Staking in the Trezor Suite (up to 2.87%) - Is it worth doing?

[m2017]

A persistent pop-up message in the Trezor Suite piqued my curiosity and stirred up my greed. I wondered: why were my ETH just sitting idle instead of working - generating new money? That didn't seem right. So, I decided to look into the details of the staking terms on offer.

The first thing that surprised me a bit (though actually, it didn't) since this is standard practice for disclaiming liability, is that Trezor shifts all responsibility onto Everstake; in my view, this seems somewhat unfair to their users. If you offer third-party services within your ecosystem (advertising in Trezor Suite), then you are undoubtedly also (partially) responsible for any negative consequences your users might encounter. Otherwise, simply don't offer services from third-party companies (Trezor is undoubtedly profiting from this integration, isn't it? Which means it is profiting from its users who have utilized Everstaking.)

Next, I began to look into the staking terms.

I decided to calculate what the return would be.

Look at it this way: can earn 0.00002 ETH \ $0.50 (this figure may vary depending on the ETH's market rate, but even assuming a doubling in the cost, it would amount to just $1.) on every $100. To me, that seems amusing (well, actually, not really), because by handing over $1,000 to someone else, you only get back 0.00088 ETH \ $2.34 a month. The benefit is questionable, and risks are disproportionate.

Of course, it would have been a red flag if the yield were significantly higher (it would have smacked of a scam), and I assume the staking returns are quite modest.

Having to wait 10 days (or longer?) to withdraw my funds from staking? But what if I need them quickly?

Staking terms: https://trezor.io/guides/sending-receiving-staking-funds/staking-assets-in-trezor-suite/staking-ethereum-eth-in-trezor-suite

"Unstaking from a pool can be done at any time. Where possible, ETH is unstaked instantly when funds are entering and leaving the pool at the same time. For example, if you unstake 5 ETH and 1 ETH is available, you receive that 1 ETH right away and wait for the remaining 4 ETH."

The question is, just how long should one wait?


Anyway, I gave it some thought, and caution won out over greed. I’d rather keep sole control over my meager ETH (crypto) holdings (since staking involves sending your funds to third parties). So, instead of Everstake, I chose Neverstaking.

Now for the question: do any trezor users stake their crypto assets? Would you agree to stake for 0.00002 ETH \ $0.50 per week (the figure will vary depending on the amount of your assets.)?

[Pmalek]

I have never taken a deeper look at staking platforms nor do I intend to. It usually involves handing over your coins to someone else with a promise that you will get them back plus some interest on top at one point in the future. I would rather keep them myself and without the promised yield. I know that there is such a thing as non-custodial staking. If it is how it sounds, then that's perhaps the only option I would look into.

Whenever I hear staking or investing in crypto platforms, I remember the failures of Celsius, Voyager, and several others. No thanks.
So many things can go wrong. The platform playing with user assets and investing them without their knowledge as we have seen in the past. Hacks, smart contract vulnerabilities, exit scams, etc.

[promise444c5]

Yeah the interest are peanuts compare to whatever they need it for..

Staking on a self-custody wallet is like giving someone permission to do whatever they want with your money even if they never payback.. On a  Custodial services like the CEX, it’s just a nice way of asking if they can take your money that was never there in the first place.

Both pay peanuts but either way it’s  a risk..

The question is, just how long should one wait?

As long as it takes for your money or another’s to yield them enough profit to pay you back or until they are done with what they are using it for..

[ABCbits]

(Trezor is undoubtedly profiting from this integration, isn't it? Which means it is profiting from its users who have utilized Everstaking.)

That's true, it's mentioned on their FAQ.

What is the fee for staking ETH with Trezor?

A 10% commission applies to staking rewards. The fee is deducted automatically from your earned rewards.

Anyway, I gave it some thought, and caution won out over greed. I’d rather keep sole control over my meager ETH (crypto) holdings (since staking involves sending your funds to third parties). So, instead of Everstake, I chose Neverstaking.

FWIW, Everstake supposed to be non-custodial way to stake ETH. But some risk such as bug/backdoor on their smart contract still exist, which could leads to loss of money.

[Charles-Tim]

Even if it is the staking that people can use validators to stake through noncustodial wallet, I can not go for 2.87% staking. It will also have unstaking period that people that unstake their coins will wait in a way they will not be able to have access to the coins until the unstaking period is over. 2.87% APR is very small and not worth going for.

[Upgrade00]

Having to wait 10 days (or longer?) to withdraw my funds from staking? But what if I need them quickly?

To be fair to them, no one should be staking an amount they could need quickly at any point in the near future. You should not even be investing that amount.

Now for the question: do any trezor users stake their crypto assets? Would you agree to stake for 0.00002 ETH \ $0.50 per week (the figure will vary depending on the amount of your assets.)?

I would not, not because of the low returns but that I am not a fan of the proof of stake algorithm and staking in general. If the returns were higher, I will still not be interested but will now be wary of it being a scam.

[Zaguru12]

Even if it is the staking that people can use validators to stake through noncustodial wallet, I can not go for 2.87% staking. It will also have unstaking period that people that unstake their coins will wait in a way they will not be able to have access to the coins until the unstaking period is over. 2.87% APR is very small and not worth going for.

For most centralized platforms it’s usually have fixed period when you can unstake and it depends on time and most at times depends on your APY. The larger the APY, the longer it takes for you to be unable to unstake. In this particular case the Trezor stake of ETH uses Everstake platform and the idea is you can unstake just any time but the problem is depending on the amount in the pool and that raises a lot of questions what happens to the initial deposit in the pool why can’t they release it?

Staking has long proven to be an productive thing most especially when it is with this Altcoins because instead of been scared of losing ownership of your coins there is also the fear of that coin dumping on you before you get to unstake from the pool, and the APY is never worth it

[FinneysTrueVision]

The real staking rate is almost certainly much lower than what they are promoting. If you are just holding without staking, then you are being diluted, so that is one of the downsides. I’ve never held enough ETH for staking to be worth it. My understanding is that these staking providers distribute ETH across many nodes to minimize any risk from exploits. I believe they can also pause redemptions if there was a smart contract bug and because of the withdrawal queue waiting period it would limit the damage to what was currently liquid and unstaked.

Every provider is different and there is always some risk, but staking is generally safer than most of the other ways to earn yield in DeFi. Restaking, on the other hand, has exponentially higher risk.