A new privacy tool, Privacy Pools, launched on Ethereum by 0xbow.io on March 31, allows users to transact privately while proving their funds aren’t tied to illicit activities.

The S&P 500 rose 0.55%, with 10 of 11 sectors up, led by staples, financials, and utilities. Gold hit a record $3,128.06, set for its best quarter since 1986, driven by tariff fears and safe-haven demand. The Coindesk Indices, which tracks the broader crypto market, are up by 1.88%, with Bitcoin down by 0.16% and Ether up by 0.39% in the past 24 hours. Trade these markets and more with up to 500x leverage on Bybit MT5 using this 

Today's top performer is WAL, up 28.1%, following the building of trust in the digital world with the power of Walrus and blockchain provenance.

Walrus (WAL), launched in March 2025, is a decentralized storage network on Sui, enhancing Filecoin and Arweave with programmable, scalable storage by distributing file fragments across global nodes for reliability. 

, a key part of the Provenance Stack, ensures content remains unaltered with decentralized storage, while Sui tracks ownership on a fast, scalable blockchain. Blockchain technology offers a solution to the internet's struggle with verifying digital content, combating misinformation and fraud. By adopting these tools, developers, creators, and users can build a more trustworthy digital world based on verifiable content origin.

Check out the latest prices, charts, and data of 

, launched on Ethereum by 0xbow.io on March 31, allows users to transact privately while proving their funds aren’t tied to illicit activities. The tool, which earned support from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, uses “Association Sets” to batch transactions into anonymous pools, with a screening process to ensure funds are not linked to criminals. If a deposit is flagged as illicit, users can "ragequit" and reclaim their funds. The project aims to balance privacy with regulatory compliance, following backlash against privacy tools like Tornado Cash. Initial deposits are limited to 1 Ether, with the possibility of increasing the limit once the protocol is tested further. Privacy Pools has already received over 21 ETH in deposits, including Buterin’s. The tool was inspired by a white paper co-authored by Buterin and others, and its code passed a successful audit.

Yesterday, BTC spot ETFs saw a net outflow of $75.7M, with no change in GBTC and all losses from non-GBTC funds.

 the first agentic ecosystem on BNB Chain, allowing users to securely create, train, and collaborate with AI agents. Users can launch AI agents by staking through their EVM wallets, with training hubs and reward systems coming soon. Additionally, gas fees deposited for voting can now be withdrawn via the Mind Network dashboard.

Beginner

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Privacy Pools launches on Ethereum with Vitalik Buterin's support and focus on regulated privacy

AB is a scalable blockchain ecosystem enabling real-world asset tokenization, cross-chain interoperability, and decentralized governance for global adoption.

 technology, projects have to evolve and adapt in order to remain competitive and relevant in the space. One such project that has continued to evolve is AB, which rebranded from Newton Project in February 2025.

Within a month of its rebranding, AB continued on a price rally that saw the AB token hit its all-time high (ATH) price of $0.017 on Mar 22, 2025.

The Newton Project began in 2018 with the vision of creating a community economy whose members would benefit from the project's growth.

Now, with the rebranding to AB, the project has shifted into building a broader and more advanced blockchain ecosystem that includes 

 (RWA) integration and optimized tokenomics.

 is a heterogeneous and interoperable blockchain network designed to help bridge the gap between digital and real-world economies.

 The project builds on the vision of the Newton Project, which was started in 2018 to provide a community-focused blockchain economy centered on decentralization.

The rebranding of Newton to AB signifies a shift toward empowered decentralization, enhanced liquidity, more real-world adoption and better interoperability.

With its shift, AB has developed a more advanced architecture with the following innovative features to cater to the dynamic needs of 

 (DAO) empowers AB token holders to actively participate in the project's governance. Token holders can propose and vote on key decisions, including network upgrades, economic parameters and strategic initiatives, ensuring the ecosystem remains community-driven.

, thereby promoting transparency and accountability. This decentralized model fosters trust and aligns the project's evolution with the interests of its community.

​AB Wallet is a decentralized digital wallet, developed by the AB Foundation, that’s designed to support multiple tokens with an emphasis on speed and security. It serves as the official wallet for the AB Community Economy, allowing users to manage their digital assets efficiently. The wallet is available for download on the App Store, and as an APK for Android devices.

