ETH Staking Now Available Directly From Your Ledger Hardware Wallet

Leading crypto hardware wallet provider Ledger has announced that customers are now able to stake Ether (ETH) directly from the Ledger Live wallet. This was made possible through a partnership with an Ethereum 2.0 liquid staking platform, Lido. 

As per the announcement, Ledger will only provide users the gateway to Lido’s Ethereum 2.0 staking service, and won’t manage users’ staked assets: “We do not manage it but rather provide you with a secure way to access it.” 

What Are the Estimated Earnings?

Ether staking is a function of the network’s transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake consensus mechanisms. As Ethereum 2.0 launches, staking will become the new approach to securing and validating transactions on the network. Users who stake their coins will be rewarded in return. 

At the time of writing, 6,956,617 ETH – equivalent to US$21.7 billion – had been staked on the deposit contract since it went live last December. The estimated annual percentage return (APR) decreases as more coins are staked on the deposit contact. 

For instance, the initial APR for validators (node operators with at least 32 ETH staked) was around 21.6 percent. However, the APR has reduced to 5.9 percent. So if you stake US$100,000 worth of ETH, your estimated annual return would be around US$5,900, assuming the price of ETH remained constant. 

Where To Get a Ledger Live Wallet?

In Australia, you can get the Ledger hardware wallet from Coinstop, one of the reputable hardware wallet stores operated in the country. Founded by Johnathan Ross, Coinstop also ships other wallets, including Trezor and CoolWallet Pro. 

You can also order the Ledger wallets directly from the website. 

What Are the Risks of Staking It With Lido?

Note that the currently staked ETH are illiquid, meaning they can’t be withdrawn from the network until a transfer function is deployed on the beacon chain. This is also what Lido intends to solve by issuing an equivalent amount of “stETH,” a tokenised ETH, in return for all coins staked with them.

While stETH is liquid, there are only a few platforms that support it, meaning it cannot be used extensively like ETH. Users should also be aware that they don’t own full control of their assets when staked with Lido, unlike running their validator node (32 ETH). Also, you will need an equal number of stETH to unlock your staked ETH.