The USA has it bad against crypto and I think it has to do with the idea that the US wants to move to a cashless society but also wants to control the society.  In August I went on a business trip to Washington D.C. and while in the city, proper, none of the stores, restaurants or even the Metro stations, took cash. It was an interesting feeling because in most everywhere else in the world, cash is king.  

The US wants to control who gets to use the money and they cannot do it if it cannot be traced.  This amplifies the importance of crypto to be a fungible asset.  But what about staking?  Well, the IRS will be quick to come to you if you have your crypto staked on any centralized exchange.  There is a way out of this....

Stake on your own wallet.

While we all were learning about privacy coins like Pirate or Monero, the idea that you could stake coins on your own wallet, certainly helped fan of flames of privacy.  And why not?  I don't want to give more money to the US government that I have to.  They don't need to take pennies from my crypto and they don't need to turn me upside down and shake me until loose change comes out for them to steal.  They don't even watch their own millionaires so it is really contriving to want to support them, when they are only looking after themselves and the other elites.  For that reason, any crypto I have, gets turned into a staking coin and stays in my wallet for staking. There, no one will know how much I am gaining or how fast, except me. This way you can gain crypto, passively, doing nothing, with the hopes that one day that staking coin will be worth something bit.

I started with Algorand and then Ontology and now I have a small selection of crypto with which I stake with.  I have an exodus wallet and I use that for my staking and holding.  What do I have?  

Full transparency:

I have about 1 Tezos.  Exodus offers 5.66% for Tezos and with that 1, and rewards given every 3 days, I stand to make about 4 cents per year.  I didn't get much Tezos when I had first started and then let it just compound until it got to 1 and now it automatically pays me that tiny reward every 3 days.  With Tezos being only worth  $0.78 each, I am not even making a penny's worth every 3 days.  But, at one point Tezos was almost $4 each, so I just hold, earn and relax.

I have 0.07 SOL.  Sol used to be $20, then $10 and has recently shot up to almost $55 each.  My measly amount is now worth about $4.  Exodus offers 7% on Sol staking, which isn't bad, considering how valuable the crypto has been getting.  Sol on Exodus, automatically gives you the rewards every few days, just like Tezos.  

My biggie this year is Cosmos/ATOM.  Atom used to be $20, then down to $10 and now is back up to $8.70.  I have 21 ATOM right now and all staked.  Exodus is offering me 18.97% on that.  Like all stakes on Exodus, there is a claim fee and the fee for the ATOM claim is currently at 0.009.  So I need to earn way more than that, in order to gain a profit.  On November 14th, I cashed out my rewards for that last month's worth and got about $3.  

I'm not going to be rich from any of these stakes.  But what is important, is that keeping them in my wallet, is like finding loose change in the couch or in the car.  gaining this extra money will be helpful when added to the rest of the pile, and the US government isn't standing there demanding that I give them a portion of my findings or earnings.

 Again, if you value your crypto and don't want any government or company coming after it, please stake on your own wallet, custodial only to you.