NewBridge, which is integrated within the AB Wallet, is a cross-chain platform developed by the AB Core Team that facilitates the transfer of assets across different blockchains. It enables users to move assets such as 

Developers can also utilize NewBridge's APIs to create 

 (DApps) with cross-chain capabilities. ​

AB operates at a more advanced level than its predecessor, the Newton Project, while remaining true to the vision of a community-focused blockchain economy.

Central to AB's operations is its MainNet (formerly known as New Chain in Newton). This public blockchain is fast and scalable, with a

 (PoA) consensus mechanism that entrusts several pre-approved validators with the security and validation of transactions on AB’s network.

 is designed to provide technical support to business 

 by delivering real value. This technology layer supports various features, such as supply chain, digital and credit identity, payments and self-finance. One of AB's first applications powered by this technology is New Mall, an e-commerce store that leverages blockchain technology.

With the rebranding, AB introduced sidechains to ensure optimized functionality on AB, which leads to scalability and better efficiency.

AB also enhances the Hyper Exchange Protocol's real-world utility by facilitating the tokenization of RWAs into blockchain tokens on its network. This makes it easier to trade these assets, which leads to more adoption.

The AB token (formerly NEW) is the native cryptocurrency of the AB crypto project. Its various use cases include the following:

As of Apr 1, 2025, AB was trading at $0.015, which is a 13.1% drop from its ATH of $0.017 on Mar 22, 2025, and an increase of almost 400,000% from its ATL of $0.0000038 on Oct 11, 2022.

AB has a total supply of 100 billion tokens, with a circulating supply of approximately 50 billion. With the rebranding, AB has revised its tokenomics to promote liquidity and incentivize participation in the network.

With the updated token distribution model, 56.6 billion AB tokens were locked as of February 2025. These tokens will be released monthly over a period of 12 months, and will be fully in circulation by February 2026.

Also, from February 2025, token incentives were made exclusive to machine node operators on the MainNet and sidechains. However, the project is exploring ways to incentivize AB token holders in the future through 

AB marks a significant evolution in blockchain technology, rebranding from the Newton Project to better align with its vision of real-world adoption. By leveraging the AB MainNet, high-performance sidechains and cross-chain interoperability, AB is positioning itself as a scalable and efficient blockchain ecosystem.

With use cases spanning finance, gaming, supply chain and asset tokenization, AB enables seamless integration of blockchain tech into everyday applications. Its decentralized governance model via the AB DAO ensures transparency and community-driven innovation. As AB continues expanding its ecosystem, it stands to drive mainstream blockchain adoption, providing traditional industries with a bridge to web3 solutions.

Intermediate

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AB (AB): Scaling blockchain for real-world adoption

Space Nation is a web3 gaming and media ecosystem. Gamers play as space explorers, fulfilling a variety of quests and earn cryptocurrency. Learn more here.

Massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are one of the most popular types within the online world of 

. These immersive worlds, where players level up characters through exploration, fighting and trading, are a great way to capture gamers' imaginations. It's no surprise, then, that there's a big demand for MMORPGs with 

 capabilities. By combining classic gaming strategies with blockchain technology, Space Nation hopes to create the most immersive gaming experience ever. Keep reading to learn all about Space Nation's design and see what its crypto tokens are like.

 is a web3 gaming and media ecosystem. Gamers play as explorers navigating through outer space to fulfill a variety of quests and earn cryptocurrency. The game also has links to a live-action TV show and other real-world media.

. Its founding team has decades of collective experience working with AAA games, including 

, and also includes filmmakers who have worked on movies like 

. This diverse set of founders is united by their love of science fiction and gaming. To help make their dream a reality, they’re joined by a team of over 10 cryptocurrency and game design experts. Space Nation has been in development since 2022, and has acquired over $50 million worth of funding.

 is to create a vibrant, immersive gaming ecosystem for users to enjoy. While many web3 games are focused more on fast releases and impressive crypto prices, there’s a real need for quality 

 games. Space Nation hopes to create a complex system that entertains and challenges users while using blockchain technology as just one of many tools. Its stated four primary goals are as follows:

As a huge MMORPG with thousands of assets, locations and players, Space Nation's system is highly complex. Its games are designed to be fully playable for both Web 2.0 and web3 users. Anyone can download 

 onto their computer as standard software, and the player interface will guide users through enjoying the game. As with most MMORPGs, there’s a whole team of designers behind the project who come up with asset designs, questlines and world-building to make the game entertaining.

 chain is known for its scalability and cost efficiency, and Space Nation believes it can easily accommodate massive numbers of players. The blockchain handles things like buying and selling ships, buying fuel and other in-game essentials. Meanwhile, the Space Nation account system lets users log in with their 

, and then automatically handles game token management for players. 

