Finally, A Way to Stake ETH Using a Trezor Wallet
Sooner or later, it was bound to happen.
After more than a year of various people requesting ETH staking via the Trezor (Model T) hardware wallet, I finally found a way to successfully stake Ether using this device.
How? By going through the MetaMask app.
Thanks to the Exodus rep for informing me about this, as it is possible to stake ETH via their service with a non-custodial wallet that’s stored on your laptop, another secure option if you don’t want to buy a hardware wallet.
I will give you a summary of how to do this in this concise tutorial.
Before proceeding, please do your due diligence (DYOR and evaluate user reviews) and ensure that you are happy to use MetaMask before doing so; I am not responsible for any issues you might have with this.
1) Download the MetaMask app for your respective OS.
2) This should appear on the screen after clicking’ Download’.
3) Enable the extension. I use Firefox for my MetaMask Wallet, but it should be similar across various operating systems.
Open the extension by going to the puzzle piece in the top right-hand corner.
4) Create a new wallet. You can do this even if your Trezor Model T is already set up.
5) Set a strong password.
6) Secure your wallet. This is unnecessary IF you use a pre-configured Trezor Model T, as this recovery phrase would have already been created > ‘Remind me later’ option.
However, if you are saving the private keys to your ETH wallet on your desktop, laptop or cell (mobile) phone, this step is essential> ‘Secure my wallet’.
7) Critical housekeeping rules when using the MetaMask app, let alone any non-custodial wallet service. You controlling private keys = Your responsibility.
8) Once you’ve set up everything, you simply unlock your wallet each time you launch the browser.
9) Click on ‘Portfolio site’ to manage your crypto and see ETH staking options.
10) Connect and unlock your Trezor Model T. Ensure that you have the Ethereum account installed on your device through the Trezor Suite, which you can also use to manage your ETH and ERC-20 tokens (see screenshot below; URL in the hyperlink above).
Double-check that the Ethereum mainnet has been selected.
11) Return to the MetaMask portfolio page and you’ll see something like this.
Besides Ethereum, other blockchain/distributed ledger networks are supported here, such as Polygon, Fantom, BNB Chain, Avalanche and more.
12) Now the fun part, staking! Click on the ‘Stake’ tab on the column (left-hand side).
13) Hover over one of the two stake pools (I imagine there will be more options in future) and click ‘Stake’.
Click on ‘Connect Wallet’, as shown below.
14) Connect to the MetaMask Wallet.
After this, he ‘Connect with MetaMask’ popup should appear on the right-hand side of the screen.
Follow the prompts on the screen, and you should start receiving stETH (Lido DAO) or rETH (Rocket Pool) liquid tokens within 24 hours of commencing the staking process.
Concluding thoughts
I have skipped some steps for brevity, mostly trivial ones. What I have included here will cover pretty much what you need to know.
Whilst it is not ideal to have to initially jump through hoops just to set this up (for comparison, it is a piece of cake if doing this through a Ledger device via the Ledger Live app), Trezor is still preferred by many as it is fully open-source, unlike Ledger; however, each to their own of course.
Sooner or later, I expect Trezor to integrate this directly into its in-house app and save users the rigmarole of setting this up. In the grand scheme of things, it is relatively easy to set it up, albeit tedious.
To check your staking balance and general progress, there’s no need to go through all of this each time. Simply enter your password via MetaMask, go to the portfolio and check the balance (without having to connect your hardware wallet).
As per staking pools, more choices will gradually feature on MetaMask to give people an alternative to the market leader, Lido DAO. I encourage people to use options to help boost Ethereum stake-pool decentralisation; the same principle applies to any other blockchain.
To learn more about Rocket Pool, which I believe its token, RPL, has significant growth potential in the future, check out this Medium post.
At the time of writing, the Model T is the only Trezor device that permits staking.
Happy staking, and please leave a comment if you need help.
Cheers,
Lorenzo
Disclaimers
None of this is financial advice, and I am not a financial advisor.
The opinions expressed within this piece are my own and might not reflect those behind the MetaMask protocol itself. This article has no connection with anyone from their organisation.
Please do sufficient research before investing in any crypto assets, staking, NFTs and other product affiliated with this space.
I hold some ETH and a small amount of RPL.
I received no incentive from any of the companies or entities listed throughout this article to discuss their product.
If you enjoyed this article, I recommend following my Medium page for regular reports about crypto assets, blockchain technology, and more. Feel free to check out my publication as well, Crypto Insights AU.
Thanks for your support.
