Coinbase Issues Wrapped Staked Ethereum (cbETH) As Merge Approaches

Major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN) has introduced a new ERC-20 token to represent staked Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) ahead of the Merge.

What Happened: The cryptocurrency exchange said on Wednesday that it had added support for Coinbase Wrapped Staked ETH (cbETH) on the Ethereum network.  

Coinbase will add support for Coinbase Wrapped Staked ETH (cbETH) on the Ethereum network (ERC-20 token). Do not send this asset over other networks or your funds will be lost.

What is cbETH? Let’s dive in pic.twitter.com/n3Dp4OA6HO

— Coinbase Assets (@CoinbaseAssets) August 24, 2022

The new token, which represents ETH staked through Coinbase, will let users sell, spend and use their staked ETH while earning rewards. cbETH can be sold or sent off-platform, as the underlying asset that represents ETH2 continues to be locked up in the deposit contract, said Coinbase.

See Also: HOW TO STAKE ETHEREUM ON COINBASE

Holders of ETH2 (staked ETH on Coinbase) can "wrap" their ETH2 & receive cbETH through https://t.co/Zkd27RVkGW. Wrapping functionality will be rolled out to eligible users progressively throughout the day

​​Learn about wrapping ETH2 & using cbETH herehttps://t.co/i4VHyTgJxf

— Coinbase Assets (@CoinbaseAssets) August 24, 2022

It is worth noting that the price of cbETH will not follow the price of ETH 1:1, but instead take a value representing staked ETH and its accrued staking interest.

Coinbase in a whitepaper said it foresees much utility for cbETH in the crypto ecosystem, including its potential use as collateral in DeFi and in transferring staked ETH.

See Also: Ethereum Merge Date Gets Moved Up By 4 Days: Why The Change Is Significant

Price Action: COIN shares were traded 0.17% higher aftermarket. At press time, ETH was trading at $1,679, up 2% over 24 hours as per data from Benzinga Pro.