Coinbase expands staking portfolio with Cardano (ADA) staking

Coinbase, a leading cryptocurrency exchange in the US, has announced support for Cardano (ADA/USD) staking. This is the latest move that Coinbase has made to boost its offerings.

The exchange is currently active in plans to launch Coinbase NFT. It also launched a Coinbase Pay feature from the Chrome browser extension to allow users to fund their cryptocurrency wallets.

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Coinbase supports ADA staking

ADA is the native token of the Cardano blockchain. The Cardano network unveiled smart contracts in September last year after the Alonzo hard fork. Since then, the network has gained usage from decentralized applications (DApps).

The Senior Product Manager at Coinbase, Rupmalini Sahu, commented,

Cardano aims to enable smart contracts to allow developers to build a wide range of decentralized finance (DeFi) apps, new crypto tokens, games and more. When users stake their crypto, they make the underlying blockchain of that asset more secure and more efficient.

The staking process can be complex and time-consuming for a new trader. However, through the Coinbase exchange, a trader simply stakes the token, and Coinbase takes over the staking process. The ADA staked by different traders will be pooled together on the Cardano network and then redistributed in rewards. An annual return of 3.75% will be distributed after five to seven days.

Currently, the Coinbase network supports staking services for some of the leading blockchains, including Ethereum, Cosmos, Algorand and Tezos. Sahu noted that the exchange would continue expanding its staking portfolio during the year.

The expansion of staking services also aligns with the sentiments of the Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong, who, in June last year, said, “Our goal is to list every asset where it is legal to do so.” Coinbase currently offers support for 168 cryptocurrencies.

Cardano is growing

The Cardano blockchain has attracted several decentralized applications since smart contracts were integrated into the network in June 2021. However, its total value locked (TVL) remains relatively low compared to its competitors. The founder of Cardano, Charles Hoskinson, recently noted that Cardano would achieve a Solana-like performance. This would see Solana achieve a high level of scalability.