Interactive Brokers Launches Ethereum Staking via Zerohash, Clients Keep 70% of Rewards

$900 billion in client assets just got a new yield option. Interactive Brokers has launched Ethereum staking services in partnership with Zerohash, marking one of the most significant moves by a traditional brokerage into crypto yield generation to date.

The service extends Interactive Brokers' existing crypto offering, which already covers trading in up to 20 digital assets. Eligible clients will retain at least 70% of staking rewards, with withdrawals subject to standard Ethereum network waiting periods. Zerohash, a crypto infrastructure provider that powers backend settlement for several fintech platforms, handles the technical staking operations.

Staking is the process of locking up ETH to help validate transactions on Ethereum's Proof-of-Stake network. In exchange, validators earn newly issued ETH as yield. Since Ethereum's September 2022 transition to Proof-of-Stake, staking has become one of the most discussed passive income mechanisms in crypto, with annualized yields typically ranging between 3% and 5% depending on network conditions and total ETH staked.

The 30% cut Interactive Brokers retains is substantial. Sophisticated users who self-stake or use dedicated liquid staking protocols like Lido or Rocket Pool can keep a far larger share of rewards, often paying fees below 10%. For those clients, the Interactive Brokers wrapper adds little financial value. But that misses the product's actual target: the brokerage's existing retail and institutional base. Investors who already hold ETH inside a regulated account and want yield without managing validator keys, hardware, or DeFi interfaces represent the real opportunity. For that cohort, 70% of something beats 100% of nothing.

Ethereum's withdrawal queue presents a real constraint. During periods of high validator exit demand, unstaking can take days or longer. Clients accustomed to instant liquidity in money market funds or bond ETFs may find that friction jarring, especially during volatile stretches when rebalancing matters.

Concentration of staking through large custodial intermediaries has drawn persistent criticism from Ethereum researchers. Lido alone controls roughly 28% of staked ETH, a share that has prompted repeated warnings about systemic risk. As more retail ETH flows through brokerages like Interactive Brokers into a single infrastructure partner, that centralization pressure compounds. It is a real tradeoff the Ethereum community will likely scrutinize.

Regulatory positioning matters here. The SEC's stance on staking-as-a-service has been inconsistent and, in some cases, aggressive. Kraken settled with the SEC in 2023 and shut down its U.S. staking program. Coinbase fought similar pressure. Interactive Brokers entering this space suggests either regulatory confidence or a calculated bet that the current environment is permissive enough to proceed. The firm has not publicly detailed its legal analysis.

Fidelity and Charles Schwab have both expanded into crypto trading over the past few years, but neither has moved into yield-generating staking products at this scale for retail clients. Interactive Brokers is stepping into largely unclaimed territory among its TradFi peers, and the Zerohash partnership gives it a credible infrastructure foundation without building custody operations from scratch.

For Ethereum broadly, this is a demand signal. More ETH locked in staking reduces circulating supply, which has historically supported price stability during accumulation phases. Whether the Interactive Brokers product moves the needle on total staked ETH depends on uptake, but the directional effect is clear.

The 30% fee will be a dealbreaker for some. The withdrawal delays will frustrate others. But for the millions of investors who already trust Interactive Brokers with their equity and options portfolios, earning staking yield inside a familiar, regulated interface is a genuinely different proposition. That is the bet Interactive Brokers is making, and it is not an unreasonable one.