How to use the staking rewards calculator
The Rewards tab projects a stake over time. The APR ↔ APY tab converts a quoted rate between its simple and compounded forms.
- Enter the coins staked and today’s coin price. Staking pays in coins; the price only converts them to dollars. The example price is fictional.
- Enter the reward rate as an APR, the yearly rate before compounding. If your platform quotes an APY, convert it on the second tab first.
- Enter the validator or platform fee as a percentage of rewards. Validators and exchanges usually keep a share of the rewards, not of your stake. If the quoted rate is already net of fees, enter 0.
- Choose how often rewards are restaked. Pick “No restaking” if rewards land in your wallet and stay there, or if you withdraw them.
- Set the staking period and, optionally, a yearly price change. Leaving it at 0 values everything at today’s price.
The chart shows the coin count growing, with the no-restaking path for comparison, and the table gives each year’s rewards, fees and value.
How staking rewards are calculated
The fee is taken from each reward, so the rate that actually grows your stake is the APR after the fee:
Coins after t years (restaked n times a year) = C × (1 + r ÷ n)n × t
Coins after t years (not restaked) = C × (1 + r × t)
Effective APY = (1 + r ÷ n)n − 1C is the number of coins staked, APR the quoted reward rate and fee the commission as a share of rewards. Daily restaking uses n = 365, weekly 52, monthly 12. Fees paid in coins equal the coins earned × fee ÷ (1 − fee).
The dollar value is the coin count times the price at that date: today’s price × (1 + yearly change)t.
A worked example
You stake 500 coins worth $20 each, so the stake is worth $10,000.00. The network pays 5%, your validator keeps 10%, and rewards are restaked daily.
After the fee the reward rate is 4.50%, which compounds to an effective APY of 4.60%. Over 5 years you earn 126.1527 coins, ending with 626.1527 coins. The validator’s share comes to 14.017 coins.
If the price stays at $20, the stake is worth $12,523.05, a change of +25.23%. In the first year alone the rewards are 23.0125 coins, about $460.25 at today’s price.
Restaking, fees and price: what moves the result
Three inputs change the outcome, and they are not equally important.
| Change from the example | Coins earned | Value at the end |
|---|---|---|
| Example (10% fee, daily restaking, flat price) | 126.1527 | $12,523.05 |
| No restaking | 112.5 | $12,250.00 |
| Monthly instead of daily restaking | 125.8979 | $12,517.96 |
| No fee | 142.0017 | $12,840.03 |
| Price rises 10% a year | 126.1527 | $20,168.50 |
| Price falls 10% a year | 126.1527 | $7,394.74 |
How often you restake barely matters at a single-digit rate: daily and monthly restaking differ by a fraction of a coin. Whether you restake at all matters more, and the fee matters more again. The price assumption dwarfs all of them. A 10% yearly decline leaves the stake worth less than it started, even though the coin count grew by a quarter. Staking rewards are predictable in coins and uncertain in dollars.
APR, APY and quoted yields
Staking dashboards mix APR and APY, and the two are only equal when rewards are not restaked. The gap is small at low rates and large at high ones:
| Quoted APR | APY with daily restaking |
|---|---|
| 4% | 4.08% |
| 8% | 8.33% |
| 20% | 22.13% |
| 50% | 64.82% |
Going the other way, an advertised 12% APY restaked daily corresponds to an APR of 11.33%. That APR is what you earn if you take rewards out instead of restaking them. On many networks restaking is not automatic: you have to claim and re-delegate, which can cost a transaction fee each time, so restaking every day may not be worth it for small stakes.
Where staking yield comes from, and the risks
On proof-of-stake networks, rewards are paid mostly from newly issued coins plus a share of transaction fees. When rewards come from issuance, every holder’s share is diluted, and stakers are partly being compensated for that dilution. A high nominal yield on a coin with high issuance can leave a staker no better off in real terms than a lower yield on a coin with little issuance.
The main risks to weigh:
- Price risk. Rewards are paid in the coin, so the dollar result depends on the price, as the table above shows.
- Lockups and unbonding. Some networks hold staked coins for days or weeks after you ask to unstake, and you cannot sell them during that time.
- Slashing. On some networks a validator that goes offline or signs conflicting blocks loses part of the stake delegated to it. Choosing a validator is part of the risk.
- Platform risk. Staking through an exchange or a lending service means trusting that company with your coins. Liquid staking tokens add smart contract risk and can trade below the coin they represent.
- Rate changes. Reward rates usually fall as more coins are staked, so a constant rate for many years is a simplification.
Taxes on staking rewards
In the US, the IRS position in Revenue Ruling 2023-14 is that staking rewards are ordinary income when you gain dominion and control over them, measured at their fair market value at that moment. That has two practical effects. You can owe income tax on rewards even if you never sell them and the price later falls. And the value you report becomes the cost basis of those coins, so a later sale is a separate capital gains event. Keep a record of the date and dollar value of each reward. Our crypto tax calculator handles the sales; rules outside the US differ.
What this calculator does not include
- Changing reward rates. The APR is held constant for the whole period; real network rates move with the amount staked and with protocol changes.
- Taxes. Rewards are shown before income tax, and any tax paid in coins would reduce the stake.
- Transaction costs of claiming and restaking, and minimum stake amounts.
- Slashing, lockup periods and platform failures, which can cost far more than a year of rewards.
- Price paths. A constant yearly change is a simple assumption; real prices are volatile, and the order of gains and losses matters if you sell along the way.