Zakat on Staking and Mining Rewards

Short answer: Not immediately. Rewards join your total monetary wealth, and paying 2.5% on whatever you hold on your fixed annual zakat day discharges the duty — the simplest and safest method. Details: Wealth gained mid-year (māl mustafād) in principle needs its own hawl, but combining it with your existing nisab-holding wealth on one annual date is valid and better — it merely pays some zakat slightly early, and advancing zakat is permissible. Shaykh al-Uthaymin advised salaried people exactly this. Evidence: Ibn Majah 1792 (hawl condition, sahih per al-Albani); Quran 9:103; Shaykh al-Uthaymin's guidance on periodic income (Majmuʿ Fatawa wa Rasa'il, Zakat). Caution: Staking schemes paying guaranteed interest-like returns, or lending funds at interest, may fall under riba (Quran 2:275) — verify the scheme. Mining itself is service-based earning and is not inherently objectionable. For complex individual cases, consult a qualified scholar.