# Purpose The core purpose of the WISE token—staking—is similar to both bonds and CDs (certificates of deposit): rewarding the holder with earned interest in exchange for locking up their funds for a period of time. WISE incorporates some of the features from both of these traditional instruments but improves greatly upon them. **CDs** tend to be lower risk, lower return, and only pay out interest on their maturity date. **Bonds** tend to be somewhat higher risk, higher return, and pay out interest regularly on a set schedule (typically every six months). **WISE** is most similar to a bond, in that it earns relatively high interest, but allows users to withdraw it whenever they want. **WISE is superior to bonds and CDs in every way:** WISE gives the staker complete flexibility in choosing exactly when to withdraw their interest during the life of the stake. You can withdraw interest daily, irregularly, wait until maturity, or whatever you like! WISE stakes have higher return, much lower risk (due to being decentralized and trustless), and far higher flexibility than both bonds and CDs. No more trusting banks and governments to stay solvent and not change their rules. No more worrying that a bond issuer may default on you. WISE is pure, immutable code. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.wisetoken.net/wise-token/wise-ethereum/introduction/purpose.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.