Crypto Staking Calculator — Rewards and APY
If you lock a dollar amount at a yearly rate, what do the rewards look like — this year, each month, and after a few years?
Re-stake rewards each month?
Guide
How does a crypto staking calculator work?
A staking calculator estimates extra coins you might earn by locking crypto you already hold. You type how much it is worth today, a yearly rate, and how long you leave it. You see rewards per year, per month, and the pile at the end. It does not pull a live rate, and it does not guess whether the token's price goes up or down.
Staking, in plain English: you lock coins with the network (or a liquid-staking app) and get paid more of the same coin. Think of it like interest on a savings account, except the “interest” is the token itself, and the account can still lose value if that token gets cheaper.
A staking calculator grows a dollar amount at a yearly rate you enter. Year-one rewards are about amount × APY. At 3.5%, $1,000 of Ethereum earns about $35 in the first year, or about $2.92 a month, before the token's price moves. If you add those rewards back in each month for three years, the pile is a little over $1,110. If you take rewards out instead of compounding, you still earn the same yearly rate on the original $1,000, and the end value is about $1,105. Rewards are paid in the token, so a falling price can wipe out that yield even when the rate widget still looks green. Highest-APY networks often inflate faster, which offsets the headline. In most places staking rewards are taxed as income when you receive them, and again when you sell. This page holds the token price still on purpose. It is not a promise the coin stays there for three years.
Example
ETH staking rewards example: $1,000 at 3.5% APY
Match this on the sliders: ETH, $1,000, 3.5%, three years, compounding on. You are not trading. You already planned to hold the ETH, and you want a picture of the extra tokens.
- You stake
- $1,000
- Yearly rate
- 3.5%
- First year
- ~$35
- Each month
- ~$2.92
- After 3 years
- ~$1,110
- Paid in
- ETH
That $1,110 is still ETH measured in today's dollars. If ETH's price dropped 20% over those three years, the pile in dollars would be smaller even though you earned extra tokens. The calculator does not model that drop. You can, by imagining a lower dollar amount at the end.
| Step | In words | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Year-one rewards | Amount × yearly rate | $1,000 × 3.5% = $35 |
| 2. Per month | Year-one ÷ 12 | $35 ÷ 12 ≈ $2.92 |
| 3. After 3 years | Compound monthly, or simple | About $1,110 with compounding |
| Liquid-staking fee | Comes off the rate first | 10% fee turns 3.5% into 3.15% |
Compound
Should you compound staking rewards or take them out?
Compounding means you add each month's rewards back into the locked pile. The next month earns on a slightly larger amount. Taking them out means you spend or sell the rewards and the original amount keeps earning the same rate.
- Compound — use this if you leave everything locked. The ETH example above does this.
- Take them — use this if you want the extra tokens in your spending wallet each month.
The difference on $1,000 at 3.5% over three years is small — a few dollars. It gets more noticeable at higher rates and longer times.
APY
Why a high staking APY is not a high paycheck
Rewards are paid in the token. A 12% rate on a coin that falls 40% is still a loss in dollars. Networks with the fattest headline rates often issue more new coins, which can weigh on price. Ethereum's lower rate is the boring version of this trade: less extra ETH, more history.
The coin buttons on the calculator are starting points from typical 2026-style rates, not a live feed. Type the number from your validator or liquid-staking app if yours is different.
Tax
Do you pay tax on staking rewards?
In most countries, yes — when you receive the rewards, at their value that day, as income. Selling later can be a second event (capital gains). This calculator stops before tax on purpose. If the number is large, talk to a person who files returns for a living.
Limits
What this staking calculator cannot do
- It will not pull today's live staking rate from the chain.
- It will not model the token's price going up or down.
- It will not model slashing, unbonding waits, or validator downtime.
- It will not file your taxes. Rewards are usually income when received.
If you bought the coins on a Friday schedule first, use the DCA calculator, then come back here. If you later sell, use the profit calculator.
Keep going
Same toolkit, a different question — pick the next calculator.
FAQ
Questions people ask
It estimates how much your staked coins might grow at a yearly rate you type. You see rewards per year, per month, and the pile after a number of years. It does not pull a live APY, and it does not promise the token's price stays put.
It depends on the rate and how much you lock. At a 3.5% yearly rate, $1,000 of Ethereum earns about $35 in the first year, before the token's price moves. A higher rate pays more in tokens, and often comes with more inflation risk.
Simple year-one rewards = amount × APY. Monthly is that divided by 12. If you compound monthly, the end value is amount × (1 + APY/12) raised to (years × 12). A liquid-staking fee comes off the APY first.
It is a lower-effort way to earn more of a coin you already planned to hold. It is not free money. Rewards are paid in the token, so a falling price can wipe out the yield even when the rate still looks green.
In most places, yes. Rewards are usually taxed as income at their value when you receive them, and again for capital gains when you later sell. This page is before tax.
Established networks such as Ethereum and Cardano are the usual picks for simplicity — lower rates, more history. Higher-rate chains often inflate faster. 'Safest' still includes lockups, slashing, and the token's price.
No. The ETH, SOL, ADA, DOT, and ATOM buttons are starting points. Type the rate from your wallet or validator if yours is different. Live widgets go stale.
You add each month's rewards back into the staked pile so the next month earns on a slightly larger amount. If you take rewards out as cash, turn compounding off.