MetaMask developer Consensys has launched pooled staking for the popular web3 wallet. This allows users to stake any amount of Ethereum to contribute to the security of the Ethereum network and earn validator rewards.
Prior to launch, only users holding at least 32 ETH (about $113,000), the minimum amount required by the Ethereum protocol, could hold stakes on validators run by the company by default.
MetaMask users can de-stake Ethereum at any time, but the process may have a waiting time that may vary depending on the current Ethereum validator exit queue.
MetaMask’s pooled staking service is being rolled out in stages, using the open, modular architecture of Ethereum’s liquid staking protocol StakeWise to support select smart contracts, making it available to a subset of eligible users starting today, with more to come. The expected.
“Now with pooled staking, MetaMask users can earn rewards while retaining full control of their ETH and stake their ETH on enterprise-grade validators while making Ethereum more secure,” said Matthieu Saint Olive, senior product manager at Consensys, in a statement. “Now we have an easy way to do it.” “We are excited to offer our staking solution to more MetaMask users.”
According to The Block’s data dashboard, about 27.1% of Ethereum’s supply is currently held on the network, most of it in a few large pools, Consensys said. By launching MetaMask Pooled Staking, the company aims to make native Ethereum validator staking accessible to more users.
Liquid staking solutions, such as those from Lido and Rocket Pool, offer similar solutions for smaller amounts of ETH without requiring the full 32 ETH. It also provides liquid staking tokens based on underlying assets that can be used elsewhere in DeFi while still accumulating staking rewards.
Not available in the US or UK.
Due to regulatory uncertainty, the initial launch will not be available to MetaMask users in the US or UK. However, Consensys said it plans to eventually introduce full staking to these markets as well.
Consensys says MetaMask full staking is backed by over 33,000 Ethereum validators hosted on a multi-cloud, multi-region and multi-client infrastructure, with over 1 million ETH staked and no validators slashed (no penalties). They claim that over 99.9% of validators participate. ratio.
Last month, MetaMask announced its intention to launch support for Bitcoin for the first time, following similar moves by other web3 wallet providers such as Phantom. In April, MetaMask integrated with Daylight to allow users to check their eligibility for airdrops and potential NFT claims.
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