Staking Americans: Coinbase Enables On-Exchange Staking, Tezos (XTZ) Surges 70%

One of the more popular cryptocurrencies, Tezos, has skyrocketed by more than 70% in the past 24 hours. The movement came shortly after it was announced that the largest US-based cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, will allow Tezos to be staked on their platform and users would receive rewards for it.

Tezos Staking Rewards On Coinbase

According to an official announcement from Coinbase, users will be able to stake Tezos (XTZ) on their platform and receive rewards for it.

Staking is not new to Tezos as investors can actually do it on their own. Still, according to Coinbase’s blog, it might be “confusing, complicated, and even risky with regard to the security of your staked Tezos. We are changing that with staking rewards on Coinbase.”

The US-based exchange would reportedly provide an estimated annual return of around 5%. The initial holding period is 35-40 days, and when it’s completed, the rewards will be transferred to each account every three days.

Basically, staking suggests that the investor has a chance to earn income by participating in the network of that crypto. In order to do this, a certain amount of the asset has to be “locked,” and in exchange, the rewards are usually distributed in proportionate extent depending on the supply initially staked. With Tezos, for example, stakers get to vote and decide on major protocol changes and other important developments, as explained by Arthur Breitman in a recent interview with Cryptopotato. 

Interestingly enough, a recent research by Binance showed that over $6 billion worth of crypto is being staked at that moment.

Tezos Price Reacts

Following the news, XTZ price was quick to react with a severe surge of over 70% at one point. It jumped from $0.90 to $1.52, and since then, it has retraced to around $1.20. The market capitalization is close to $800 million, and the trading volume has tripled according to Coingecko.

News coming from major exchanges could sometimes be the reason behind a price movement in the cryptocurrency world in either direction. For example, Kraken recently listed Siacoin, and the price increased with 25%, but when Bittrex delisted ZClassic, it plunged with 66%.

It’s perhaps safe to assume that XTZ’s impressive gains over the last 24 hours are connected to the announcement from Coinbase. However, it’s also worth pointing out that Tezos reached its all-time high in 2017 at $10. With a price of $1.20 per coin now, it means a total decrease of almost 90% since then.