Binance is renaming its Ethereum staking product and introducing a liquid staking token less than two weeks after Ethereum’s Shapella upgrade enabled payouts.
The token, called Wrapped Beacon ETH (WBETH), allows Binance users to participate in off-exchange decentralized financial protocols. Users will continue to acquire Ethereum staking rewards in the process. Starting Thursday, users will be able to package Beacon ETH (BETH) tokens to WBETH and extract WBETH to BETH tokens on the exchange’s Ethereum staking page. There are no charges for packing and unpacking these tokens.
The initial conversion is one-to-one, but this may change since the value of WBETH will increase over time with the daily APR on Ethereum Strike, the announcement noted.
Liquid staking tokens allow holders to stake ether and receive a derivative token representing the locked cryptocurrency. This derivative can then be used on various crypto markets, effectively making the locked coins liquid.
Lido dominates staking
The staking market is heavily dominated by Lido, which is said to hold about 31% of the market share facts collected by Hildebert Moulie, a data scientist at Dragonfly Capital. Lido Finance’s total locked value (TVL) exceeded 6 million ether (ETH), equivalent to more than $12 billiondays after the Shapella upgrade on Ethereum.
Bybit’s head of Crypto Insights, Charmyn Ho, told The Block last week that liquid staking is “poised to take the most advantage of the Ethereum Shapella upgrade. Liquid staked tokens offer greater capital efficiency and flexibility compared to staked tokens, as traders can stake earn rewards while retaining the ability to move their money freely.”
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