Staking has always asked institutions to make an awkward trade. To earn a yield on ETH, assets typically have to leave the custody perimeter — transferred to a staking provider, a smart contract, or an exchange — and every one of those hops introduces counterparty risk, breaks the approval workflow, and complicates the audit trail. For a fund, a treasury, or a regulated asset manager, that is often reason enough to leave ETH sitting idle.
HashKey Cloud ETH Staking is now live on Cactus Custody, and it removes that trade-off. Clients submit a staking instruction from the Cactus Custody web console; the assets stay inside the custody layer they already use; HashKey Cloud runs the underlying validators and settles rewards on schedule.
Assets stay in custody
The integration is built around a single principle: staking should not require you to give up custody.
1. Submit the instruction
In the Cactus Custody web console, open the dedicated Staking module within DeFi Connector and submit a staking instruction. Your existing permission structure and approval workflow apply unchanged — the same signers, the same thresholds, the same records.
2. Assets remain in the custody layer
Staking is executed on a non-custodial basis. Your ETH is not transferred to a third-party staking operator or handed to an external wallet; it remains within the Cactus Custody perimeter throughout the staking period.
3. Validators run, rewards settle
HashKey Cloud operates the underlying validator nodes and settles staking rewards to your account on a scheduled basis.
For operations and compliance teams, the practical consequence is that staking becomes another instruction type inside an existing custody workflow, rather than a separate process with its own counterparty file, its own reconciliation, and its own risk memo.
The offer: 0% commission for the first three months
The standard commission on ETH staking is 20% of staking rewards. For clients who begin staking through Cactus Custody on or before 31 October 2026, the commission on the first three months is waived entirely.
- Standard commission: 20% of staking rewards
- Promotional commission: 0% for the first three months
- Offer window: on or before 31 October 2026
- Eligibility: one participation per client / per address
What that is worth
Take a client staking 320 ETH for six months, at an assumed 2.5% APY:
| Amount | |
| Gross staking rewards | 4.0 ETH |
| Net rewards at the standard 20% commission | 3.2 ETH |
| Net rewards with the first three months commission-free | ≈ 3.6 ETH |
| Difference | +0.4 ETH — a 12.5% increase in net rewards |
The APY used above is an illustrative assumption, not a forecast. Actual rewards vary with on-chain conditions.
Security and compliance
HashKey Cloud’s validator infrastructure carries the certifications institutional diligence teams ask for, and the operating record to go with them:
- SOC 2 Type II — information security audit certification
- ISO 27001 — information security management system
- Zero slashing — no slashing events on record
- Isolated compliant nodes — dedicated node infrastructure for institutional clients
- Slashing insurance — underwritten by OneDegree
Combined with Cactus Custody’s custody controls, this means the two questions institutions usually ask about staking — who can move my assets and what happens if a validator misbehaves — both have concrete answers.
Getting started
Existing Cactus Custody clients can enable ETH staking from the Staking module in DeFi Connector, or speak to their relationship manager.
If you are not yet a client, visit www.mycactus.com to learn more about institutional custody with Cactus Custody, or www.hashkey.cloud for HashKey Cloud’s staking infrastructure.
About HashKey Cloud
HashKey Cloud is the institutional infrastructure arm of HashKey Group (HKEX: 3887) and the largest staking service provider in Asia by assets under management. It has maintained 99.9% validator uptime since 2018 with a zero-slashing record, and provides secure, auditable multi-chain staking and yield services to institutions, asset managers, and professional investors worldwide.
Important information
Ethereum’s current reference staking APY is approximately 2.5% (source: ethereum.org/staking, retrieved 31 August 2026). The trailing twelve-month average APY is approximately 2.8%, with a range of 2.6%–3.2% over that period. Current yields are indicative only and are not a projection of future returns.
The standard 20% commission comprises 10% charged by HashKey Cloud as the staking service provider and 10% charged by Cactus Custody. The APY used in the worked example above is illustrative; actual staking rewards will vary dynamically with on-chain rewards and network conditions.
This material is intended for institutional and professional investors only. It is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice, an offer, a solicitation, or a commitment of any kind. Digital asset prices are volatile. Please assess your own risk tolerance carefully before participating.