Despite the doom and gloom cast over the entire blockchain industry after the cascading crisis of 2022 and the fact that the global economy is in uncharted territory, as noted by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at Jackson Hole, proof-of-stake (PoS) revenue generation has almost rebounded to all-time highs, according to The Node newsletter.
The total value locked, or TVL, for liquid staking protocols has surged 292% to $20 billion over the past year and some months, just shy of the $21 billion locked in leading decentralized staking protocols Lido and Rocket Pool in April of 2022.
The launch of Ethereum staking on Sept. 15, known as the Merge, shifted the narrative on crypto and nullified the longstanding criticism of crypto’s carbon footprint. Staking has so far served Ethereum users well, paying out an annualized rate between 3%-4% to anyone with the spare 32 Ether (ETH) needed to stake to become a validator.
Liquid staking, or a democratized form of staking that allows smaller holders to pledge ETH to companies or smart contracts that collate funds and pay out staking rewards, is an attractive proposition even at a time of general disinterest in decentralized finance (DeFi).
Protocols like Lido even give out a proxy token to stakers (i.e. stETH, or staked ETH), which can be used across DeFi while staking rewards roll in. Staking on Ethereum is comparatively safer than pledging funds to, say, a DeFi lender, and offers cryptocurrencies a touchpoint with dividend-paying stocks, helping reduce the immateriality of crypto.
Ethereum Staking Reaches All-Time Highs Despite Global Economic Uncertainty
