Staking Ethereum (ETH)

Bitcoin Suisse is an established and trusted counterparty and one of the largest staking providers. Our Ethereum staking service includes all technical setup and maintenance, including any changes to the Ethereum protocol during ETH development. The next upcoming change to the Ethereum protocol is the Shanghai Upgrade.

You need to be a client at Bitcoin Suisse to start staking ETH. After opening a staking account and transferring ETH, ETH can be staked in multiples of 32 ETH. If you do not hold any ETH and would like to start staking, Bitcoin Suisse will be happy to assist you.

Bitcoin Suisse charges a flat fee of 15% including VAT (if applicable) on the rewards generated from the staking operation.

Learn more about the next update of the Ethereum protocol, the Shanghai Upgrade, in our Bitcoin Suisse Decrypt “The Shanghai Upgrade and what it means for Investors” here.

The Ethereum Shanghai Upgrade is expected to take place in April 2023. Learn more about the Upgrade and what happens for investors in our Decrypt "The Shanghai upgrade and what it means for investors" here.

The Shanghai Upgrade will mark the complete transition of Ethereum to a fully functional Proof-of-Stake (PoS) protocol. The most relevant change for users is the ability to unlock staked funds for the first time since November 2020, within EIP-4895. The other proposals (EIP-3855, EIP-3860 and EIP-6049) included in the upgrade are related to reduced gas costs for developers.

After the upgrade, Ethereum staking will only be offered in multiples of 32 ETH, in line with the validator size to participate in the block validation. Both accrued and new ETH staking rewards will be paid out to your ETH trading account. The changes are reflected in a new annex to the existing Ethereum staking agreement.

Clients of Bitcoin Suisse can choose to increase their current staking position, to reduce it, or to fully unstake, in order to achieve a new Ethereum staking position of a minimum of 32 ETH or a multiple thereof.

The duration of the execution of the clients' order depends on several factors over which Bitcoin Suisse does not necessarily have influence. Such factors include among others the actual date of the Shanghai Upgrade, the length of the exit queues, or the time needed to adjust our systems. Also, moving the Ethereum staking accounts to the new product might take some time. Therefore, in total, the process can take up to several weeks.

No, all services related to the Ethereum Shanghai Upgrade are free of charge for clients of Bitcoin Suisse.

For a staking exit, there is a lock period which can take up to several weeks. The lock period is caused by the exit queue which applies when validators are exited. The exact length of the exit queue depends on the total number of validators which are being exited in the Ethereum blockchain at the same time.

Yes, this is possible in a two-step-approach. First, the staking account is moved to the new product, including a full exit. Second, after the exit lock period which can take up to several weeks, a client of Bitcoin Suisse can request to mint LsETH via their personal Relationship Manager. This mirrors the steps needed on-chain, where the validators would need to be exited first in order to then mint LsETH.