{"id":124940,"date":"2025-03-12T22:15:43","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T22:15:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=124940"},"modified":"2025-03-12T22:15:43","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T22:15:43","slug":"banks-acting-as-validators-risks-centralization-everstake-exec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=124940","title":{"rendered":"Banks acting as validators risks centralization \u2014 Everstake exec"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsNew US regulatory guidance allowing banks to become validators for blockchain networks is a major step for institutional adoption but worsens centralization risks, Bohdan Opryshko, chief operating officer of staking service provider Everstake, told Cointelegraph.\u00a0<br \/>\nOn March 7, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) eased its stance on how banks can engage with crypto, including permitting banks to participate \u201cin independent node verification networks,\u201d the regulator said.\u00a0<br \/>\nOpryshko said US banks\u2019 increased involvement in proof-of-stake (PoS) networks, such as Ethereum and Solana, could be a \u201cdouble-edged sword.\u201d\u00a0<br \/>\n\u201cIf banks become dominant validators, power could become concentrated, reducing the decentralized nature of PoS networks,\u201d Opryshko told Cointelegraph on March 12.<br \/>\nThe additional financial inflows into PoS networks could also suppress staking yields, potentially undermining smaller validators, he added.<br \/>\n\u201cIf major institutional players, such as banks, enter the staking market and suddenly stake large amounts,  it could cause a sharp reduction in staking rewards for all other participants,\u201d Opryshko said.\u00a0<br \/>\nStaking yields as of March 12. Source: Staking RewardsRelated: OCC lays out crypto banking after Trump vows to end Operation Chokepoint 2.0<br \/>\nAs of March 12, Ether stakers earn approximately 5.5% APR, and Solana stakers earn close to 8%, according to data from Staking Rewards.\u00a0<br \/>\nStaking involves securing blockchains by posting crypto as collateral with validators in exchange for rewards.<br \/>\nDebanking debacle<br \/>\nThe OCC\u2019s announcement came after US President Donald Trump vowed to end a prolonged regulatory crackdown that restricted crypto firms\u2019 access to banking services.<br \/>\nCrypto industry outrage over so-called \u201cdebanking\u201d reached a crescendo when a June 2024 lawsuit spearheaded by \u200b\u200bCoinbase resulted in the release of letters showing US banking regulators asked certain financial institutions to \u201cpause\u201d crypto banking activities.<br \/>\nIn a Jan. 23 executive order, Trump \u2014 who has vowed to make America the \u201cworld\u2019s crypto capital\u201d \u2014 told agencies to prioritize \u201cfair and open access to banking services\u201d for digital asset firms.<br \/>\nAs of March 12, Anchorage Digital is the only federally chartered US bank to offer cryptocurrency staking.<br \/>\nMagazine: SEC\u2019s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered<a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/banks-as-validators-risks-centralization-everstake-exec?utm_source=rss_feed&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"feedzy-rss-link-icon\" rel=\"noopener\">Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsNew US regulatory guidance allowing banks to become validators for blockchain networks is a major step for institutional adoption but worsens centralization risks, Bohdan Opryshko, chief operating officer&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124940"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=124940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124940\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=124940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=124940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=124940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}