Interactive Brokers announced this Tuesday (13th) the launch of an Ethereum (ETH) staking service, allowing eligible clients to receive rewards for keeping their cryptocurrencies staked on the network. The feature was integrated into the brokerage's investment platform and uses zerohash's infrastructure to execute the operations.
The launch allows investors to manage staking positions in the same environment used to trade stocks, options, futures, and other financial assets. Initially, the service is available only to eligible Interactive Brokers LLC clients.
The new feature expands the institution's cryptocurrency offering, which already allows trading 20 digital assets, including Bitcoin, Solana, Cardano, and XRP. Despite this catalog, only Ethereum is available for staking at launch. The company has not announced a timeline for adding other cryptocurrencies.
Staking starts with ETH and rewards are automatically reapplied
Clients can access the Staking Dashboard, available in the Client Portal, to request the staking or withdrawal of ETH and track the progress of pending operations.
Staking consists of using cryptocurrencies to participate in a blockchain's transaction validation mechanism. In exchange, participants can receive rewards, whose value depends on network conditions and how the service operates.
In Interactive Brokers' implementation, the rewards obtained are credited as additional ETH already staked. This allows the new amounts to also participate in reward generation while they remain staked, creating an automatic compounding mechanism.
The way it works does not mean that investors will have fixed or guaranteed returns. Rewards depend on the activity of the Ethereum network and the operational conditions of staking.
zerohash is responsible for the infrastructure that enables the service, while Interactive Brokers concentrates the management experience in the interface used by clients.
The brokerage also highlights its cryptocurrency trading commissions, which start between 0.12% and 0.18% of the transaction value, with a minimum charge of US$ 1.75 per order. These amounts, however, correspond to asset trading and should not be interpreted as staking-specific fees.
The availability of the new feature depends on the Interactive Brokers entity responsible for the account, the country of residence, and the restrictions applicable to each client. The announcement does not set a date for expanding the service to other entities or markets.
