From CeFi to DeFi: how staking is shaping the crypto investment landscape

Over the past years, staking has emerged as a defining trend in the wider crypto-ecosystem and become the prevailing consensus mechanism for new blockchains. More recently, as the wider crypto market experienced high volatility in the prices of crypto assets so did the staking industry. 

Navigating the staking landscape is not a straightforward task. This report takes a close look at what the proof of stake industry looks like in 2023, how it has grown over time, and what key players have emerged as well as the key trends and things to look out for.

Topics covered in this paper include:

• An overview of the proof of stake industry in 2023
• A deep dive into Ethereum and how its importance has increased over time
• An emerging trend toward centralization
• The emergence of specialists
• What criteria are important to consider when choosing node providers