After buying ETH, many people keep a close eye on its price, but rarely look back and ask a different question: has the amount of ETH they hold changed over the past year?

For ETH you plan to hold long term and do not currently need to use, there is another often-overlooked source of return: staking, which allows you to accumulate more ETH while you hold.

This return comes from the Ethereum network itself. Staking is Ethereum’s native mechanism for helping secure the network. Validators participate in block validation, support the network’s operation, and receive ETH rewards according to protocol rules. Through staking, your ETH can take part in this process too.

Let your ETH work for Ethereum, and for you.

For long-term holders, staking adds another layer of meaning to holding ETH: you can continue holding your ETH while participating in the network and accumulating rewards. By choosing a staking model that supports compounding, eligible rewards can continue to be staked, allowing accumulation to carry on over time.

And participating does not mean every user has to become a node operations expert. imToken Stake brings access to both non-custodial staking and liquid staking into the wallet experience users already know, helping ETH holders with different needs find the option that works best for them.

Non-Custodial Staking

Non-custodial staking is designed for users who hold 32 ETH or more and want to participate in Ethereum’s native staking while avoiding the complexity of running validators themselves.

With imToken Stake, users can complete the ETH staking process directly in their wallet while retaining withdrawal control. Validator deployment, operation, monitoring, and maintenance are handled by imToken together with professional node infrastructure providers.

This means users do not need to prepare their own servers or configure execution-layer and consensus-layer clients. They can participate in ETH staking with a lower technical barrier, while avoiding the need to hand withdrawal control over to a third-party custodian.

This is the core value of non-custodial staking:

Asset control remains with the user, while validator operations are handled by professional infrastructure providers.

For long-term ETH holders, this offers a more balanced way to participate. It preserves the direct connection to Ethereum’s native staking protocol, while reducing the technical and operational burden of running validators independently.

Notably, imToken’s non-custodial staking now supports a compounding mode, allowing staking rewards to accumulate within the validator and be automatically restaked, further improving capital efficiency for long-term ETH staking.

Why Does Non-Custodial Staking Require Professional Operations?

Non-custodial staking may look like simply depositing 32 ETH, but behind it is a validator system that needs to run continuously.

Validators need to stay reliably online and correctly participate in block proposals and attestations. Node clients need to be upgraded in a timely manner. The operating environment must remain stable. Key management, monitoring, alerts, and incident response all require long-term maintenance.

If a validator remains offline for an extended period, it may incur inactivity penalties. If serious violations such as double signing occur, it may face slashing risk. For most users, running a validator independently is therefore not a low-barrier option.

imToken Stake’s non-custodial staking is designed to hand this operational complexity over to professional infrastructure providers. Users can focus on asset allocation and staking decisions, while service providers take responsibility for validator operation and maintenance. Each side takes on the role it is better suited for.

This is not simply handing ETH over to a platform. It is a way to lower the barrier to non-custodial staking through professional node services, while preserving the user’s withdrawal control.

Liquid Staking

For users who care about liquidity, imToken Stake also provides access to liquid staking. Through the liquid staking service provider Lido, users can participate in staking with smaller amounts of ETH. Lido issues stETH, a liquid token representing the user’s staking position, allowing users to retain a degree of on-chain liquidity while participating in staking.

The advantage of liquid staking is its lower entry threshold and greater flexibility. It is suitable for users who want to stake smaller amounts of ETH, or who want their staked assets to continue participating in DeFi.

That said, liquid staking is not a native Ethereum protocol feature. It is provided by third-party protocols. Before participating, users should understand the potential smart contract, liquidity, and other risks associated with the relevant protocol.

Home Staking

For users with the technical ability and a desire to participate more deeply in building the Ethereum network, home staking remains an important option.

Users can refer to Ethereum’s official documentation on home staking and validator setup, prepare their own hardware, configure the network environment, run clients, and complete validator creation and maintenance themselves.

This approach requires users to take responsibility for hardware, network conditions, key backup, client upgrades, uptime maintenance, and risk management. It has the highest barrier to entry, but also gives users the greatest degree of autonomy.

Home staking is better suited for users who are willing to learn over the long term, maintain their own nodes, and personally participate in Ethereum’s consensus process.

One Entry Point, Three Paths

There is no single right answer to ETH staking. What imToken Stake aims to provide is not just a staking entry point, but a clearer framework for choosing how to stake ETH. It helps users understand the asset control, operational responsibilities, liquidity conditions, and risk assumptions behind each option, so they can make decisions based on their own needs.

Going forward, imToken Stake will continue to focus on security, autonomy, and transparency, providing more users with a clear and reliable ETH staking experience.

Stake, under your control.