Interactive Brokers Adds Ether Staking with Fees Capped at 30% of Rewards

Interactive Brokers has opened Ether staking to eligible US clients, allowing them to earn blockchain rewards through the same Client Portal they use for conventional investments. The brokerage announced the rollout on 13 October 2026, with Zero Hash acting as the staking provider.

The mechanics are straightforward: clients select how much Ether to stake, and Zero Hash assigns the assets to Ethereum validators. Any rewards are credited to the client's staked balance, where they continue compounding until the position is unstaked. Fees from both Interactive Brokers and Zero Hash are taken out of the rewards before the remainder is paid over, with their combined charge capped at 30%. If a stake produces no reward, no fee is charged. The reward rate itself is not guaranteed, since it depends on Ethereum network conditions and validator performance.

Custody Sits with Zero Hash

Interactive Brokers provides access to the service but does not hold or stake the Ether. The assets sit in an account opened in the customer's name at Zero Hash. That arrangement carries consequences for investor protection: crypto and fiat balances held in a Zero Hash account fall outside the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) and outside the customer-protection rules that cover securities held in an Interactive Brokers brokerage account. Clients also absorb losses from problems at Zero Hash or during the staking process, including validator penalties known as slashing and service disruptions that delay rewards or temporarily block staking and unstaking.

The launch builds on a deeper commercial relationship. Interactive Brokers led Zero Hash's $104 million funding round in 2025, a transaction that valued the crypto infrastructure provider at $1 billion. Zero Hash already underpins several of the broker's digital-asset features. Interactive Brokers introduced round-the-clock account funding with stablecoins in January and has since broadened crypto transfers and expanded its asset selection to 20 tokens.

Ether staking gives the broker a product that rivals such as Robinhood, eToro and Trade Republic already offer in their respective markets. Interactive Brokers is edging closer to that level of crypto functionality while keeping a clear boundary between its regulated brokerage business and the Zero Hash accounts that hold clients' digital assets.