Zodia Custody, a leading institution-first digital asset custodian by Standard Chartered in association with Northern Trust and SBI Holdings, has partnered with Blockdaemon, the leading institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure company, to become the first bank-owned and FCA-registered custodian to offer staking services to institutional clients.

Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanisms represent a large portion of the world’s total blockchain industry, with growing institutional interest. The combined offering from both Zodia Custody and Blockdaemon will represent an evolution of current approaches to staking for institutional investors. Dubbed “Staking 2.0”, the partnership has developed a model that provides greater assurances for institutions through seamless security measures across both the Blockdaemon and Zodia Custody infrastructures.

Backed by Standard Chartered, Northern Trust and SBI Holdings, Zodia Custody brings an established digital asset custodian approach to the market and combines that with the agility of a fintech company. In partnership with Blockdaemon, Zodia Custody will be able to offer innovative staking solutions to meet the uncompromisable standards of institutional investors through a single platform that enables clients to get staking rewards. Zodia Custody will ensure that the “Staking 2.0” service is clearly priced, to provide complete transparency to their institutional investors.

For institutional investors using Zodia Custody’s services, automated staking and reward operations will be enabled from day one of the service going live, scaled on an institutional level and with full automation to minimize the risk of manual errors. The service has been designed to be as frictionless as possible to ensure it can be quickly enabled to maximize rewards. Through Blockdaemon, it will also integrate a tried and tested ETH validator exit process — bolstered by Blockdaemon’s record of 99.9% validator uptime — to enable institutions to manage their ETH liquidity efficiently.

“Staking 2.0 makes the process of receiving staking rewards simpler and more convenient, all while lowering the risks for both institutions and their customers,” said Konstantin Richter, CEO and Founder of Blockdaemon. “Our strong partnership with Zodia allows stronger security, automation and simplification of the process to participate in staking, truly accelerating web3 innovation.”

“This partnership with Blockdaemon is how we are evolving staking specifically for institutions. This is staking, without compromise,” said Julian Sawyer, CEO of Zodia Custody. “By leveraging Blockdaemon’s expertise, together we are not just meeting the needs of institutional investors, but also developing new opportunities for market participants to yield results.”

Zodia Custody’s mission to better develop the infrastructure and ecosystem for institutional participation in digital assets is reinforced by Blockdaemon’s security first approach to blockchain infrastructure, which includes four layers of risk mitigation, 100% slashing insurance guarantee, smart contract audits and ISO 27001 Certification. Through “Staking 2.0”, both Zodia Custody and Blockdaemon pledge to consistently adhere to the highest industry standards of compliance and security.

Source: Zodia