Hex Trust Paves Path for Institutions to Stake Ethereum Without Losing Liquidity

Hex Trust, a digital asset custodian specializing in markets services, custody, and staking, has integrated custody and staking support for stETH, Ethereum’s largest liquid staking token issued via the Lido protocol. This development represents nearly a quarter of all staked ETH and reflects growing institutional adoption of Ethereum-based staking strategies. By integrating stETH into its custody platform, Hex Trust enables institutional clients to access staking rewards while maintaining liquidity and operational efficiency.

The collaboration between Hex Trust and Lido aims to simplify institutional participation in liquid staking. Institutional investors often face challenges such as liquidity management, complex workflows, and the need for trusted infrastructure when engaging in staking. Hex Trust’s solution addresses these barriers by offering a single platform that supports secure custody, staking, and the use of stETH across DeFi protocols. This integration allows clients to mint stETH through a one-click process, manage their assets without minimum requirements, and utilize the token for lending, restaking, and collateralization.

Hex Trust’s integration of stETH also aligns with broader market trends in the digital asset industry. As more institutional capital enters the Ethereum ecosystem, the demand for secure and scalable custody solutions continues to rise. Lido’s stETH token, representing over $22 billion in staked value, has emerged as a key instrument for capital efficiency and liquidity management. By enabling custody access to stETH, Hex Trust contributes to the maturation of the institutional digital asset market, offering clients a trusted infrastructure that balances security with operational flexibility.

The integration underscores the role of liquid staking in bridging traditional finance and decentralized finance. Institutional clients can now access Ethereum staking rewards without the burden of running their own validator infrastructure or forgoing liquidity. Calvin Shen, Chief Commercial Officer at Hex Trust, emphasized that the platform’s design eliminates operational friction and counterparty risks, allowing clients to focus on portfolio strategy rather than infrastructure management. Kean Gilbert of the Lido Ecosystem Foundation noted that the integration marks a significant step toward making Ethereum staking accessible to institutions in a manner that balances security, scale, and liquidity.

This development follows recent regulatory clarity regarding the status of liquid staking tokens. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has confirmed that tokens issued under liquid staking arrangements, including stETH, do not qualify as securities under federal law when structured without centralized profit promises. This guidance has provided much-needed legal certainty for protocols like Lido and is expected to encourage further institutional participation in the liquid staking market. With over $24 billion in total value locked, Lido is now positioned to expand its services in the U.S. and attract participation from banks, exchanges, and asset managers.

Hex Trust’s integration of stETH is part of a broader trend of institutional-grade custodians adopting liquid staking solutions. Competitors such as BitGo and Komainu have also introduced custody support for stETH, reinforcing its role as a critical component of institutional digital asset strategies. These developments indicate a shift toward more sophisticated and secure models for institutional participation in the decentralized economy, with custody and staking services increasingly becoming core offerings in the digital asset space.