Although Space Nation is just starting out, it's already released quite a few features for gamers to enjoy.

 revolves around ships that players can create and operate to fly through space and reach various location markers. Players can choose between combat, mining and exploration ships, depending upon how they wish to play the game. Quests guide a player through certain activities, and the player receives rewards that help them level up their spaceship and captain. In addition, players are in charge of their own growth, and can choose various development paths based on how they want to interact with the game. 

. The first, craftable NFTs, consists of in-game assets that can be made from game materials or purchased if players don't want to craft them themselves. Craftable NFTs are primarily tools or simple ships. 

There are also collectible, non-craftable NFTs that provide exclusive perks, such as the ability to participate in alpha and beta playtests. Some of these non-craftable NFTs also offer rare skins for your spaceship or profile picture. 

After testing its system through several closed betas and soft launches, Space Nation is aiming for a full public global launch, set to take place sometime in 2025 after the final soft launch concludes. Once the game is operational, the system will launch the Space Nation 

 (DAO) in stages. The eventual goal is to give players full control over their world. There are also plans to expand to a mobile game that can be played directly from a player’s cell phone.

Unlike some other games, Space Nation actually has two tokens. This dual-token system supports flexibility and ensures that people can enjoy the game, regardless of their particular web3 capabilities.

. People can use it to participate in community governance and to interact with subsidiary games that use Space Nation IP. OIK is fully on-chain, and can be bought and sold in 

. Even if you don't have a blockchain wallet, or want to operate the game as a play-to-earn system, you use CHR for tasks such as purchasing game assets. CHR is available as a reward for various activities, and can be used to obtain useful items. The token is currently off-chain, but it can be converted into USDC–Immutable zkEVM tokens that have real-world value.

 to get people involved in its ecosystem. You’re eligible for the OIK airdrop if you've participated in closed beta testing, or in 

 or Discord events for Space Nation. Users can also burn some of their NFTs in exchange for OIK, and can claim their portions of the airdrop by signing into their online Space Nation accounts. 

The OIK Space Nation ecosystem token can be used for everything from staking to 

. In addition to being bought and sold publicly, you can also earn it playing the game. There’s a total supply of 

, to be unlocked over a 10-year schedule. All tokens will be distributed as follows:

Looking to trade Space Nation tokens? Bybit now offers the OIK/USDT Spot trading pair. To get started, you’ll first need to create a Bybit account, then fund it with cryptocurrency and navigate to the 

Since its release in mid-March, the OIK token’s price has bounced between an all-time high (ATH) of $0.1587 and an ATL of $0.04119. There’s been some enthusiasm for this token due to the game’s positive reviews from players. Furthermore, the potential 

 based on the Space Nation universe could be an extremely valuable form of marketing for OIK. However, some traders have expressed concern about Space Nation’s tokenomics and the fact that the development team reserves the right to change OIK’s minting and selling opportunities.

Ultimately, this coin is a good choice for investors looking to put their extra cash into an intriguing crypto project. Keep in mind that its prestigious backers don't entirely remove risk from the coin. You'll still need to account for market volatility and avoid investing all your essential funds into Space Nation's OIK token. And as always — 

Space Nation is a great example of how a well-designed game can be augmented with blockchain technology. The 

 space exploration game is perfect for fans of 

 and similar MMORPGs. In addition to providing an exciting environment for gamers, Space Nation also has some great opportunities for investors. As it works on releasing the OIK token, be sure to keep an eye on this project.

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Space Nation (OIK): Conquer the cosmos in your starship saga

Bybit Learn spoke to TraderMercury, a long-time Bybit partner and trader known for his disciplined and philosophical approach to markets. 

