What is Curve?

      Curve a decentralized finance platform that allows users to trade and swap between different cryptocurrencies efficiently and with low fees. The vision of Curve Finance is to create a seamless and user-friendly platform that makes it easy for users to manage and trade their cryptocurrency assets. Instead of relying on order books, Curve Finance forms liquidity pools based on smart contracts that work as an automated market maker. The token that powers Curve is CRV and it is exclusively used for trading, staking, and governance votes on the protocol. This tutorial will show you how to stake your CRV tokens on Curve.

      TL;DR

      Prerequisites

      Where to buy CRV

      You can get CRV tokens at a cryptocurrency exchange, at a DEX, or within select wallets. You should always do your own research when selecting a reputable cryptocurrency exchange. For best security, it is not recommended to leave your tokens on an exchange, but transfer them to your non-custodial or cold/hardware wallet after procuring them.

      Curve wallets

      Curve has a variety of non-custodial wallets for you to choose from. We recommend that you use a hardware wallet such as Ledger otherwise we suggest using Metamask wallet. Compatible wallets include:

      How Staking Rewards for Curve (CRV) are Generated

      Learn how rewards are generated in the FAQ section titled ‘How are the rewards generated’’ here.

      How to stake Curve (CRV)

      Step 1: Make sure you have a Metamask wallet

      Stake your CRV tokens using Ledger, Metamask, amongst others. We will use the Metamask wallet in this staking tutorial.

      As a popular wallet in the Ethereum ecosystem, Metamask offers users the ability to stake tokens, access blockchain apps, and manage multiple tokens in one wallet. Simply connect your Ledger or Metamask wallet directly to Curve to stake CRV. Install the Metamask browser extension or download Metamask here. Deposit your tokens into this wallet before continuing onto step 2.

      Step 2: Go to Curve Finance and connect to Metamask

      • Go to the Curve page and you will be prompted to select a wallet
      • Click on Metamask
      • Click on ‘Next’ and then ‘Connect
      How to Stake Curve (CRV)

      Step 3: Finalize the transaction 

      After connecting your Metamask wallet, start staking:

      • Scroll down, enter the amount you would like to stake
      • Choose your lock time
      • Click on ‘Create lock
      • Click ‘Ok’ and then ‘Confirm’ to finalize the transaction
      How to Stake Curve (CRV)

      We recommend you to leave at least 0.01 ETH for gas fees. This cost will vary depending on the network activity on Ethereum.

      Congratulations! You have now staked your CRV tokens and will start earning those juicy staking rewards. 

      Step 4: Track staking portfolio

      • Track your CRV staking rewards on the staking dashboard.
      • Monitor governance proposals on the Curve protocol that may impact the staking mechanism.
      • Track the current and historical reward rates and staking ratio of CRV by visiting the Curve asset page. To make better staking decisions, it’s essential to understand these relevant data points. To learn how these data points could impact your staking rewards, please read more in the FAQ section named “How are the rewards generated” on the Curve asset page.
      Curve staking data

      Step 5: How to Unstake CRV

      To unstake your CRV tokens, you need to unstake from the staking dashboard by clicking the corresponding button. Note that you can only unlock after the stake period that you set up has passed.

      Maximizing Staked CRV

      Now that you have staked your CRV, you have X options which can be used to change your position. These options appear on the Curve asset page. The options are:

      • Stake more
      • Claim reward into a stablecoin
      • Stake your 3CRV and earn more CRV
      • Unstake

      Stake more

      You can stake more CRV tokens by repeating the steps in Step 3 above.

      Claim reward into a stablecoin

      To claim your fee rewards paid out in 3CRV tokens, you can look for the green “Claim” button in the box labeled “veCRV 3pool LP claim” at the bottom of the page. You can choose to either swap your 3CRV rewards back into a stablecoin.

      Stake your 3CRV and earn more CRV

      You can also  choose to stake your 3CRV tokens again to earn more CRV tokens. To do so, you can head to the Minter, scroll down to 3Pool, and click “Deposit” to stake them into the gauge. This will allow you to earn more rewards by participating in the staking process.

      Unstake

      You can only withdraw your stake after the stake period has passed.

      Conclusion

      Staking is essential to DeFi protocols like Curve Finance and comes with many benefits for investors and the network:

      • Investors earn yield from token emissions and/or transaction fees
      • Stakers become eligible for airdrops as many protocols prioritize granting these benefits to them
      • Staking helps to secure the protocol
      • Stakers can participate in governance, as many protocols allocate governance rights based on the amount of tokens staked

      Congratulations! You are now not only getting the most out of your investment with compounded returns. YOU are also (in-)directly contributing to the the security of Curve and thus contributing to the long-term success of your investment! Curve needs active stakers like you to become successful long-term. 

      Now share the tutorial with your friends so they can get to start staking as well!

      Lastly, don’t forget to check out the Curve (CRV) asset page for more insights into staking CRV, and drop us a message if you found this tutorial useful. Happy staking!

      About The Author

      Daisy Chen

      believes in the power of generalist education and the necessity of having expertise in a few. She has 4 years of TradFi working experience in equity research and venture capital. Daisy aims to be a contrarian thinker, unveiling the truth of crypto assets and building the future in this space.