Important update
Digital Surge went into administration in late 2022, stating that they had exposure to FTX prior to the exchange’s downfall.
Digital Surge users are now able to earn rewards on their cryptocurrency holdings and SMSF through the use of the newly introduced Earn feature. By lending your cryptocurrency to Digital Surge, you can receive daily rewards into your Digital Surge account.
What is Digital Surge Earn?
Earn is a lending program that allows users to passively earn interest on their crypto portfolio or SMSF. All you need to do is simply lend the eligible cryptocurrency in your portfolio to Digital Surge, and the Earn feature allows you to receive the advertised Annual Percentage Yield (APY) as an interest return.
Interest is compounded daily and paid out monthly into your Digital Surge account (similar to how banks calculate and pay out interest). The interest is paid in the coin that you stake. You can view the rewards you have accrued in your wallet at any time.
Unlike typical loan agreements, Digital Surge allows you to redeem your loaned crypto and the interest earned on it at any time. This means you aren’t locked into any long term or fixed contract – how long you loan your crypto to Digital Surge is totally up to you.
Does Digital Surge have staking?
Digital Surge does indeed offer a staking program. Though staking differs from Earn, the practical effect is the same for users.
In simple terms, staking is only available on cryptocurrencies that use a Proof of Stake blockchain, however some platforms in Australia allow you to earn interest on other coins like Bitcoin and stablecoins.
Digital Surge’s Earn feature is only available for Proof of Stake coins. This is why the terms ‘stake’ and ‘earn’ are often used interchangeably.
How to use Earn
If you don’t already have a Digital Surge account, you can create one here.
Once you have created a Digital Surge account, or if you already have one, you can simply follow the below steps to start earning rewards on your crypto:
Step 1: Deposit funds into your account. To do this, click on the ‘Deposit money’ or ‘Deposit funds’ button. Select your payment method and follow the instructions to complete the deposit.
Step 2: Buy eligible cryptocurrency. Click the ‘Buy & Sell’ button, find the cryptocurrency you wish to buy, and select the adjacent ‘Buy’ button. You will need to type in how much AUD you will be spending, and confirm your purchase by selecting the ‘Buy’ button at the bottom of the page.
Step 3: Head to the Earn section of the Digital Surge platform and select one (or more) of the available cryptocurrencies in your portfolio to lend to Digital Surge. Click on the ‘Earn’ button next to the coin you wish to earn interest on, and continue with the prompts to start earning rewards. The 11 eligible cryptocurrencies are listed below.
Step 4: Watch your crypto earnings grow via the Earn tab in the app!
What cryptocurrencies can you stake on Digital Surge
Below is the list of the 13 cryptocurrencies you can earn a yield on through the Digital Surge Earn feature:
- Algorand (ALGO)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Cosmos (ATOM)
- Flow (FLOW)
- Kava (KAVA)
- Kusama (KSM)
- Mina (MINA)
- Polkadot (DOT)
- Polygon (MATIC)
- Secret (SCRT)
- Solana (SOL)
- Tezos (XTZ)
- Tron (TRX)
Additional coins may be added in the future. This list will be updated to reflect any changes in the Digital Surge staking list.
Digital Surge Earn rates
| Cryptocurrency | Interest rate (APY) |
| Algorand (ALGO) | 1-4% |
| Cardano (ADA) | 4-6% |
| Cosmos (ATOM) | 12-15% |
| Flow (FLOW) | 6-9% |
| Kava (KAVA) | Up to 23% |
| Kusama (KSM) | up to 18% |
| Mina (MINA) | 12-20% |
| Polkadot (DOT) | 9-12% |
| Polygon (MATIC) | 8-14% |
| Secret (SCRT) | 18-21% |
| Solana (SOL) | 5-8% |
| Tezos (XTZ) | Up to 5% |
| Tron (TRX) | 4-7% |
Digital Surge Earn fees
Digital Surge does not charge any fees to stake cryptocurrency on their platform. However, there are fees for buying and selling crypto on their exchange.
The risks of Earn and staking
The main risk of using the Earn feature is price fluctuations. For instance you might purchase a cryptocurrency that offers a 12% staking rate. If this coin loses over 12% of its value since you purchased it, then you may end up losing more value than you’ve gained from staking. However, Digital Surge does not lock users into any sort of fixed lending agreement, meaning you are free to withdraw your cryptocurrency and redeem your rewards at any time. In this regard, any risk to the user is very low.
We also mentioned earlier that Digital Surge only offers on-chain staking as part of their Earn feature. This means that yield is generated through native on-chain staking (i.e. the asset is always held as the original asset), and the protocol will typically have a fixed percentage of tokens to be distributed as rewards. Therefore, your staked crypto is not at risk of a liquidation event.
Digital Surge alternatives
Digital Surge is one of the most popular crypto trading platforms in Australia. Other platforms like Swyftx and Coinspot also offer staking. You can view our list of the best places to stake crypto in Australia.
The Swyftx staking feature currently allows users to earn interest on 20+ cryptocurrencies, with interest rates ranging up to 80% APY.
Staking on Coinspot, Australia’ largest crypto exchange, is very easy. They offer staking on 20+ cryptocurrencies including Ethereum (ETH).