Bybit Learn spoke to TraderMercury (@TraderMercury on X), a long-time Bybit partner and trader known for his disciplined and philosophical approach to markets. 

Mercury reveals his journey as a trader, how he overcame his biggest challenges and navigated markets to become a successful trader.

Please note that this article and any tokens mentioned does not constitute financial advice. The interview has been edited for formatting and grammatical accuracy.

Q: Firstly — congratulations on retiring your parents! How did that feel?

 It feels incredible. My family has been through a lot and many of my followers have heard my story about how my parents went from being broke, to millionaires, to being homeless. My ultimate goal has been to grant them an early retirement ever since I was 14 years old, and at the end of 2024 I was finally able to do that, thanks to markets.

Q: You've tweeted that you got into crypto 7 years ago — how did you first get into trading crypto? What sparked your interest, and what motivated you to dive into the wild west of crypto?

 I initially got into crypto by scrolling Twitter and seeing an ad for XRP/Ripple at the time. It piqued my interest and I immediately saw crypto as a ‘get-rich-quick’ scheme. I was naive enough to dive into things head first, and ironically I actually did get rich quick — I bought just before the final push upwards in 2017, and my account was up 4x in the span of a few weeks. I remember thinking to myself: “I’ll just hold these assets forever and retire,” to which I was met with -90% drawdowns over the course of the next few months, after taking no profit at all.

I became intrigued by the premise of volatility. My large losses only exacerbated my fuel to achieve large gains; I figured someone was making money from this market, why couldn’t it be me?

Q: Tell us about TraderMecury's trading journey — what were some of the biggest challenges you faced as a beginner, what advice would you give yourself if you were just starting out?

 My trading journey was initially described above, and was followed by a large humbling in March of 2020. Prior to that, I had spent the past 2 years recovering my losses from that initial naivety since joining crypto, and once again managed to rally my account 5x in that time period, leading up to March 2020. When the covid crash happened, I was caught with positions in the middle of it, and due to a failure of applying risk management, and overconfidence in my abilities, I was once again met with -80% drawdown on my entire portfolio — which, because I was only 20 years old at the time, also happened to be 100% of my net worth.

That moment was by far the most difficult event I’ve ever dealt with, but the most difficult aspect of trading was my inability to hold unrealized profit.

After my humbling, I regathered myself and restructured my approach from the very foundation. I began to view the market differently than my prior-self. I was now finding myself detaching from the market and at peace with the way I was trading, which felt very refreshing in comparison to the 2 years I had spent prior slaving away at the charts and utterly destroying my mental health.

But I was met with a new issue: I often closed positions too early, out of fear that the market would take those gains away just as quickly as it gave me those gains. I was now struck with trauma due to my experiences.

It was difficult, but I had to pace myself; slowing down with the amount I was trading with, and also forcing myself to hold positions, no matter how much my brain wanted to impulsively close positions out of randomness.

Q: You're known for your disciplined approach to trading, your 'snowball to snowman' way of thinking and trend-following strategy. Tell us about how you use it to navigate markets.

 After March 2020, when the dust had settled and I was forced to look at my new, networth of -80% lower than where it had been just a few weeks prior, I remember thinking to myself “there was nothing I could have done.” But I soon realized that was not true — I saw the downtrend, I acknowledged the drawdown, I knew what options I had, yet I consciously decided to do nothing. I had friends that made a doctor's annual salary during that same event. Again, I thought to myself, “why couldn’t that be me?”

I vowed to never let the market ‘catch me off-guard’ ever again. I realized that for whatever happens next, I must see it coming to a smaller degree first in order for that same momentum to be exaggerated further — hence “it is impossible to build a snowman without making a snowball first.”

Combine that analogy with the manner of which you build a 1000-piece puzzle. You do not randomly grab two pieces and question if they go together — you grab the pieces with a flat-edge, which clearly makes the border for the puzzle, and start there. You then fragment the puzzle and categorize by color schemes, using objects within the puzzle that are more easily identifiable, and begin piecing those together. From there, the puzzle’s completion is well on its way, and by understanding each section of the puzzle, you’ve now given yourself the clarity to understand the puzzle in its entirety, with the utmost clarity.

