Anchorage Digital now supports Lido staking, allowing institutional clients to access Ethereum liquid staking without moving assets out of custody. The integration gives clients direct access to wrapped staked ETH (wstETH) through Anchorage’s platform.
What Anchorage Digital and Lido announced
Anchorage Digital, a federally chartered digital asset bank, announced support for Lido, expanding institutional access to Ethereum liquid staking. The integration centers on wstETH, the wrapped version of Lido’s staked ETH token, letting clients stake and hold the asset within Anchorage’s custody environment. For related coverage, see Grayscale Moves Custody Away From Coinbase for New ETF Product.
Lido confirmed the partnership on its own blog, noting that the integration expands U.S. institutional access to wstETH. Clients can now participate in Ethereum staking rewards through Lido’s liquid staking protocol while their assets remain under Anchorage’s qualified custody infrastructure. For related coverage, see Trump 2025 Financial Disclosure Shows $1.4B in Crypto Income.
Why custody-native staking matters for institutions
The key detail in this integration is what it eliminates. Institutional investors typically face operational friction when pursuing staking yields, often needing to transfer assets to separate platforms or self-custody wallets. Each transfer introduces counterparty risk, compliance complexity, and operational overhead.
By keeping the entire staking workflow inside Anchorage’s custody framework, institutions avoid those steps entirely. Clients gain exposure to Ethereum staking rewards without changing their custody arrangement, a setup that aligns with the compliance and risk management requirements that regulated entities face. Anchorage has been building out its custody capabilities across multiple digital asset types, and this Lido integration extends that approach into liquid staking.
The operational simplicity also matters for firms that use wstETH as collateral or in DeFi strategies. Holding the token within a qualified custodian removes the need for separate custody solutions, which has been a persistent concern in institutional digital asset management.
What this could mean for Ethereum staking adoption
Lido is the largest Ethereum liquid staking protocol, and bringing its products into a federally chartered bank’s platform lowers one of the remaining barriers to institutional participation. Firms that previously avoided liquid staking due to custody logistics now have a streamlined path.
The move fits a broader pattern of institutional infrastructure providers, including Anchorage’s recent work on Bitcoin yield vaults, adding yield-generating capabilities directly within custody. Rather than forcing clients to choose between custody security and staking returns, these integrations bundle both.
Whether this drives meaningful new capital into Ethereum liquid staking will depend on institutional demand for wstETH specifically and the broader appetite for on-chain yield products among regulated firms. The integration itself removes a friction point, but adoption will follow client interest rather than infrastructure availability alone.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets carry significant risk. Always do your own research before making decisions.
