MetaMask rolls out native Ethereum staking in its wallet

MetaMask announced today its Pooled Staking function, enabling users to stake any amount of Ether (ETH) and earn rewards natively on the wallet. According to the announcement, this new feature from Consensys allows users to participate in the broader Ethereum’s security, previously limited to those with 32 ETH or more.

“With Pooled Staking, MetaMask users now have an easy way to stake ETH in enterprise-grade validators while maintaining full control of their ETH, earning rewards and making Ethereum more secure,” says Matthieu Saint Olive, Senior Product Manager at Consensys. “We’re excited to bring our staking solution to many more MetaMask users.”

With the majority of ETH holders owning less than this threshold, MetaMask aims to democratize access to staking rewards with this new solution. Moreover, the service is initially available to select users, with plans to expand to the US and UK markets.

Notably, MetaMask Pooled Staking is underpinned by Consensys Staking, which boasts over 33,000 hosted Ethereum validators in a multi-cloud, multi-region, and multi-client infrastructure, with more than 1 million ETH staked, zero slashed validators, and a 99.9+% validator participation rate.

ETH staking became a significant part of the Ethereum ecosystem, as 27% of the token’s total supply is locked in a smart contract, which is nearly 33 million ETH, according to on-chain data platform Nansen. Furthermore, it became even more important as the liquid restaking narrative picked up the pace, representing over 34% of the total value locked in decentralized finance (DeFi).