The analysis I make about any market operates in the same manner. I understand what’s occurring on one timeframe, and how that relates with the timeframes higher or lower. I keep repeating this process until the chart as a whole makes sense — at which point I’m now able to break down the market's complicated movements to a 5-year old, as if I were reading a storybook. Context is key, so considering the context of one timeframe into the next is a great way of adopting an intuition, a feel for the market’s movements and getting a jump on what may happen next.

Q: What was your best trade? How did you go through with the thesis, setup, execution and exit?

 My best trade as of now was just recently, as I bought Bitcoin around $57k, and sold it at an average of $100k. The percentage gain may not seem like much for crypto natives, but due to my conviction in the thesis I was playing into, I was able to justify risking more than usual in order to fully capitalize on the opportunity before me. Conviction is that feeling in your gut that tells you you’re witnessing an incredible opportunity in its’ infancy, before the greater market has been able to identify it — I remember telling the members in my discord that the price action in September 2024 and the sentiment in the air reminded me of the bear market lows in 2022. As a trader that thrives off of exaggerated momentum driven moves, it’s my job to extract lots of value from those moves; I also remember telling my members, both at the time and now, about how “even though I’ve managed to benefit from all 6 of the major rallies throughout the past 2 years, I’ve only ever compared to the bear market lows once” — that’s conviction.

Prior to that rally, my biggest win was in March 2023, once again on Bitcoin, after USDC began to depeg. I felt my back was against the wall as I hold most of my trading portfolio in USDC whenever I’m pending a new setup, and the environment at the time was plagued with uncertainty — not just for stablecoins, but for banks that were seemingly going insolvent every other week as well. Even though it was against my trading philosophy to do so, I managed to buy Bitcoin at the exact bottom with a bulk portion of my trading account, just beneath $20k, before it rallied to $30k in the next week — thanks to a fundamental understanding of Bitcoin as an asset. Whenever I tell this story, people immediately interject that I got lucky, and whilst luck plays a role in every success story, I like to believe that my luck was a byproduct of my discipline and decisions leading up to a major FUD event. Remember in March 2020 I did not have the luxury of ‘buying the dip’ — this time, I had previously cut positions 15-20% higher than where the market bent my hand and forced me to buy Bitcoin due to its’ fundamentals. The tier of quality of options that I had given myself were substantially greater than what an alternate version of myself could have been presented with, and therefore, so was the outcome.

Q: How do you maintain emotional control and deal with FOMO or fear during extreme market volatility?

 At some point, I think you become numb to it. I’ve found myself treating volatility as ‘normal’ and because I’ve traded the market for over 7 years now, there’s nothing that I haven’t seen, in either direction. That emotional discipline and maturity comes with experience — which is why it’s frequently mentioned that experience, especially in crypto, is invaluable. I also like to remind myself that “opportunity is abundant.” In a true manic rally, there is always more opportunity than what you can catch, so it’s inevitable that you will miss out on most things. The beauty in this is: even if you manage to capture a crumb of the opportunity that’s presented to you, that alone can be sufficient. It’s imperative to accept that you will not catch everything, and also realize that you do not need to. Bend your perspective to be in an ‘abundance’ mindset as opposed to a ‘scarcity’ mindset.

Fear on the other hand is inevitable; regardless of your positioning, there is always something to be fearful of. If you’re long: you fear a selloff. If you’re sidelined or short: you fear a market rally. If fear is inevitable, then it is also redundant. Find a way to mitigate fear of the market by taking comfort in whatever risk you’re taking, and formulate a strategy that allows you to express that positioning in a rational manner in order to achieve that comfort. ‘Balance’ is incredibly underrated, and allows for greater and more consistent results over time, in my experience; whereas extreme positioning and stances in the market invoke emotions and often create large setbacks.

Q: The recent market selloff has hit a lot of traders hard. How did you navigate the drawdown, and what tips would you give to those who’ve taken significant losses?

 As mentioned above I managed to cash out some of my investments, as well as close positions near the highs. There were a few losses that were taken since then as the market began to chop up and eventually downtrend, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary for me with my system — I navigated this selloff just like every other selloff in the market, and to the degree that I expect myself to. I have my fair share of bags that went to 0, but that was a calculated risk, which had previously paid off, and is not a substantial portion of my trading account by any means, mostly because I knew exactly what I was doing and “if you play stupid games, you’ll win stupid prizes.” 

