Just in time for Ethereum’s next Shanghai update, which will soon allow users to withdraw the ether (ETH) they “staked” or “bet” to help secure the network, popular wallet provider MetaMask is turning around. to help many users to start betting.
ConsenSys, the company behind MetaMask, said Friday that it is adding a new staking feature to the MetaMask portfolio: its recently launched one-stop-shop for users to view their cryptocurrency holdings and send (or “bridge”) them between different blockchains. . MetaMask’s new staking feature will allow users to stake via Lido or Rocket Pool, the two leading community-run validation services.
Staking via Lido and Rocket Pool involves locking the held ethereum into a smart contract on the blockchain where it will accumulate rewards. This action currently requires visiting the respective Lido and Rocket Pools websites.
“By enabling staking through the MetaMask Portfolio dapp, we are offering MetaMask users a convenient way to interact with staking providers,” Abad Mian, MetaMask’s product manager, said in a statement he shared with CoinDesk. .
Until the next Ethereum update, called Shanghai, scheduled for March, it will be impossible for users to withdraw staked ether and any accumulated rewards. Liquid staking services like Lido and Rocket Pool get around this limitation by giving their depositors tokens that represent a one-for-one right to their staked ETH. These tokens, Lido’s stETH and Rocket Pool’s rETH, tend to trade on the open market at a slight discount to regular ETH, giving users a way to get in and out of staked positions even now that withdrawals they are blocked.
With MetaMask staking, “clients can swap their stETH and rETH to ETH via MetaMask Swaps, subject to certain fees,” ConsenSys stated in a statement.
ConsenSys representatives declined to have an interview with CoinDesk for this article. Asked via email if MetaMask could expand staking to other staking services or to blockchains other than Ethereum, Mian said that ConsenSys’ goal is to make staking through MetaMask “the easiest and most convenient way to staking on Web3”.