Binance US, the subsidiary of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has launched Ethereum staking for their US users.
The company announced on yesterday that users can now stake Ethereum and earn up to 6% APY.
Ethereum is the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, and will soon transition to a proof-of-stake blockchain allowing users to stake ETH to become validators on the network.
Staking rewards are however subject to change based on the transaction fee volume and other reasons, according to Binance US.
Other notable crypto exchanges like Coinbase and Lido are currently offering users 3.25% and 3.5% APY respectively on staked ETH.
BlockFi and Nexo offer users 5% and 4% APY on staked ETH despite using a high-risk, high-reward business model.
Binance is breaking the barrier to entry as users can stake as low as 0.001 ETH as to the 32 ETH required to stake directly on the Ethereum network.
Users cannot un-stake their ETH once staked until the transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake is completed. Rewards will also not be available for withdrawal until after the “Shanghai Upgrade” scheduled to take place in the coming months.
The merge is expected to happen between September 13 and 15. Users can stake their ETH to help secure the network and earn rewards in the process.
There are currently no guarantees that the transition will be smooth. Binance also announced earlier that they will suspend ETH transactions to some extent during the Merge.