FINMA distinguishes the following variants and sub-variants of staking:
Non-Custodial Staking: means that a customer maintains exclusive control over withdrawal keys.
Custodial Staking: means that a customer transfers crypto asset to a third party.
Custodial staking comprises the two variants:
- Direct Staking: Service provider operates the validator node and holds withdrawal keys.
- Staking Chain: Cryptoassets are passed through one or multiple institutions that operate the validator node and hold the withdrawal keys.