PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BitGo, the leader in digital asset financial services, announced today that it has launched BitGo Staking. Clients whose assets are with qualified custodian BitGo Trust can now generate passive income while their assets remain in secure, insured cold storage. BitGo Staking launches with Dash and Algorand, with support for additional coins planned for later this year. The rate of return will vary by coin, running from 7 percent to up to 13 percent for Algorand.

BitGo acquires Hedge

The company also announced that it has acquired Hedge, a leader in scalable, programmatic deployment of staking infrastructure. This acquisition forms the foundation of BitGo Staking through the integration of Hedge’s automated secure deployments, scalable and redundant processes, and the use of hardware security modules (HSMs) and secure cryptographic enclaves. Clients will have the option of choosing to delegate staking to BitGo or to the provider of their choice.

Proof of Stake

Proof of Stake (PoS) is gaining momentum as a number of new protocols move to the PoS model. Ethereum, the second largest asset by market cap, is expected to transition to this model within the next year. A key benefit of the PoS model is that it does not need substantial amounts of committed mining power making it more energy efficient than PoW. In addition, the ability of PoS coins and tokens to generate passive returns makes them attractive to a variety of investors and can incentivize long-term holding of the asset.

BitGo Staking benefits

Best-in-class security architecture: each node runs on its own dedicated virtual machine so one client’s node cannot access other nodes or infrastructure

No keys go online: seamless integration with BitGo Custody keeps assets in cold storage

Multi-signature technology: the industry standard for institutional investors

Choice of staking providers: delegate staking to BitGo Trust or use the staking provider of your choice

Insurance: custodial assets are insured for up to $100 million

“In order to be a great custodian, we need to provide our clients with the ability to use their assets in custody. Staking provides our clients with returns on their investments without ever moving their assets out of custody,” said Ben Chan, CTO, BitGo. “Our acquisition of Hedge builds on the blockchain and staking expertise within our engineering platform to deliver an automated, end-to-end staking service.”

"Building trust in cryptocurrency is a shared mission between BitGo and Dash, which led to our initial partnership last year,” said Ryan Taylor, CEO of Dash Core Group. “Dash support in BitGo Staking builds on this relationship and provides additional ways to derive value from Dash in a safe and secure environment. We’re thrilled to be a part of BitGo Staking’s inaugural launch and expect masternode owners will be as well.”

"We are excited to welcome BitGo to the Algorand community," said W. Sean Ford, COO of Algorand, Inc. "By providing custodianship services with multi-sig security as well as new staking opportunities, the BitGo partnership adds even more opportunities to participate in the Algorand ecosystem."

BitGo clients who would like to start staking can contact support@bitgo.com. For more information: https://www.bitgo.com/services/staking.

About BitGo

BitGo is the leader in digital asset financial services, providing institutional investors with security, custody, and liquidity solutions. BitGo is the world's largest processor of on-chain bitcoin transactions, processing 15% of all global Bitcoin transactions, and $15 billion per month across all cryptocurrencies. The company supports over 100 coins and tokens, and has over $2 billion in assets in wallet and custody. BitGo’s customer base includes the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges and spans more than 50 countries. In 2018, it launched BitGo Trust Company, the first qualified custodian purpose-built for storing digital assets. BitGo is backed by Craft Ventures, Digital Currency Group, DRW, Galaxy Digital Ventures, Goldman Sachs, Redpoint Ventures, and Valor Equity Partners.