Following the switch of the Ethereum blockchain to Proof of Stake earlier this month, Deutsche Telekom is the latest institution to launch Ethereum staking services. Its subsidiary T-Systems MMS will host validation nodes for the blockchain and will also provide a hosting solution for the StakeWise liquid staking solution.

While it may seem like Deutsche Telekom is jumping on the bandwagon, it was a pioneer. In early 2020, he announced that he would start staking and already offers staking solutions for Flow, Celo, and Polkadot. In the case of Celo, the telecommunications firm made a ‘significant’ purchase of the Celo cryptocurrency.

Deutsche Telekom will also participate in the governance of the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) StakeWise.

“As a node operator, our entry into liquid staking and close collaboration with a DAO is a first for Deutsche Telekom,” said Dirk Röder, Head of Blockchain Solution Center at T-Systems MMS.

So what is liquid staking? Most of the bets involve coin holders holding tokens for a specified period of time. Those tokens are used to support blockchain transaction validation. Nevertheless. some users may want more flexibility. It’s a bit like a long-term fixed deposit at a bank versus a shorter one. You get paid more for holding your tokens longer.

Depending on the provider, liquid staking offers three key benefits. First, users can withdraw the bet at any time (although for most Ethereum bets, that is not yet the case). Second, they receive a staked token in return, and that token can be sold or used in DeFi for another return. And finally, there is usually no minimum amount.

One of Deutsche Telekom’s advantages is that it helps decentralize hosting infrastructure away from the big cloud platforms of AWS and Microsoft Azure.

Meanwhile, one of the first institutions to launch Ethereum Stake was Sygnum bank and SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) recently announced a service for institutions.