So it’s not to say that I was unaffected by the market’s downturn, it’s just that it’s nothing new for me, and is no different than any other downturn, and I’ve allowed myself the grace to see it that way due to my philosophical approach to markets, and the foundation I’ve built for myself. When I see a downtrend that looks like, smells like and trades like a downtrend… and it continues downtrending, I am not allowed to be surprised. From there, it’s a matter of expressing the discipline and patience to step out of the way and wait for better days; knowing when to deploy capital to take asymmetric risks, but also knowing when to preserve capital in order to have the luxury of deploying later on.

Q: What are your thoughts on the current market condition? Which part of the cycle do you think we are at now, and has the cycle played out as you expected?

 There are lots of caveats, but the cycle has pretty much done exactly what I expected it to. I know people say it’s the worst bull market ever, but I think the market is what you make of it, and it seems unfair to throw labels onto something like that with no way of quantifying it — this has been my best bull market ever. With that said, I’m not sure what to expect next from a cyclical standpoint, and I truly think it’s best to avoid those thoughts because it seems like energy wasted in comparison to the value those thoughts bring, even if uncannily accurate. I do, however, think that the crypto market is broken as of my time of writing, and I’m waiting to see if stocks are as well, because that would be potentially indicative of a market that disallows for recoveries as we’ve seen the past 2 years. Many charts in crypto need lots of repair before we can have a conversation of a bull market resumption, and that’s typically not something that occurs in a few days.

Q: Finally, how do you use Bybit in your day-to-day crypto trading or investing, and what aspects of the platform do you like? Is there anything you would like to see improved on Bybit?

 Bybit has been my primary trading platform since 2019 — back when they only had 3 pairs to trade, and they were all inverse perpetuals, haha! It’s come a long way, and I remain in awe at the improvements made, the integrity of Bybit and its team, and the seamlessness of the trading experience. It is truly incredible to watch Bybit succeed and continue to grow, and I look forward to the future. I think the recent hack, and how Bybit managed to communicate, handle and operate through that unfortunate event, put on a global display of the same values that established my desire to be a partner with Bybit for all these years — absolutely incredible job.

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Mastering crypto market psychology with TraderMercury

Bybit Learn

Staking

Explore whether crypto staking aligns with Islamic law in our comprehensive guide. Learn the key considerations for compliance. Read more to find out!

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Many blockchain networks' well-regarded decentralization and security benefits are highly dependent on one specific activity — 

. Staking involves contributing crypto funds to 

 (PoS) blockchains to power the transaction validation activity on them. Stakers — which can be institutional entities or individuals — lock their cryptocurrency funds on these blockchains to receive the chance to validate blocks of transactions. In return, they receive cryptocurrency rewards for their work, making crypto staking a potentially viable income source. 

Many individuals and smaller business entities who lack the technical capacity or financial reserves to act as blockchain validators can still earn staking rewards by delegating their funds to their preferred validator on a PoS blockchain.

Along with liquidity mining, yield farming and crypto coin trading, crypto staking is one of the critical ways to earn income within the blockchain industry. Many Muslim investors may wonder if crypto staking is a halal activity. In this article, we cover all the key details related to crypto staking and its status from an Islamic law perspective, in order to help Muslim investors decide whether staking cryptocurrencies is halal or haram.

In order to maintain their operations and process transaction blocks, certain blockchain platforms (those based on a PoS block validation model) require the availability of crypto funds contributed to the network. This is because these blockchains award the right to validate transaction blocks to 

 that have staked/contributed a certain amount in the network's native cryptocurrency. In the most standard implementation of PoS, the more funds a node has staked on a platform, the higher their chance of being selected as the validator of the next block. This system is used to encourage participation from validators who have 

 — that is, those genuinely interested in supporting the network and ready to contribute funds for this purpose.

Staked funds aren't given away or "donated" by validators — they remain the property of the validator, and can be reclaimed/unstaked if and when the network participant who has provided them decides to stop their block processing activities. To encourage users' participation in the block validation process, validator nodes earn staking rewards for each block they help process.

