Revolut to offer rewards for cryptocurrency transactions

LONDON Reuters- Revolut is giving customers the chance to earn rewards if they allow the lender to stake their coins to verify transaction, a sign that the digital bank is embracing the digital currency after a series of industry crashes.

It said the feature will be available to customers in Britain and around 30 other European countries as part of Revolut's plan to expand its related services.

Revolut's value was valued at around $33 billion in the last known funding round in 2021, making it Britain's most valuable startup. The financial accounts for 2021 were due last summer, but they haven't been published yet.

The owners of cryptocurrencies that use a proof-of-s stake blockchain can stake some of their assets in order to take part in the process of validating transactions. Validators get transaction fees and new assets in exchange for their work.

The more assets a validator stakes, the more chance it will get work.

Revolut said it would use third-party validators.

It said customers could earn up to 11.65% of the annual percentage yield, depending on the customer, and token staked.

The market for cryptocurrencies plunged last year as investor confidence was sapped due to a combination of interest rate hikes and high-profile collapses, including FTX and Celsius.

After the customers of criptocurrencies were left with large losses, lawmakers have stepped up calls for regulation.

Britain's finance ministry laid out its first set of rules for the regulation of cryptocurrencies last week.

Revolut said customers' staked funds would be held with trusted custodians, but did not specify who these custodians were.

A spokesman told Reuters that Revolut completed its due diligence, asked how the firm established the trustworthiness of the custodians.