7 Ways to Earn Passive Income from Crypto in 2026
From staking yields to liquidity providing, crypto offers multiple passive income streams. This guide covers the best 7 methods, their real APYs, risks, and how to get started with each.
Passive income from crypto has matured into a legitimate investment strategy. The days of 10,000% APY are over — but sustainable 5–20% yields exist across multiple strategies for investors who understand the risk/return trade-off.
1. Staking: The Safest Base Yield
- ETH liquid staking (Lido/Rocket Pool): 3–4% APY, protocol-level security
- SOL staking (Jito/Marinade): 6–8% APY, Solana network security
- AVAX staking: 7–9% APY with 2-week minimum lock
- DOT staking: 12–15% APY with 28-day unbonding period
2. Lending: Earn Interest on Deposits
Supply USDC or ETH to Aave, Compound, or Morpho. Earn 4–8% on stablecoins from borrower interest. Adjust exposure by chain (Arbitrum yields often 10–30% higher than mainnet for same assets due to lower competition). No lockup — withdraw any time.
3–7. Other Strategies
- LP provision (Curve stablecoin pools): 8–12% with minimal IL on stablecoin pairs
- Yield aggregators (Yearn, Beefy): auto-compound farming rewards; one-click strategies
- RWA yield tokens (Ondo USDY): 5% from tokenized T-Bills; near-zero volatility
- Perpetual funding rate farming: delta-neutral; earn positive funding in bull markets (10–25%)
- Options selling (Deribit covered calls): 15–30% annualized from selling covered calls on BTC/ETH