Most crypto users don't act as full validator nodes on PoS networks, as this often requires substantial minimum staking amounts and technically intricate processes to set up and run a node. However, these users can also earn income from staking crypto in various more affordable and user-friendly ways. Examples include delegating their funds to their preferred validator on blockchains supporting such delegation, or participating in a staking pool (more on that below). Via these options, users can earn a share of the total staking rewards awarded to full validator nodes.

Additionally, crypto users can earn staking rewards using specialized products on crypto trading platforms and crypto exchanges. One such product is 

, previously known as Bybit Staking, which allows you to earn staking rewards without the complexities of staking in blockchain environments. Staking products on exchanges often provides a wider choice of crypto tokens and coins than direct blockchain-based staking. This is because blockchain-based staking options are limited to native coins of PoS networks, whereas exchanges frequently offer additional assets, such as popular 

Independent staking involves setting up and running your own full validator node on a PoS blockchain network. You are responsible for technical setup procedures and are typically required to keep your node online and ready to process blocks without significant downtime.

Minimum staking requirements for independent staking are often substantial. For instance, the 

 (ETH) blockchain requires validator nodes to stake at least 32 ETH (around $80,000 as of Nov 1, 2024), while becoming a 

 (BNB) validator requires an investment of 10,000 BNB (currently around $5.7 million). Technical uptime requirements aren't child’s play, either, as validator nodes are encouraged to be online at all times, and frequent downtimes may lead to penalties in the form of slashing, whereby you lose some portion of your staked funds.

The advantage of independent staking is that you can earn substantial amounts by receiving full staking rewards from the blockchain. On PoS platforms such as Ethereum, full validators don't need to pay anyone commission fees or other charges, nor do they have to share their rewards with others. In comparison, on 

 (DPoS) blockchains, independent validators share the rewards with those who have delegated their funds to them, but typically still earn a more significant cut than each individual delegator.

For most crypto users, the technical and financial requirements of independent staking are too high. As an alternative, these users can join a staking pool to earn crypto rewards. Staking pools are platforms that facilitate the pooling of crypto funds from many users. These funds are then used to manage the actual direct staking, for instance by running validator nodes or delegating the funds to blockchain validators. By joining a staking pool, you can earn a share of staking rewards commensurate to the share of funds you’ve provided. With PoS staking pools, you only need to contribute crypto, and don't have to worry about providing computing capacity.

Understanding Islamic Finance and Crypto Staking

For many Muslim investors, adhering to the principles of Islamic finance and Shariah law is important when choosing an investment product. Islamic finance principles state that any investment should avoid interest (riba), speculation/gambling (maysir) and excessive uncertainty (gharar). It also shouldn’t involve trading assets that you don't actually own, or be related to haram activities or products, such as drugs, alcohol, pork, gambling, betting or pornography.

When evaluating whether crypto staking is a halal activity, it's important for investors to differentiate it from other popular forms of earning crypto income: liquidity mining and yield farming. 

 involves providing crypto funds to coin swap pools on 

 (DEXs). These funds are required by some DEXs — those based on the 

 (AMM) model — to have enough liquidity for swap operations. Liquidity providers earn a share of transaction fees from swaps involving the assets in the pool. In turn, 

 refers to the strategic allocation of crypto funds across various 

 (DeFi) protocols to maximize yields earned. Yield farming allocations can often involve borrowing and lending activities, often with the involvement of interest (riba).

Learn all about Bybit Islamic Account and

Unlike many yield farming activities, crypto staking doesn't usually involve riba. There is no lending or borrowing of funds with interest in crypto staking. Stakers invest their funds to support the operations and security of blockchain networks, and earn staking rewards based on the amounts they’ve contributed. These reward payouts aren't based on money that has been lent to someone with interest.

As noted above, crypto staking isn't an interest/riba–based activity. Additionally, there's no maysir, or gambling/speculation, in crypto staking: stakers earn a certain amount of relatively stable income that has little to do with speculative trading activities. The fixed and stable nature of crypto staking rewards also indicates no gharar, or excessive uncertainty. In fact, crypto staking is considered among the least 

 or speculative forms of earning income in the blockchain industry.

