Ledger Live integrates ‘accessible’ Ether staking option

In a recent blog post, popular cryptocurrency hardware wallet Ledger announced a new partnership with Ethereum 2.0 (Eth2) staking solution Lido Finance in a move that claims greater accessibility and liquidity for independent stakers in the market.

Staking is a niche method of investing within the cryptocurrency ecosystem that allows users to independently or collectively stake their crypto assets while collecting passive income in return, as well as actively contributing to the sustainability of the blockchain network.

Users attempting to stake their Ether (ETH) in the past have been met with daunting economic hurdles. The current cost to become an Eth2 network validator stands at around $100,000 — a figure which many investors in this market simply cannot afford.

Centralized ETH staking options are available on centralized exchanges, but some these carry a hefty entry fee and obvious trust concerns — not ideal for investors who maintain the core industry value of free asset autonomy.

In recent months, the Ledger interface has provided users the option of decentralized staking in the form of consensus mechanisms Polkadot or Tezos, but the real demand in the market lay with the smart-contract giant Ethereum.

By eliminating the high barrier-to-entry for staking ETH, this partnership has set a precedent, allowing users to stake a nominal amount of ETH, instead of the 32 ETH previously required.

As Ethereum embarks on a new frontier with Eth2, staking and indeed lending will draw in greater audience participation and offer lucrative opportunities for regular cryptocurrency participants.

In this example of Ledger and Lido, as the blog post explains, “For each Ether you’ll stake through LIDO you’ll receive stETH in exchange. These can be exchanged, sent, or sold using services such as Paraswap.”

Staked Ether, or stETH tokens which equal ETH at a 1:1 ratio, will then become visible within your Ledger wallet. This asset figure will refresh on a daily basis to display newly accumulated staking rewards.

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Ledger's VP of Transactions Iqbal Gandham responded to Cointelegraph's request for a comment, stating: "Ledger users between them hold 15% of the world's digital assets. Up until now, there has not been a super simple method for users to stake and hence earn. You either needed to send your ether to a custodial platform, which stakes it on your behalf, or you had to run infrastructure yourself and stake a minimum of 32ETH."

Gandham continued onto say: "As of this week, users can simply plug-in their Ledger device and stake via our partner Lido. You can start using this service in under a few clicks and with any amount of ether that you may have. Furthermore, this is a non-custodial solution, and since you have to sign the transaction with your Ledger device, you can be super sure that the transaction is exactly what you want."