MetaMask Launches Ethereum Staking Service, There’s a Catch

MetaMask, developed by Consensys, has introduced a new pooled staging service for Ethereum. This service enables one to stake any quantity of Ether (ETH).

However, owing to some restrictions, the service is unavailable for users from the United States of America and the United Kingdom at the moment.

MetaMask Launches Ethereum Staking Service

MetaMask’s pooled staking service is a new concept of interaction with Ethereum’s staking mechanisms. Before, one had to have at least 32 ETH (about $113,000) to stake directly with validators run by Consensys. This high threshold prevented many from participating in the benefits and obligations of safeguarding the blockchain.

The new service uses the Ethereum liquid staking protocol StakeWise that is based on the open modular architecture. This means that users can stake any amount of their choice, which is a good thing because it opens up the platform to more people. According to Matthieu Saint Olive, Senior Product Manager at Consensys, 

“With Pooled Staking, the MetaMask users now have a simple and easy way of staking their ETH in the enterprise-grade validators while at the same time being able to manage their ETH, and earning rewards as well as making Ethereum secure. ”

Users in the U.S. and the UK Excluded

Despite the innovative approach to staking, MetaHash initially rolled out this service without users in the U.S. and the UK having access. This decision is made due to the constant changes in the regulatory environment in these jurisdictions.

Consensys plans to roll out pooled staking into these markets as the legal situation becomes clearer.

To date, the pooled staking of MetaMask relies on more than 33,000 of the hosted Ethereum validators. These validators are placed in the multi-cloud, multi-region, and multi-client environments with more than 1 million ETH staked. Consensys reports a 99. 9% of these validators are active, and none of them has been slashed or penalized.

Bitcoin Support on the Horizon for MetaMask

Concurrently, as reported by Coingape earlier, MetaMask revealed its intentions to add Bitcoin (BTC), the first non-Ethereum blockchain to the wallet. This future feature will help to close the operational hole between the Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems, giving users a single interface for creating the cryptocurrency management. The integration is expected to go live in the next month with more details about the integration yet to be disclosed.

The integration of Bitcoin into MetaMask comes in the wake of improvements in the Bitcoin protocol that supports NFT-like features and other smart contracts. This integration is a significant enhancement in Meta Mask, and it is in harmony with the general evolution of cryptocurrency where different systems are gradually integrating.

Meanwhile, the price of Ethereum (ETH) rebounded after the cooling of U.S. CPI inflation data, which boosted market confidence. At press time, ETH was trading at $3,635, a 3.50% surge from the intra-day low of $3,434.

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