As such, crypto staking lacks the characteristics of the three fundamental prohibitions in Islamic finance — riba, maysir and gharar. This indicates that staking cryptocurrencies on blockchain platforms may qualify as a halal activity.

Additionally, Muslim investors need to ensure that the blockchain platform they support with staking isn't involved in haram activities, such as those related to alcohol, pork or other products forbidden in Islam.

With crypto staking being a halal activity in most cases, investors might be wondering which staking platforms and coins are the most suitable from the Islamic finance perspective. Below, we list five cryptocurrencies and their associated blockchains that are likely the optimal choices for a Muslim investor looking for staking opportunities. These five options are among the largest PoS networks in the industry. This ensures that their staking processes are among the most stable and predictable in the cryptosphere, which helps minimize the probability of gharar. 

As the largest players in the industry, these chains' native cryptocurrencies also feature some of the highest current trading volumes, which ensures a higher degree of price stability and a lower likelihood of speculation/maysir for these coins. This is also a key factor from an Islamic finance perspective, as you’ll stake and earn rewards in these platforms' respective crypto assets.

Ethereum (ETH) — specifically, its current PoS version, 

 — is the world's largest blockchain currently utilizing staking for block validation. It’s known to provide stable and highly sought-after staking rewards in its native cryptocurrency, ETH. While independent staking on the network, which requires 32 ETH collateral, is financially not viable for many crypto users, you can still join a staking pool to earn rewards.

 (SOL) is another top PoS blockchain. It typically features faster processing times and lower fees for crypto transactions than Ethereum. Unlike Ethereum, Solana doesn't impose a minimum amount to run a full validator node. In theory, that means anyone could run an independent staking operation on the blockchain. However, in practice, the competition among Solana validators for the chance to validate blocks is intense, and those with modest amounts staked in them are unlikely to win the race. The good news is that Solana, unlike Ethereum, supports stake delegation. This gives you two practical options to earn staking rewards as an ordinary user: delegate your stake to a preferred validator, or join a staking pool.

 (ADA) is a leading PoS blockchain network that exclusively uses staking pools for its block validation. This means there's no individual staking on Cardano. To participate in staking on this blockchain, you have two options: run your own pool, or, as a more practical choice for most users, join an existing one.

 scalability solutions for Ethereum. At the heart of its ecosystem is the Polygon PoS blockchain, which supports independent staking via running a validator node, as well as stake delegation. 

Currently, Polygon validators are required to stake their POL on Ethereum’s network, although the platform plans to enable full direct staking via its own chain in the near future. For most users, however, stake delegation is the best option: in this mode, you don't need to worry about technical intricacies, such as which actual network — Polygon or Ethereum — is handling your stake. Besides the stake delegation option, you can also choose an external staking pool provider for the platform's native token (POL).

 (AVAX) is another popular and well-regarded blockchain that offers staking. Somewhat smaller than most of the chains described above, Avalanche is still among the heavyweights of the blockchain industry: its native coin, AVAX, has amassed a 

 of over $10 billion (as of Nov 1, 2024). 

Avalanche offers direct independent staking: you can run your own validator node, or delegate your stake. The independent validator staking option requires collateral of 2,000 AVAX ($49,880 as of Oct 31, 2024), while the minimum requirement for stake delegation is a relatively modest 25 AVAX ($623.50). As is the case with other major PoS chains, you can also find a variety of external staking pool providers for AVAX.

The crypto market features a variety of passive income opportunities, but identifying which ones are halal isn't always straightforward. In its typical format, crypto staking can be considered a halal activity, as it doesn't involve lending or borrowing funds with interest (riba), speculative trading akin to gambling (maysir) or excessive uncertainty (gharar) often associated with some other crypto activities. As such, Muslim investors can use cryptocurrency staking, although it's always important to carefully scrutinize the actual activities of the crypto project offering staking. If these activities aren't linked to haram industries or products, staking may be one of the safest options for a crypto-minded Muslim investor. 

Disclaimer: Due to varying opinions on Shariah compliance of crypto trading, we recommend you to conduct your own further research. Please note that the posts on Bybit Learn should not be considered as fatwa. Our aim is to present information on different topics to empower readers to make informed decisions.

Is Crypto Staking Halal? All You Need to Know

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