SEBA Bank Enables Users to Earn Yields on Crypto
- The new SEBA Earn product will enable customers to earn yields from proof-of-stake protocols such as Polkadot, Tezos and Cardano.
- Institutions will also have access to DeFi programs, in addition to centralized lending and borrowing of BTC and ETH.
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Switzerland-based SEBA Bank has launched a new product, SEBA Earn, which will enable users to generate yields on their cryptocurrency holdings, the financial institution said in a press release on 13 October.
According to the announcement, the new SEBA product will allow institutions to generate income from Proof-of-Stake (PoS) protocols, such as Polkadot, Tezos, and Cardano. The launch of the product was in response to the “growing demand from institutions” to have access to a range of digital asset yield use cases. The CEO of SEBA Bank, Guido Buehler, said in a statement:
“SEBA Earn, our comprehensive digital asset earning offering, provides professional and institutional players with a flexible platform and a trusted, regulated provider to securely enter the space.”
SEBA Earn will not only enable users to earn returns through staking, but will also offer investors access to yields in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. In addition, the product will also support centralized lending and borrowing services, allowing investors to earn yields on their Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) holdings. SEBA Bank further plans to expand the lending service, and integrate support for additional cryptocurrencies in the future.
Founded in 2018 with the goal of providing “next-generation digital banking”, SEBA Bank became the first crypto-focused institution to receive a banking license from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) in 2019. Since then the company has continued to grow, and last month acquired another FINMA license, enabling it to offer institutional-grade custodian services to Swiss-native “collective investment schemes”.
- Ethereum’s PoS upgrade, also known as the Merge, was executed at 06:44 AM UTC on 15 September, combining the existing blockchain with the parallel Beacon Chain.
- The move has reduced Ethereum’s energy consumption by more than 99%, which is equal to 0.2% of the global electricity consumption.
Ethereum founder and Vitalik Buterin during TechCrunch Disrupt SF, San Francisco, California, September 18, 2017.
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- Called Coinbase Wrapped Staked ETH (cbETH), the new token will allow Coinbase customers to use their staked ETH while still earning rewards on the exchange.
- cbETH will not track the price of ETH as it represents the stacked token plus all of its accumulated staking interest, which will cause a “divergence” in the price of the two assets.
- The funding round saw participation from notable investors such as Alameda Research, FTX exchange, DeFi Technologies, and others.
- SEBA now plans to fund its international expansion, invest in new products, and grow its team in “new priority markets”.