12% rewards in just two steps
I really like what Harmony has going on. First, they promise to solve Ethereum scalability by providing a sharding protocol with a trustless bridge. They also advertise 2-second finality and near-$0 transaction fees.
Those are great, but it seems like a hundred projects are solving these same problems. Harmony has the tools to be successful, that’s for sure. So, I love that the top priority on their 2021 roadmap is adoption. I was also excited to see partnerships with Reef and API3 announced.
On top of all that, the Harmony ONE token was still priced at just $0.03. I noticed that Binance US had staking available, but it required a minimum of 10k tokens and paid just 2–3%. Still, I was in. I bought my 10k tokens, and I was happy.
A better rate
So there I was, gleefully earning my 2–3% when, hey — what’s this? A staking announcement from Harmony?
I could earn 12% by staking my ONE with Guarda? That’s more than a little better than what I was getting with Binance, so I needed to check this out.
The staking guide on Guarda’s site is very straightforward. It’s basically a two-step process: deposit funds & stake ’em. I grabbed some screenshots along the way, so I’ll show you what it looks like.
Staking tutorial
I didn’t have a Guarda wallet, so step one was to create one. Guarda is a non-custodial wallet. That means you’re in charge of the private keys, and if you lose them, you’re out of luck. When you create a wallet, you get a text file containing your encrypted private keys. Keep that file and your password in a secure place.
The default multi-currency wallet doesn’t have a ONE wallet, so you may need to use the Add new wallet link at add one. It’s a simple, intuitive process. If you do this, you’ll get a new wallet text file — again, back it up somewhere safe.
You’ve got your ONE wallet ready to go? Let’s get to business.
Deposit funds
Click your ONE wallet and copy the wallet address. This is where you’ll send your ONE tokens. This was my first experience with sending tokens on the Harmony blockchain, and it was refreshingly instant.
I confirmed the withdrawal with Binance, and by the time I clicked refresh in my Guarda wallet, the funds were there. Well worth the $0.00 fee, I’d say!
Stake ‘em
Now that the funds are in your Guarda wallet, you’re ready to stake! Start the process by clicking the Staking link beneath the wallet, followed by the Stake button.
This will bring up a prompt for you to specify how many tokens you wish to stake. There’s a minimum of 1000 ONE. Enter the quantity and click Next.
You’ll be presented with a confirmation screen. We get hit with another transaction fee, this time for 0.000021 ONE — a tiny amount. It’s worth noting that, while wildly insignificant, you do need some funds to cover the small fees, so don’t stake 100%. I left 5 ONE, about $0.15, which is more than enough.
Finally, click the Confirm button, and — boom — you’re staked!
When you click the Staking link beneath your ONE wallet, you’ll now be given details about your staked coins and earned rewards.
Conclusion
I’m so glad I found the tweet from Harmony & Guarda Wallet. The entire process of moving funds from Binance to my Guarda wallet and staking my ONE was completely painless. Given how slow and expensive it is to move things on Ethereum, this was downright enjoyable!
With just a few minutes, my confidence and excitement for Harmony grew, and I’m earning a return rate that’s 5–6 times better than I was! It feels like a serious win-win!
Lead image by Levi XU on Unsplash
This article was originally published on This Crypto Life on March 9, 2021.
