Coinbase adds Ethereum staking feature for US institutional investors

Clients will be able to earn income from ETH placements through the Coinbase Prime paid extension

02.08.2022 - 11:05

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What’s new? Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has added Ethereum staking options for US institutional investors through its Coinbase Prime subscription. According to the company’s blog post, clients can create a wallet and initiate staking from the ETH asset page in their account of the exchange’s paid extension. Withdrawal keys will be stored in Coinbase’s cold wallet. Staking transactions must be pre-confirmed for increased security.

Coinbase Blog

What is known about ETH staking? A tentative release date for The Merge upgrade, which will see the Ethereum network change its consensus algorithm from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS), is scheduled for late September. After the upgrade, the way people earn money on the blockchain will change from mining to staking. Beginning December 1, 2020, investors have the option to add ETH to staking in the testnet with the prospect of becoming a validator after the transition to Ethereum 2.0.

As of August 2, 11:00 UTC, ETH is trading at $1584, having lost 4,34% in price per day, according to Binance.

In July, Coinbase dropped out of the top 10 digital asset exchanges in terms of trading volume, moving up to 14th place. Since 2021, the platform was ranked 4th in this rating. According to Mizuho, Coinbase’s share among the world’s top 30 exchanges is only 2,9% in July.

For more details on how the crypto winter has affected investors whose coins are locked in the Ethereum 2.0 testnet, see GetBlock Magazine’s feature.

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