Bitstamp, a renowned crypto exchange, has chosen to halt staking services for its U.S. clients. Starting September 25, the platform will cease ethereum staking operations, as revealed in a recent communication to Cointelegraph.
Impact on Bitstamp Users
U.S. CEO and Global Chief Commercial Officer at Bitstamp, Bobby Zagotta, confirmed, “Until September 25, 2023, customers can expect staking rewards. Subsequently, we’ll unstake all assets. Both the rewards and principal will be transferred to the primary Bitstamp accounts of the users.” However, he noted that balance updates might experience a slight delay.
Bitstamp’s platform mentions a 15% commission fee on staking rewards. As of now, the exchange offers a 4.50% monthly reward for ETH staking, in contrast to a 1.60% reward for staking Algorand. The decision aligns the U.S. with other nations, like Canada, Japan, Singapore, and the UK, where Bitstamp’s staking services are inaccessible.
Reasons Behind the Move
This move seems influenced by evolving U.S. regulatory measures. Earlier in August, Bitstamp discontinued trading of seven altcoins in the U.S., including AXS, Chiliz (CHZ), Decentraland, Polygon, Near, The Sandbox, and Solana. While not explicitly stated, these suspensions occurred after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) identified the said tokens as unregistered securities in June, connected to its legal actions against crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase.
The Ether Classification Debate
Ether, the Ethereum blockchain’s native cryptocurrency, stands as the second-largest by market capitalization, trailing only Bitcoin. Current U.S. regulatory discussions often revolve around Ether’s potential classification—as either a commodity or a security. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission labels Ether as a commodity. Yet, in an April hearing, SEC Chair Gary Gensler confirmed Bitcoin’s commodity status but remained ambiguous about Ether.
