Rocket Pool and LIDO Face Off For The Bull Market
The Competition of the ETH Staking Wars Is Heating Up!
Lido and Rocket Pool
In short, Lido and Rocket Pool let users stake their crypto for rewards on different blockchains like Ethereum in a unique way called liquid staking. Liquid staking lets users seamlessly swap their crypto for a synthetic token to earn the rewards. Users can swap back at any time for the real token hence the term liquid staking, as it’s more “liquid” than traditional staking. Users also retain their private keys, which is all done decentralized.
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Metamask Announces Staking
Metamask recently added Lido and Rocket Pool liquid staking inside their new portfolio site, with additional features like bridging, staking, and a watchlist. This is ahead of the highly anticipated Shanghai update to Ethereum that will allow users to unstake their ETH on the old Beacon Chain proof of stake system, which remains locked. This gives liquid staking a more attractive appeal to users who wish more direct access to their crypto.
Arms Race
Lido and Rocket Pool has seen more users staking since the Metamask announcement. Lido being a first mover vs. the other protocols, has held a firm lead. But things are getting interesting as of late. Coinbase just announced its intention to join Rocket Pool’s Oracle DAO. Coinbase will provide the DAO real-time ETH prices and run Rocket Pool nodes. This may tip the scale regarding the arms race between Lido and Rocket Pool.
In Conclusion
Coinbase and Rocket Pool are second and third after Lido. Lido has a commanding 75% market share. But the new announcement of Coinbase working with Rocket Pool could tilt the scales. The Shanghai Ethereum update could also bring new waves of people looking for new ways to stake and earn throughout the ecosystem. Rocket Pool seems quite attractive now and more favorable, considering you do not need 32 ETH to run a node, for example, so the barrier for entry is much lower. With the Shanghai update approaching, a play on Rocket Pool may become more attractive by the day.