Gemini, a major cryptocurrency exchange with its headquarters in New York, declared on Thursday that it has started offering “Gemini Staking,” a staking program that enables users to lock up their funds in their accounts and earn incentives or interest.
Customers can start staking MATIC on the Polygon network now, according to Gemini, with plans to include Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Polkadot (DOT), and Audius (AUDIO) following the Merge’s launch the following month.
Gemini’s vice president of products, Layla Amjadi, claimed that the company’s decision to introduce its staking services was mostly driven by the interest of its clients, who were affected by the Merge.
“The launch of Gemini Staking underscores our continued commitment to offering a full suite of innovative options for our customers to put their crypto assets to work,” said Franck Kengne, Product manager at Gemini.
“We continue to seek out new ways to help our customers grow their crypto portfolios and tailor them to their risk appetite — staking is an important next step in that evolution.”
“Staking is key to Proof-of-Stake consensus systems, where users pledge crypto to authenticate transactions on a blockchain network securely,” said Gemini. Users who have staked their cryptocurrency are rewarded with tokens once it has been validated.
According to Gemini, users can access the staking service in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United States except in New York, where local regulations forbid staking.
According to the company, the staking mechanism safeguards consumers’ staked assets by compensating them for fines levied against their staked tokens by unscrupulous validators. Gemini will pay for any costs incurred throughout the staking and de-staking procedures.
Cryptocurrency Earning Interest is Increasing
Staking, according to Gemini, is the company’s second yield-generating product to be released following Gemini Earn. The exchange introduced “Gemini Earn” in February of last year, an interest-earning scheme that gives consumers access to up to a 7.4% annual yield (APY) on cryptocurrency. Although consumers can earn a dividend on their cryptocurrency with Staking and Earn, there are significant distinctions in how such yields are produced.
As other cryptocurrency companies set up their offers to give retail and institutional customers the chance to get staking incentives, Gemini launched its staking program.
Coinbase unveiled an Ethereum staking service earlier this month, focusing on US institutional clients.
To surpass other exchanges in the US, including Gemini, Kraken, BlockFi, and Coinbase, Binance.US introduced its staking service in June.
Users can lock in digital assets to support Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchains such as Livepeer (LPT), the Graph (GRT), Solana (SOL), Cosmos (ATOM), Audius (AUDIO), BNB Chain (BNB), and Avalanche (AVAX) through the US’ staking program, which offers rewards of up to 18% Annual Percentage Yield.
As investors look for options in the face of low rates and inflation, Bitstamp introduced a staking service in June for its US retail and institutional clients.
