Binance Smart Chain (BSC), now often called BNB Chain, is a popular network for decentralized finance (DeFi) because of its low fees and fast transactions. Yield farming and staking on BSC are ways to earn passive crypto income by using your tokens.
In simple terms, yield farming usually means providing liquidity or lending assets on DeFi platforms to earn rewards (like interest or new tokens), while staking typically means locking up a cryptocurrency (often a platform’s native token) to support the network or project and getting rewards in return.
The appeal is that instead of letting your crypto sit idle, you can put it to work – somewhat like earning interest from a bank, but in a crypto way.
For beginners, it’s wise to focus on established BSC DeFi platforms that offer low to medium risk opportunities. Established platforms tend to be more secure (audited and tested) and have more predictable returns. Below we highlight some of the best yield farming and staking opportunities on BSC right now, explain why they’re attractive, what returns (APYs) you might expect, and how to get started with each. Let’s dive in!
PancakeSwap: BSC’s Biggest DeFi Hub
PancakeSwap is the largest decentralized exchange on BSC and a popular starting point for yield farmers. It’s well-known for its low fees and easy-to-use interface, making it beginner-friendly. PancakeSwap offers two main ways to earn: yield farming and staking.
Yield Farming on PancakeSwap
You can deposit token pairs into liquidity pools (for example, BNB and a stablecoin like USDT) and receive LP tokens. By staking those LP tokens in Farms, you earn PancakeSwap’s reward token, CAKE. PancakeSwap has a wide variety of farms, and returns can range from modest to very high depending on the tokens. For instance, a relatively safe stablecoin pair might yield on the order of ~10–20% APY in farming rewards, whereas popular volatile pairs (like BNB with USDT or USDC) have at times offered triple-digit APYs during incentive periods.
(Indeed, some users reported 100%+ annual returns on major BNB pools when rewards were high – though these rates can fluctuate and usually come down over time). Keep in mind that with any liquidity pool comes impermanent loss (IL), which is a temporary loss in value compared to just holding the tokens, if their prices change a lot. As a beginner, you might stick to pools with at least one stablecoin to minimize volatility, or smaller portions until you understand IL.
Staking on PancakeSwap
If managing LP pairs sounds complicated, PancakeSwap also lets you stake CAKE itself in Syrup Pools. You simply deposit (lock) your CAKE and earn rewards – sometimes in CAKE, or in other tokens (from new projects). This is easier (single asset, no pairing) and avoids IL. The trade-off is the APY might be lower than riskier farms. Currently, staking CAKE can yield roughly 10–15% APY (it has been around ~11% recently), which is still quite attractive for a relatively established token. PancakeSwap even introduced a locked staking (veCAKE) system where longer lock-ups can boost your rewards, but you can also do flexible staking if you want access to your funds sooner.
Why PancakeSwap?
It’s the most trusted DeFi platform on BSC, with a strong track record and community. It’s frequently audited and has solid security measures, so the platform risk is relatively low. The variety of farms and pools means you can find something that fits your risk level – from low-risk stablecoin farms to higher-yield exotic token pairs. PancakeSwap’s CAKE rewards and additional features (like lotteries and NFTs) make it a fun ecosystem. For beginners, the interface is intuitive and there are lots of guides available.
How to get started on PancakeSwap:
- Set up a BSC-compatible wallet like MetaMask or Trust Wallet, and fund it with some BNB (for gas fees) plus the tokens you want to farm or stake.
- Go to the official PancakeSwap site and connect your wallet.
- If yield farming, use the Liquidity section to add liquidity for your chosen token pair (you’ll receive LP tokens). Then head to the Farms tab, find the corresponding farm, and stake your LP tokens.
If staking CAKE, go to the Pools tab (Syrup Pools), choose a CAKE pool, and stake your CAKE. - That’s it – you’ll start earning rewards! You can harvest (claim) your earned tokens periodically with a button click. Just remember to keep some BNB handy to pay transaction fees when harvesting or unstaking.
Beefy Finance: Hands-Off Auto-Compounding
Beefy Finance is a popular yield aggregator on BSC (and other chains) that makes yield farming easier by automatically compounding your rewards. In essence, Beefy provides “vaults” for various farms: you deposit into a Beefy vault, and it will farm a platform like PancakeSwap on your behalf, periodically reinvesting the rewards to generate higher yield. This “set-and-forget” approach is great for beginners who want to maximize returns without manually harvesting and re-staking rewards every day.
Why Beefy is attractive:
Auto-compounding can significantly boost your effective APY. For example, if a PancakeSwap farm offers 50% APR, Beefy’s vault for that farm will continuously reinvest the CAKE rewards, turning it into perhaps ~60%+ APY (the exact boost depends on frequency of compounding). Some Beefy vaults on BSC currently show double-digit or even higher APYs – for instance, there have been vaults with around 40–50% APY on certain token pairs. Beefy’s platform is also known for its focus on safety (they’ve been around since 2020 with no major breaches) and efficiency. It’s one of the well-audited platforms on BSC, which adds confidence.
