Share this article
Coinbase Opens Waitlist for Ethereum 2.0 Staking
Coinbase is the latest exchange to offer staking services for the rebooted Ethereum network.
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 12:12 p.m. Published Feb 16, 2021, 5:45 p.m.
Coinbase’s waitlist for Ethereum 2.0 staking is live.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Per a blog post shared with CoinDesk, Coinbase customers can now sign up to stake their ETH into the Beacon Chain smart contract, the coordinator and bridge between the old Ethereum and Ethereum 2.0, the network’s momentous migration to a proof-of-stake network.
This upgrade will do away with proof-of-work mining in favor of staking. Typically, you need 32 ETH to run a validator node for Ethereum’s new blockchain, but Coinbase will allow their users to stake any amount of ETH in their account.
Rhea Kaw, a senior product manager for Coinbase’s retail team, told CoinDesk that Coinbase users could earn up to 7.5% APR on their staked ETH, depending on the Ethereum network’s variable rate of return.
In exchange for the service, Coinbase “take[s] a commission on all rewards received, and the return rate for our customers reflects this commission,” Kaw said. Per Coinbase’s User Agreement, this staking commission is 25% of the rewards received.
In addition to the forthcoming Ethereum staking option, Coinbase users can also stake Algorand (ALGO), Cosmos (ATOM) and Tezos (XTZ) tokens.
Besides Coinbase, Kraken exchange also stakes ETH on behalf of their customers and is actively depositing ETH into Ethereum 2.0’s Beacon Chain contract. Popular web and software wallet MyEtherWallet supports in-app Eth 2.0 staking as well.
Ethereum 2.0: Ethereum’s big leap
The “Beacon Chain” – the backbone of Ethereum’s new design – went live in December and so did Ethereum 2.0’s deposit contract. To claim a stake in the new network, Ethereans can deposit legacy ETH into this contract to convert it to ETH2 (aka Beacon Chain ETH, or BETH).
Once ether is deposited into the Beacon Chain, it cannot be withdrawn directly – however, using an exchange will be one way of getting around this restriction. Kaw told CoinDesk that “initially, [Coinbase] customers will not be able to sell or send the portion of [ether] that they choose to stake. However, Coinbase is exploring avenues by which to give customers a way to trade their staked ETH very soon.”
“All [ether] will ultimately automatically migrate to ETH2 once the network has been fully updated,” Kaw concluded.
There is currently $5.5 billion worth of ether locked in the Beacon Chain deposit contract.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Bitcoin Treads Water Near $90K as Bitfinex Warns of 'Fragile Setup' to Shocks
BTC's relative weakness compared to stocks points to tepid spot demand, making the largest crypto vulnerable to macro volatility, Bitfinex analysts said.
What to know:
- Bitcoin erased very modest overnight gains early Monday and spent the rest of the U.S. session in a tight range around the $90,000 level.
- Rising long bond yields and a small U.S. equities pulling back weighed on risk appetite as traders eye this week's Federal Reserve meeting.
- Bitfinex analysts pointed out bitcoin's relative weakness against U.S. stocks amid modest spot demand and structural softness.
Top Stories
