Swiss cryptocurrency exchange Smart Valor has launched staking services for proof-of-stake and similar technology coins, offering Dash customers recurring rewards on their savings by contributing to a masternode thanks to a BitGo partnership.

Announced this week, Smart Valor has begun offering staking rewards to customers depositing on the platform, beginning with Dash and native token VALOR. Users can choose to stake their Dash, which will be put towards the running of a masternode, with customers receiving 85% of their portion of the masternode’s rewards. This has been made possible through a partnership with secure custody platform BitGo, which has enabled staking services for customers as of the beginning of this month. BitGo integrated Dash support into the platform in late 2018 after receiving funding from a Dash treasury proposal earlier that year.

Smart Valor integrated Dash into the platform in late September, right before the Dash Convention Europe, offering a temporary 10% cash-back bonus for new customers.

Smart Valor urging users to “grow up” from regular “hodling”

With the launch of cryptocurrency staking services, Smart Valor encourages customers to “Don’t just hodl – grow up and stake!” moving beyond the popular move of holding on to cryptocurrency to realize long-term gains to actively invest to receive more units of the currency:

“Smart Valor is the first European exchange providing full-service, secure and compliant staking-as-a-service. Don’t just hodl, stake it an generate an additional income of up to 6.9% from your Dash while supporting the development of the blockchain network.”

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin operate on a proof-of-work model where specialized mining machines contribute hashing power to secure the network, with miners receiving the new coins generated by the network, as well as transaction fees. This excludes regular holders from participating in the network’s rewards beyond the change in valuation of their tokens, while proof-of-stake enables holders to have a role in securing the network through their investment and to receive compensation for this role. Dash operates via proof-of-work, however the proof-of-service masternode network allows users with 1,000 units of Dash to be compensated for running a specialized node. While this model is more rigid and less accessible to regular consumers for investment purposes than pure proof-of-stake, services such as Smart Valor offer users alternatives to stake smaller amounts and receive rewards without worrying about running robust network infrastructure as well.

Dash’s ever-growing list of services available to an investment-minded, “post-hodl” crowd

Smart Valor joins an ever-growing list of services offering Dash users an opportunity to participate in the cryptocurrency staking model without running a full masternode. Services such as CrowdNode, Cobo Wallet, Gentarium, Snode, and others allow customers with fewer than 1,000 Dash to nonetheless participate in running a masternode and receive a portion of the rewards, typically 85% or more. Hundreds of users have reportedly joined similar services, increasing the decentralization of ownership over Dash’s masternode network. At present, a Dash masternode receives an annual return of about 6.22%, presently valued at $4,458 USD.