Prime

Introduction to staking on Coinbase Prime

On Coinbase Prime, you'll stake assets to a Coinbase Custody public validator, a Coinbase Developer Platform public validator, or a Coinbase Developer Platform dedicated validator. Some assets require you to delegate to specific validators when staking on Coinbase Prime.

Expand each section below to view details about staking bonding and unbonding periods, minimums & maximums, validator addresses and partial staking amounts, prices and fees, available validator type by asset, staking topics and actions, asset specific guides, and additional resources.

Note: You can stake other assets outside of Coinbase Prime using Coinbase Developer Platform services. View the related articles and resources at the bottom of this article to learn more about Coinbase Developer Platform services and the differences between validator types. Contact your Account Manager if you’re interested in setting up a private validator.

Bonding is the process of telling the network you want to stake tokens. The bonding period is the amount of time the blockchain delegator waits before their asset is bonded. Unbonding is the action of telling the network you want to unlock tokens.

The unbonding period is the designated amount of time that a blockchain delegator waits before having access to move or sell their tokens. It varies between a few days to a few weeks. Staked assets don’t earn rewards during the bonding and unbonding period. Additionally, rewards are subject to the unbonding period and aren’t available for immediate withdrawal.

See the asset specific articles below for the unbonding period for each asset.

Staking pricing and fees vary by the individual asset protocols and by the validator type used to stake your assets. The information listed below is specific to Coinbase Prime supported assets that are staked to Coinbase Custody public validators, Coinbase Developer Platform public validators, or Coinbase Developer Platform private validators. Review the definitions and table below to learn more:

  • Coinbase Custody public validator and Coinbase Developer Platform public validator: Validators charge a fee for their service. The fee is typically a percentage of total rewards earned and is automatically deducted before the rewards appear in your staking wallet. The fees taken are not visible on Coinbase Prime.

    • Note: ETH fees aren’t deducted from your earned rewards before they appear in your staking wallet. Instead, Coinbase Prime issues a monthly invoice for 10% of earned rewards after rewards are paid.

  • Coinbase Developer Platform dedicated validator: You’ll be charged the following fees:

    • Subscription fee: The base monthly cost to run a participation cluster (private validator) on Coinbase Developer Platform.

    • Participatory fee: A variable percentage-based fee on the rewards earned by an active private validator


The various features of staking vary by individual asset protocols and by the validator type used to stake your assets. Review the definitions and table below to learn more about staking minimums and maximums on Coinbase Prime:

  • Active set minimum requirements: The protocol mandated minimum number of tokens for a validator to be in the active set, participate in consensus, and earn rewards.

  • Delegation minimum requirements: The protocol mandated minimum number of tokens required to delegate to a public shared validator.

  • Staking maximum: The maximum number of tokens that can be staked from a wallet.

Staking varies by individual asset protocols and by the validator type used to stake your assets. This includes the ability to stake assets to multiple validator addresses and to stake partial amounts of a wallet balance. Review the definitions and table below to learn more about validator addresses and partial amounts on Coinbase Prime:

Multiple validator addresses: The ability to stake assets from your staking wallet to multiple validator addresses. This is applicable to specific assets. The ability to stake from your staking wallet to a single validator address is applicable to all assets.

Partial amounts allowed: The ability to stake a partial balance from your staking wallet to a validator and to unstake a partial balance from a validator to your staking wallet. Partial amounts allowed is applicable to specific assets. All assets can staking the entire wallet amount.

See the asset specific articles below for validator support and partial staking availability for each asset.

Related articles and resources:

Learn more about the differences between private vs. public validators.