Using Beefy can be considered a medium risk strategy: you still face the underlying risks of whatever pool you’re in (e.g. impermanent loss if it’s an LP vault, or price risk of the token you stake), and you also have smart contract risk of Beefy itself. However, Beefy has proven quite reliable, and it saves you time and the headache of manual compounding.
How to get started on Beefy:
- First, decide which vault you want to use – Beefy has vaults for many PancakeSwap farms and other protocols.
- You’ll usually need to have the correct token or LP token ready. Beefy’s site can help by providing a “Zap” feature (which converts a single asset into the LP needed), simplifying the process.
- Go to the Beefy app, find your vault, and click Deposit.
- Once deposited, Beefy takes over. You’ll see your deposit and the APY. Rewards are auto-compounding within the vault, but you can withdraw your deposit (plus accumulated gains) anytime by clicking Withdraw.
Venus Protocol: Lending for Steady Yields
Venus is BSC’s leading money market protocol – basically a decentralized lending and borrowing platform (similar to Ethereum’s Compound or Aave). For a beginner interested in staking with relatively low risk, Venus offers a more straightforward opportunity: you can deposit (lend) assets to earn interest.
Why Venus is attractive:
Lending on Venus is like a crypto savings account. You supply an asset (e.g. BNB, USDT, BUSD, ETH, etc.) to Venus’s pool, and you earn an interest rate paid by borrowers. Venus also mints its governance token XVS as incentives. The returns are typically lower risk and more stable than wild yield farming APYs. For example, supplying a stablecoin like USDT might earn around 5% APY in interest plus another ~6% APY in XVS rewards, roughly ~11% total APY at current rates.
The key point is these yields are earned without needing to manage LP tokens or worry about impermanent loss – since you’re just lending one asset.
How to get started on Venus:
- Go to the Venus app (venus.io) and connect your BSC wallet.
- On the Supply market, choose an asset you want to lend.
- Click Supply for that asset, approve the token for use, and then confirm the amount to deposit.
- Once supplied, you’ll start earning interest right away.
(Optional advanced note: Venus allows you to turn on an asset as collateral and borrow against it, but borrowing is a more advanced move that incurs interest to pay.)
Other Notable BSC DeFi Platforms (ApeSwap, BiSwap, etc.)
ApeSwap
You can provide liquidity and farm BANANA tokens, or stake BANANA in pools to earn other tokens. ApeSwap often attracts new projects, and sometimes the APYs can be quite high. However, these higher rewards come with higher risk – BANANA is a more volatile token than CAKE.
BiSwap
BiSwap offers low trading fees (0.1%) and dual rewards. In many BiSwap farms, you earn both BSW and a partner token. Some pools offer extremely high promotional APRs. Outside of promotions, you might find more moderate yields. BiSwap is considered fairly user-friendly and is also audited.
Others
There are other platforms like Alpaca Finance (leveraged yield farming), mdex, or Ellipsis. These are more advanced and best explored after getting comfortable with the basics.
Getting Started: Basic Steps for Yield Farming on BSC
If you’re new to BSC yield farming or staking, here’s a simple step-by-step to begin:
- Set Up a Wallet
You will need a crypto wallet that supports BSC. Many people use MetaMask (which can be configured to work with BSC) or Trust Wallet on mobile. Set up the wallet and add BSC (you may need to add the BSC network RPC if using MetaMask – guides are available, but some wallets like Trust Wallet have BSC by default).
- Acquire BNB and Tokens
Get some BNB – this is the native coin used for transaction fees on BSC. Even for farming stablecoins, you’ll need a little BNB to pay gas. You can buy BNB on Millionero and withdraw to your wallet. Also get the tokens you plan to farm or stake (e.g., if you want to farm on a BNB/BUSD pool, acquire some BNB and BUSD in your wallet; if you want to stake CAKE, get some CAKE tokens, etc.).
- Go to the DeFi Platform’s App
Navigate to the official website of the platform you want to use (e.g., PancakeSwap’s site, Beefy’s app, Venus’s app). Connect your wallet – usually there’s a “Connect Wallet” button. Make sure the site is legitimate (double-check the URL to avoid phishing sites).
- Perform the Deposit/Stake
This depends on the strategy: If you’re yield farming, you’ll typically go to the platform’s Liquidity section first to supply the token pair and receive LP tokens, then go to the Farm and stake those LP tokens. If you’re doing single-asset staking, just go straight to the staking or pool section and deposit your tokens. For lending (Venus), go to the supply market and deposit the asset. Each action will prompt a transaction from your wallet (you’ll approve the token spend, then confirm the deposit), costing a small BNB fee (usually just a few cents or maybe a dollar or two at most on BSC).
