Payward Is Developing Liquidity Access for Staked Positions, Executive Says

John Zettler, product senior director at Payward Services, said Payward is developing liquidity access for staked positions as Ethereum exit delays can last weeks, a potential mismatch for funds facing redemptions within days.

Zettler described staking demand as countercyclical. In weaker markets, holders may be more inclined to stake, adding to demand while putting pressure on yields. In stronger markets, higher transaction fees can lift rewards, while investors’ preference for liquidity can reduce staking participation. Zettler expects Ethereum’s yield to fall further if the share of Ether staked keeps rising, until protocol rewards reach an equilibrium.

Kean Gilbert, institutional relations lead at the Lido Ecosystem Foundation, said funds may need to meet redemptions within one or two days even though Ethereum unstaking can take weeks. Funds often leave some assets unstaked to manage that timing. Gilbert estimated that European products stake 50% to 60% of their assets on average.

Gilbert said institutional discussions have shifted toward how to stake, including the distribution of validators, who audits the code and what share of a fund’s assets to stake. He described custodians as a way for institutions to stake within arrangements they already trust.

Staking commits tokens to help validate transactions and secure a blockchain in exchange for rewards. The liquidity effort comes as Ethereum’s staking base has grown while its yield has declined.

Ethereum had a record 43.8 million Ether (ETH) staked in Q3, equal to 35.9% of supply. Its gross annualized staking yield averaged 2.63%, down from 2.81% in Q2. New ETH issuance supplied 2.53 percentage points, or 96.3%, of that yield; priority fees and transaction-ordering income made up the rest.

Solana’s gross staking yield also declined, to about 6% from 6.38%. Nearly 90% of its staking rewards came from issuance, while its validator count fell to 659 from 696.

Coinbase treats withdrawal delays as a routine part of institutional liquidity planning, with financing, liquid staking tokens and tradable staking vaults among the tools available. WisdomTree’s physical Lido staking Ether exchange-traded product holds stETH to maintain staking exposure while using the token’s tradability to help meet redemption needs. Selling a liquid staking token can avoid the unstaking wait, though the sale price depends on market liquidity.