We do the research, you get the alpha!
Get exclusive reports and access key insights on airdrops, NFTs and more! Subscribe to Alpha Reports now and improve your game!
Access Alpha reports
MetaMask, a leading Ethereum wallet and browser extension, has launched its staking service, allowing users to stake any amount of ETH.
Ethereum staking is the mechanism by which validators in the proof-of-stake network participate in consensus or verification of transactions before they are added to the blockchain. If their nodes process blocks of online transactions and process the blocks when they are allocated, they collect rewards. And if they don’t, they can have their ETH stake reduced as a penalty.
But users need 32 ETH to become a validator – a criterion that 99% of holders do not meet, MetaMask said in its press release.
Pooling will allow MetaMask users to stake any amount of ETH and earn rewards for their contribution to the security of the network. The service is currently available to a small group of users, with a wider rollout expected soon.
However, it will not be available in the US or UK initially.
The crackdown on staking services in the United States has been severe. In 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission Kraken fined Kraken $30 million in a settlement regarding charges that its crypto staking service constituted an unregistered offering of securities. Coinbase saw its reduced staking service after the The SEC has made similar allegations against the San Francisco-based crypto exchange.
In the United Kingdom, the situation is a little less dire, but remains unclear.
Economic Secretary to the Treasury Bim Afolami promised in February this year, the staking and stablecoin rules would be read in six months. Asked about progress at the Financial Times Crypto and Digital Assets Summit, he said he was still confident the rules would be implemented.
“I am confident that we will be able to achieve secondary legislation regarding staking and stablecoins,” Afolami said at the event in London. “Both of these things are top priorities in the coming weeks and months.”
Some members of the Ethereum community saw regulatory pressure or lack of clarity as an opportunity to further decentralize the network. Currently, the United States accounts for 50% of all validator nodes in the network, followed by Germany with 12%, South Korea with 6%, and the United Kingdom with 4%, according to Etherscan.
Matthieu Saint Olive, senior product manager at Consensys, the company behind Metamask, highlighted the simplicity and control offered by the new service. “MetaMask users now have an easy way to stake ETH in enterprise-grade validators while maintaining full control of their ETH, earning rewards and making Ethereum more secure,” he said. he declares.
MetaMask’s bulk staking is backed by Consensys Staking, which manages over 33,000 Ethereum validators and over 1 million ETH staked. The company boasted in its press release that it has no minted validators and a validator participation rate of 99.9%.
MetaMask’s move to bulk staking pits it against established players like Lido and Coinbase, which still offer its staking service. internationally and in several US states. Together, the two providers account for almost 45% of the 33 million ETH (worth $116 billion at the time of writing) that has been staked on the network.
Lido, the largest liquid staking platform, allows users to stake ETH and receive Lido Staked Ethereum (stETH) tokens, which can be used in DeFi applications while earning an annual percentage yield (APY) about 3.8%. The project’s extensive liquidity and its integration with numerous dApps make it a formidable competitor.
Meanwhile, Coinbase, despite having to reduce the availability of its staking service, remains by far the second largest pooled staking provider. Its 15% share is three times that of the next two competitors Figment, Ether.fi and Kiln.fi.
Daily debriefing bulletin
Start each day with the biggest news stories of the day, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
Fuente
