Coinbase and Figment Expand Institutional Staking Offering
Coinbase Prime partners with Figment to extend proof-of-stake asset staking options for institutional clients, integrating several new networks.
Institutional staking provider Figment has broadened its collaboration with Coinbase, enabling the exchange’s institutional clients to stake a wider array of proof-of-stake (PoS) assets directly via Coinbase Custody. This strategic move aims to promote adoption beyond Ethereum.
Through this enhanced integration, clients of Coinbase Prime can now leverage Figment’s staking infrastructure to access various new PoS networks, such as Solana (SOL), Sui (SUI), Aptos (APT), and Avalanche (AVAX), as the companies confirmed on Tuesday.
Since the partnership’s inception in 2023, it has already facilitated over $2 billion in staked assets through Coinbase Prime.
Source: Figment Tweet
Coinbase Prime offers a complete crypto prime brokerage service tailored for institutional investors, encompassing trading, financing, and custody of more than 440 digital assets across numerous blockchains.
Currently, Figment manages $18 billion in staked assets across more than 40 protocols.
Recent Launches of Crypto ETFs
This announcement emerges alongside the release of numerous staking-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US this month, such as the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSOL), which provides exposure to Solana staking.
Grayscale has also unveiled ambitions to incorporate staking into its Ethereum and Solana product offerings. Earlier this month, the asset manager staked $150 million worth of Ether (ETH) as part of its initiative to allow investors to gain staking rewards through their holdings.
These advancements occurred just months after the US SEC clarified that certain liquid staking activities do not qualify as securities transactions, thus placing them outside the agency’s oversight.
Before this ruling, asset managers like VanEck, Bitwise, and Jito Labs had pressed the SEC to clarify its position and endorse liquid staking mechanisms for Solana-backed ETFs.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins remarked that this decree was a significant advancement in elucidating the staff’s perspective regarding crypto asset activities that are exempt from the SEC’s jurisdiction.
