ConsenSys launches institutional staking marketplace on MetaMask

ConsenSys has created the first staking marketplace for organizations on the MetaMask Institutional web3 wallet.

In a Twitter thread on March 22, MetaMask Institutional, a web3 wallet for institutions, announced that its developer, ConsenSys, has launched the first marketplace for institutional staking on Ethereum (ETH).

According to the tweets, ConsenSys built the marketplace with four leading staking providers: Allnodes, Blockdaemon, Kiln, and ConsenSys Staking.

MetaMask Institutional is the first multi-custodial institutional web3 product on the market that supports hot and cold wallets. It allows institutions to access decentralized applications (dApps), swap tokens across decentralized exchanges (DEXs), send transactions securely with EIP-712 signatures, and now stake ETH easily with its new marketplace.

Per ConsenSys, the new marketplace aims to simplify and provide access to institutional staking by offering one-click staking, standardized terms and conditions, institutional-grade reporting, and streamlined access to top-tier staking providers.

It will also allow organizations to compare providers based on their fees, rebates, infrastructure quality, and certifications.

MetaMask Institutional is also launching advanced capabilities such as institutional controls, portfolio management, digital asset monitoring with built-in profit and loss and performance attribution, and in-depth transaction reporting.

The company hopes its new offering will redefine the institutional web3 experience with a more powerful web3 portfolio dashboard. It expects the features to go live on March 27.

Despite regulatory uncertainty caused by SEC chair Gary Gensler’s comments, staking has become especially important for the Ethereum network since it transitioned from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) after the Merge in September 2022.

Analysts feel institutional staking can boost Ethereum’s network security by increasing the amount of ETH locked up in validators. It can also allow institutions to earn passive income while supporting web3 innovation.

Since the Merge, users have stoked more than 17.7 million ETH on Ethereum 2.0. Furthermore, the Shanghai/Capella upgrade, scheduled for sometime in April 2023, is tipped to enable withdrawals of staked ETH, a move experts believe could drive further institutional adoption because it would offer greater asset flexibility and control.