- Earn and Monitor
Once staked or supplied, you’ll start earning rewards. You can typically see your accrued rewards on the platform’s dashboard. There’s usually a “Harvest” or “Claim” button to collect rewards (in farms) – you can do this whenever, but remember each harvest costs a bit of gas. Some people harvest daily, others wait until the amount is worth the fee. In Beefy vaults, rewards auto-compound so there’s nothing to claim (your deposit just grows). On Venus, your interest is continuously accruing – if you withdraw, it comes out with your principal, and you can claim any XVS rewards periodically.
- Reinvest or Withdraw
If you want to compound manually, you can harvest your rewards and then add them back into your stake (e.g., sell earned tokens for more of your LP tokens or stake more CAKE – though doing this manually on PancakeSwap costs gas each time). With Beefy, this is automatic. You can also choose to withdraw your initial deposit and earned rewards whenever you want. To withdraw, unstake your tokens (and if it’s LP, you can then remove liquidity to get the two underlying assets back). Always be mindful of any lock-up if you participated in something like a fixed-term staking pool (most flexible farms/pools allow instant withdrawal, but some special pools might have a time lock).
Tips for Safe Yield Farming and Staking
Start Small & Learn
As a beginner, it’s wise to start with a small amount of funds to get familiar with how everything works. You can always scale up once you’re comfortable.
Stick to Reputable Platforms
We focused on PancakeSwap, Beefy, Venus, etc., because they have a good reputation and security track record on BSC. Especially when starting out, avoid random new farms promising 10000% APY – many of those are unsustainable or could be outright scams. Remember the golden rule: “Be cautious of unsustainably high APYs. If something looks too good to be true, it probably is.” It’s better to earn a steady 10–50% on a trusted platform than chase 1000% on a sketchy one and lose your funds.
Understand Impermanent Loss (IL)
If you provide liquidity for yield farming, you are exposed to impermanent loss. In simple terms, IL is the difference in value you’d have by holding the tokens versus providing liquidity, caused by price changes. If one token’s price pumps or dumps a lot relative to the other, you might end up with less total value when you withdraw from the pool (though farming rewards can offset this).
To minimize IL, you can choose stablecoin pairs (e.g., USDT/BUSD) where both assets stay at $1 – these have essentially no IL, so they’re lower risk (but usually lower APY). Or pair a major coin with a stablecoin (e.g., BNB/BUSD) where at least one side is stable.
Diversify Across Pools/Tokens
Don’t put all your funds into one single pool or platform. It’s a good idea to spread across a few opportunities. For example, you might stake some CAKE, also lend some stablecoins on Venus, and maybe try a small PancakeSwap farm.
Keep Some BNB for Fees
Always maintain a little BNB in your wallet for transaction fees. Nothing’s worse than wanting to unstake or harvest and not being able to because you have 0 in BNB. Even 5–10 USDT worth of BNB can cover a lot of transactions on BSC.
Use Official Links and Enable Security Features
This is more of a general security tip – only use the official websites or verified links for these platforms. BSC has had phishing sites that mimic PancakeSwap or others. If using MetaMask, you can bookmark the correct URLs. Also consider enabling features like MetaMask’s phishing detection or using tools like Blocksite to avoid known scam sites. basically, double-check URLs and never share your seed phrase.
Monitor Your Investments
Keep an eye on your positions. Also watch APYs – they can change daily as more people join the farm or as token prices change. If a farm’s APY drops too low for your liking, you might move to a different farm. On Beefy, check that the vault is still performing well; on Venus, watch that the interest rate remains attractive. It doesn’t mean you need to stare at it constantly, but maybe check in every few days or once a week.
Harvest/Recompound Wisely
For manual farms, consider harvesting rewards periodically and either selling them to secure profit or reinvesting them to compound. Just remember frequent harvesting has diminishing returns if gas fees eat a chunk of it (on BSC the fees are low but not zero). Beefy handles this for you automatically in vaults (which is why it’s convenient!).
Stay Informed
DeFi is always evolving. Follow the communities (Twitter, Telegram, etc.) of the platforms you use for updates. Sometimes platforms will reduce rewards or a new opportunity arises with better returns. By staying informed, you can make adjustments. Also, keep learning – terms like APY, liquidity, collateral factor (for Venus) will all make more sense with time. The fact that you’re reading this means you’re on the right track!
Final Thoughts
Finally, remember that while yield farming and staking can provide great returns, nothing in crypto is without risk. Manage your expectations. Earning 10–20% APY on a relatively stable strategy is already fantastic in the world of traditional finance.
As long as you choose solid platforms, understand the basics of what you’re doing, and don’t overextend yourself, yield farming and staking on BSC can be a rewarding and even fun way to grow your crypto holdings.
This is not financial advice, and always do your own research before making any moves. For more guides like this, check out blog.millionero.com, where we break down DeFi, crypto tools, and trading tips suitable for beginners. And if you’re looking for a secure, easy-to-use exchange to start your crypto journey beyond DeFi, head over to Millionero.
Happy farming, and welcome to the DeFi journey on BSC!