Coinbase Custody to Support Polkadot Staking With up to 20% Returns

Coinbase Custody is launching staking support for holders of Polkadot’s DOT tokens with the help of blockchain infrastructure firm Bison Trails.

Announced Tuesday, the integration allows DOT holders to keep their tokens in offline Coinbase Custody vaults and stake them through Bison Trails validators. DOT staking is integral to Polkadot’s proof-of-stake (PoS) network, which is said to reward those who commit their tokens with up to 20 percent returns.

“For people who custody with Coinbase Custody and want to stake with secure and highly available Bison Trails validators, this integration is a game changer,” Joe Lallouz, CEO of Bison Trails, said in a press statement. “DOT holders now have the unique ability to utilize both our leading blockchain infrastructure and the leading custodian of crypto assets to ensure tokens are secure and that they are earning participatory rewards.”

The integration follows Bison Trail’s and Coinbase Custody’s February partnerships with multi-chain interoperability protocol Polkadot. Coinbase Custody allowed account holders to claim DOTs, and Bison Trails ran one of the first validators on the experimental Kusama “Canary Net.” Polkadot's mainnet has not yet launched.

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Bison Trails and Coinbase’s integration will extend beyond Polkadot, however. As PoS models take on greater prominence in the cryptosphere, Coinbase Custody CEO Sam McIngvale, who called staking “increasingly important,” in the press statement, said that partners like Bison Trails will be invaluable resources to clients.

Staking “provides Coinbase Custody clients, many of whom have obligations to their investors, with a crypto-native way to participate in network rewards while also contributing to the security and governance of the ecosystem,” McIngvale said.

Bison Trails and Coinbase Custody plan to add staking service for other blockchains over time.

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The two Libra Association members have worked together on staking issues before. Notably, both joined a lobbying organization called the Proof of Stake Alliance in late January. The Web3 Foundation, which leads Polkadot development, is also a member.