Swiss Sygnum Bank expands crypto staking with Cardano

Cryptocurrency-friendly bank Sygnum Bank continues expanding its crypto services by launching support for Cardano (ADA) staking.

Sygnum announced on Tuesday that the firm has expanded its bank-grade staking offering with Cardano, allowing clients to generate rewards by staking ADA via the bank’s institutional-grade platform.

ADA joins Sygnum’s growing crypto-staking portfolio, which features three proof-of-stake (PoS) protocols; Internet Computer, Tezos and soon, Ethereum 2.0.

According to the announcement, staking services make up an integral part of Sygnum’s platform and are available to clients through the bank’s eBanking platform. The services are fully integrated with Sygnum’s banking platform, which is designed to provide institutional-grade security by applying segregated wallets, secure private key management and other tools.

Staking is the process of participating in the validation of transactions on a PoS blockchain in exchange for staking rewards. In contrast to proof-of-work (PoW) networks like Bitcoin, PoS blockchains do not need mining activity and instead rely on users locking up their coins to maintain a network.

A major regulated bank in Switzerland, Sygnum debuted cryptocurrency staking about two years ago, launching Tezos staking in November 2020. Sygnum also announced in July 2021 that it would offer Ethereum 2.0 staking on its platform.

The addition of Cardano staking on Sygnum will increase exposure to the digital asset to many institutional investors. Following a tenfold increase in gross revenues in 2021, Sygnum’s institutional client base was nearing 1,000 by early 2022, the firm announced in January.

“This new offering allows Sygnum’s clients to participate in our ecosystem, where they enjoy a risk-free staking experience without having to transfer the asset nor lock it,” Cardano Foundation CEO Frederik Gregaard said. He added that Cardano’s architecture also provides both retail and institutional clients with a unique opportunity for ADA holders. “You always have the power over your ADA,” he noted.

Amid the upcoming Cardano Vasil hard fork, many crypto companies have been working on Cardano-focused services. In late July, major hardware wallet firm Ledger announced the integration of 100 Cardano tokens on its wallet software Ledger Live.

The Cardano Vasil hard fork is expected to significantly improve the Cardano network in terms of speed and scalability, making it more suitable for smart contracts and decentralized applications. After failing to go live in June, the Cardano Vasil hard fork was delayed again in July. According to Input Output Global, proceeding with the actual fork might take another “few weeks.”