stakedAmount × (APY / 100) × (stakingPeriod / 365). It does NOT compound — rewards are calculated on the original principal only, no matter how long the period — so for longer horizons it slightly underestimates returns versus protocols that auto-restake. The APY input is the annualised yield rate quoted by the staking provider; the staking period is the number of days you intend to lock or delegate your tokens. Edge cases: real on-chain staking yields fluctuate constantly as validator counts and network participation rates change (e.g. Ethereum's staking yield falls as more ETH gets staked); the calculator's fixed-rate assumption is a snapshot. Most staking protocols also have a lockup or unbonding period (Ethereum: variable, often days; Cosmos: 21 days; Polkadot: 28 days) during which tokens are illiquid and cannot be sold or moved. The calculator displays rewards in USD assuming the staked-token spot price does not change, which is rarely true — if the underlying token falls 50% over your staking period, your USD-denominated balance still drops despite earning rewards. Slashing risk (validator penalties for misbehaviour, typically 0.01–1% of stake) and protocol risk (smart-contract bugs in liquid-staking derivatives like Lido or Rocket Pool) are not modelled.
How to use
Example 1 — 6 months of ETH staking. Staked amount $10,000, APY 4.5%, staking period 180 days. Step 1: APY as decimal = 4.5 / 100 = 0.045. Step 2: time fraction = 180 / 365 ≈ 0.4932. Step 3: rewards = 10,000 × 0.045 × 0.4932 ≈ $221.92. Verify: a full year at 4.5% would yield $450, so half a year should be around $225 — matches within rounding. ✓ Note this assumes ETH price is flat; if ETH drops 20% during these 6 months your USD position is down ~$1,778 in spot value, swamping the $222 in rewards. Example 2 — 1 year of higher-yield Cosmos staking. Staked $5,000, APY 18%, staking period 365 days. Step 1: 18 / 100 = 0.18. Step 2: 365 / 365 = 1.0. Step 3: rewards = 5,000 × 0.18 × 1.0 = $900. Verify: 18% of $5,000 is $900 ✓. With compounding (e.g. daily re-staking), the effective APY would be closer to 19.7% over the same period, so the simple-interest figure here under-states the result by about $85; whether that gap matters depends on whether the protocol auto-compounds, on slashing risk for the validator chosen, and on the 21-day unbonding period that delays access to the principal at the end. ✓
Frequently asked questions
Is the calculator's result before or after taxes and fees?
Gross before everything. In most jurisdictions staking rewards are taxed as ordinary income at the moment they become controllable by you (often each epoch or block), at your marginal income-tax rate which can be 25–50% depending on your country and bracket. On top of that, validators or staking pools typically take a commission (Lido: 10% of rewards; Coinbase: 25%; most independent validators 5–10%), which reduces your net APY. Network gas fees for claiming or re-staking on Ethereum can eat $5–50+ per transaction during congested periods, materially affecting small positions. Always model your real net yield = headline APY × (1 − validator commission) − (gas costs / staked amount) − tax drag. For a $1,000 stake at 5% APY paying $50 a year gross, a $30 annual gas spend on claims plus a 10% validator commission and a 30% income tax can easily leave you with only $20–25 net — a 40–50% haircut on the headline number.
Does this calculator account for compounding?
No. The formula is simple interest: rewards = principal × rate × time, with no reinvestment of earned rewards. In reality, most modern staking protocols either auto-compound (Lido stETH balances rebase daily; many liquid staking derivatives appreciate against their underlying) or let you manually re-stake. With compounding, an 8% APY over 5 years yields ~46.9% cumulative rather than the 40% the simple formula suggests, and the gap widens with higher rates and longer periods. At very high APRs and long horizons the difference becomes substantial — at 50% APR over 5 years, simple interest gives 250% total return while daily compounding gives ~1,118%. For short horizons (under a year) or modest rates (under 10%), the simple-interest approximation is within a few percent and fine for budgeting. For longer projections, use a compound-interest calculator with the matching compounding frequency.
Why are staking APYs so variable across networks?
Staking yield reflects the network's monetary policy and participation rate. Networks with higher inflation reward higher staking yields (Cosmos chains at 10–20%, Polkadot at 10–15%) because they create more new tokens to distribute; networks with lower inflation reward lower yields (Ethereum at 2.5–5% post-Merge). Within a network, yield falls as more tokens are staked — Ethereum's APY drops as the staked share of supply rises, by design, to keep the validator set from growing too large. The mechanism varies: some chains use direct delegation (Cosmos), some use pooled validation with bonded curves (Polkadot), some use beacon-chain proof-of-stake (Ethereum). Liquid staking derivatives (Lido stETH, Rocket Pool rETH) add an extra layer of yield/risk through their token mechanics. Centralised exchanges typically offer lower yields than direct staking because they keep a large commission, and 'high-yield' platforms (Anchor at 19.5%, Celsius, Voyager) historically promised yields they couldn't sustain and collapsed.
What are the common mistakes when calculating staking returns?
The biggest mistake is using the headline APY without subtracting validator commissions (5–25%), gas fees for claiming, and income taxes on rewards; the real net yield is typically 40–60% of the marketing figure. The second is ignoring the difference between APR and APY: many platforms quote one and label it the other, and re-applying compounding when the rate already includes it double-counts. The third is treating high APYs as risk-free — yields above 15% almost always reflect higher token-inflation, smart-contract risk, validator slashing risk, or platform insolvency risk; the Anchor Protocol's 19.5% UST yield evaporated when Luna collapsed. People also forget the unbonding/exit period: tokens locked for 21–28 days in Cosmos/Polkadot networks cannot be sold during a crash, so the realisable yield over a forced sale is often much lower than the calculator suggests. Finally, USD-denominated projections ignore the dominant risk — token-price movement — which usually swamps staking yield over any horizon longer than a few months.
When should I not use this calculator?
Do not use it to compare staking versus other yields (lending, LP-ing, T-bills) without also adjusting for the very different risk profiles — slashing risk, lockup illiquidity, smart-contract risk and platform-failure risk are not modelled here. It is not appropriate for projecting returns over long horizons (>2 years) without switching to a compound-interest model, because simple-interest under-counts significantly at long horizons. Do not use it for variable-rate staking (most modern PoS networks) without periodically re-running with the current APY — yields drift. It is unsuitable for liquid-staking-derivative positions (stETH, rETH) where the derivative token can trade at a premium or discount to its underlying, adding a basis-risk component the formula does not capture. Finally, do not use the USD output for risk-management or position-sizing decisions; the calculator assumes a flat token price, and in any realistic scenario the price movement will dwarf the staking yield.