I haven’t been trading crypto for over a year now.
Browser
I used Brave browser for over 9 months and got almost 40 BAT tokens (~$20).
It was a novel experience at first, getting paid for viewing ads. However, the payout wasn’t great, and my tax return got more complicated this year due to the earning in crypto. I also didn’t want to get distracted whenever I used browser.
I could turn off the crypto feature in Brave, but then there wasn’t any reason to use Brave over Chrome or Firefox. After all, it was the crypto feature that attracted me to try the browser.
In the end, I switched back to regular old Firefox.
Broker
I have an account with Gemini. When Gemini was paying 8% APY to hold GUSD stablecoin, I deposited some money to test the water. It had been a great experience without any issue.
However, due to recent bankruptcies in crypto world and the cut in interest rate, I had withdrawn my money out of Gemini. This decision turned out to be great as Gemini halted withdrawal in November 2022.
Staking
For some cryptos, a new transaction is validated either by mining or staking.
Let’s use an example to explain staking, I hold some tokens in ABC exchange. ABC can use my and other customers’ holdings to validate a new block. If ABC is chosen by the network, and they successfully create the block, ABC will distribute the rewards to individuals.
This is similar to a saving account where I hold my money in an account and the bank will pay me a small interest. A saving account is safer because it is insured. In the worst case that the bank goes out of business, I can still get my money back.
As far as I know, there is no insurance for cryptos, which explains the higher staking rewards.