Interactive Brokers has introduced cryptocurrency staking, extending its digital-asset offering beyond buying and holding. Based on the reporting reviewed by FXMARE, the first asset covered is Ethereum's ether (ETH), which eligible clients can now stake directly from the firm's Client Portal.
The service is delivered with zerohash, the crypto infrastructure provider named in the coverage as the party supplying the staking functionality. In this arrangement the brokerage provides the customer-facing interface, while zerohash is identified as the provider behind the service.
Access is limited to eligible clients, according to the wire reports. The material available to FXMARE does not spell out the eligibility criteria, the reward rates, fee terms, lock-up or withdrawal conditions, or the date on which the feature went live, so those details are not covered here.
Staking involves committing tokens to help support the operation of a proof-of-stake blockchain, which is the model Ethereum uses. Offering it inside a regulated brokerage platform places the feature alongside the other products clients already reach through the same portal, rather than requiring a separate crypto-native account.
The launch is described in coverage as an expansion of the firm's crypto services. It marks a step in the continuing move by traditional brokerages to widen their digital-asset menus, though the reporting examined does not provide figures on client demand or on the size of the program.