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On September 7th, Binance.US announced the launch of an Ethereum Staking service, offering its users an initial annual percentage yield (APY) of 6%.
According to the Binance.US blog post, this new feature will allow users to start staking ETH using a minimum of 0.001 ETH (approximately $1.62). An amount much more accessible than the 32 ETH needed to become an Ethereum validator.
“While there is a 32 ETH requirement for staking directly through the Ethereum network, users can stake on Binance.US with a competitively low minimum of just 0.001 ETH.”
It is important to note that rewards earned through staking will be distributed once Ethereum finalizes its Merge event, transitioning from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS).
Binance US Supports Ethereum Merge and its Role in the Ecosystem
Brian Shroder, CEO of Binance US, said that the Binance US team was excited to launch this feature. In addition, they are looking to create new comprehensive staking offerings that bring “greater value for customers.”
“ETH plays a critical role in the broader Web3 ecosystem, and as the Ethereum network continues to transition towards The Merge, we are thrilled to now offer ETH staking with some of the highest APY rewards in the industry,”
Currently, Binance is offering better APYs than its competitors. Just for reference, Nexo offers 4% APY, Blockfi 4% APY, Lido Finance offers a 3.5% APY whereas Coinbase goes with 3.25% APY
This has provided an opportunity for the exchange to double the number of tokens offered, including ADA, DOT, BNB, and MATIC, which were all recently launched.
What Will Binance Do If Ethereum Forks?
As CryptoPotato recently reported, the Ethereum upgrade is expected to take place between September 15 and 16. However, the Merge could lead to a new fork that would affect Binance’s ability to react to protect its users.
If there is no new fork, users will be able to deposit and withdraw their ETH without any inconvenience. Still, suppose Ethereum splits into other chains involving new tokens. In that case, Binance will keep the “ETH” token for the PoS version of Ethereum, crediting the amount of tokens available in customers’ wallets before the Merge.
The exchange is not close to the idea of supporting future ETH forks. Anyway, Binance announced that new tokens will be able to withdraw from the platform without much difficulty, as they will not be immediately listed until they go through a verification process, just like any other token.
