Key Takeaways

  • BitGo now supports the Ethereum Pectra upgrade, enabling more flexible and efficient ETH staking for institutional clients.

  • Clients can stake between 32 ETH and 1,920 ETH, reducing the number of validators required and lowering operational complexity.

  • Staking rewards now auto-compound, delivering slightly higher effective rewards over time.

  • Clients can add, remove, and consolidate stake without fully exiting validators, improving capital efficiency and liquidity.

BitGo now supports the Ethereum Pectra upgrade, enabling clients to benefit from the next phase of Ethereum staking efficiency, flexibility, and operational control. Pectra introduces meaningful changes to validator economics, reward handling, and stake management. With BitGo’s integration, institutional clients can immediately take advantage of these enhancements without changing their existing staking workflows.

The Ethereum Pectra Upgrade

The Pectra upgrade represents an important step forward in Ethereum’s staking architecture. By expanding validator balance limits, enabling automatic reward compounding, and introducing more flexible withdrawal and consolidation mechanisms, Pectra helps improve capital efficiency while reducing operational complexity for large-scale stakers.

Pectra is a major Ethereum network upgrade that went live in May 2025. It introduced several staking-focused improvements through a set of Ethereum Improvement Proposals designed to modernize validator operations and reduce friction for stakers at scale.

Key changes include an increase in the maximum effective balance per validator, onchain handling of validator deposits, and execution-layer triggered exits. Together, these updates allow Ethereum staking to better support institutional participation while maintaining the network’s security guarantees.

Validator Consolidation and Flexible Balances

One of the most impactful changes under Pectra is the expansion of how much ETH can be staked within a single validator.

While the minimum stake remains 32 ETH, validators can now support balances up to 2,048 ETH at the protocol level. BitGo sets a maximum threshold of 1,920 ETH per validator to account for rewards accumulation.

For institutional clients, this enables consolidation of stake across fewer validators, significantly reducing operational overhead related to validator management, key custody, monitoring, and infrastructure. Larger validators can be operated without compromising security, while benefiting from a more efficient staking footprint.

Reward Auto-compounding and Partial Withdrawals

Pectra modernizes how staking rewards are accrued and distributed.

Staking rewards are now automatically added into the validator’s balance, increasing the effective stake over time and resulting in slightly higher effective rewards. Clients can trigger a partial withdrawal directly from the Execution Layer to claim any amount of rewards below the balance.

When validator balances exceed the effective limit, excess rewards will be swept directly to the client’s withdrawal wallet, bypassing the long exit queue. This improves liquidity and simplifies reward management by eliminating extended waiting periods that were previously required to access earned rewards.

Flexible Stake Management Without Full Exits

Pectra introduces new mechanisms that allow clients to adjust staking positions without fully exiting validators.

Clients can add stake, reduce balances through partial withdrawals, and rebalance validator positions without triggering a complete exit from the network. These capabilities provide greater control over capital deployment while minimizing downtime and exposure to long exit queues.

BitGo supports these workflows directly within its staking platform, enabling clients to manage stake more dynamically as treasury strategies evolve.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Ethereum Pectra upgrade?

Pectra is a major Ethereum network upgrade that went live in May 2025. It introduces changes to validator balance limits, reward handling, and exit mechanics, making Ethereum staking more flexible and operationally efficient, particularly for institutional stakers.

Does Pectra change the minimum amount required to stake ETH?

No. The minimum stake per validator remains 32 ETH. Pectra increases the maximum effective balance per validator.

What is the maximum amount of ETH that can be staked per validator with BitGo?

BitGo enforces a maximum threshold of 1,920 ETH per validator, aligned with network parameters and operational best practices while allowing room for rewards accumulation before reaching the threshold. NOTE: The protocol max is 2048 ETH.

How can clients consolidate validators to take advantage of the higher balance threshold?

Clients can leverage the “Switch validator” function on the BitGo Platform UI to move ETH from multiple validators into a single validator. NOTE: The source and target validator cannot be in the process of unstaking, and both must be in the same wallet.

How do rewards work under Pectra?

Staking rewards are automatically added into the validator balance, increasing effective stake over time. Excess rewards above the effective limit will be swept directly to the client’s wallet.

Do clients still need to manually claim rewards?

Yes. Clients can initiate a partial withdrawal (and leave at least 32 ETH in the validator balance) to claim the rewards. 

Can clients add or remove stake without exiting a validator?

Yes. Pectra enables validator top-ups and partial withdrawals without requiring a full validator exit.

Does consolidation affect rewards?

Yes. During consolidation, the source validator temporarily stops earning rewards for approximately 27 hours.

Has slashing risk changed under Pectra?

The initial slashing penalty is reduced, but validators with higher balances might see a higher correlated slashing penalty given the increased effective balance limit. The overall slashing penalty, however, will be reduced on average. .

Which BitGo staking offerings support Pectra?

Pectra is supported across BitGo’s MPC and multi-sig staking solutions, with no changes required from clients.

The digital asset infrastructure company.

The latest

All News arrowRight icon

About BitGo

BitGo is the digital asset infrastructure company, delivering custody, wallets, staking, trading, financing, and settlement services from regulated cold storage. Since our founding in 2013, we have been focused on accelerating the transition of the financial system to a digital asset economy. With a global presence and multiple regulated entities, BitGo serves thousands of institutions, including many of the industry's top brands, exchanges, and platforms, and millions of retail investors worldwide. For more information, visit www.bitgo.com.

©2026 BitGo, Inc. (collectively with its parent, affiliates, and subsidiaries, “BitGo”). All rights reserved. BitGo Bank & Trust, National Association (“BitGo Bank & Trust”) is a national trust bank chartered and regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). BitGo Bank & Trust is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BitGo Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Other BitGo entities include BitGo, Inc. and BitGo Prime LLC, each of which is a separately operated affiliate of BitGo Bank & Trust. BitGo does not offer legal, tax, accounting, or investment advisory services. The information contained herein is for informational and marketing purposes only and should not be construed as legal, tax, or investment advice. Digital assets are subject to a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of the entire principal amount invested. Past performance and illustrative examples do not guarantee future results. BitGo Holdings, Inc., BitGo Bank & Trust, BitGo, Inc. and BitGo Prime LLC are not registered broker-dealers and are not members of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”) or the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). Digital assets held in custody are not guaranteed by BitGo and are not subject to the insurance protections of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or SIPC. This communication contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts. These statements may include words such as “aim,” “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “foreseeable,” “guidance,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “objectives,” “outlook,” “plan,” “potentially,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would,” or variations of these terms and similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. These factors include but are not limited to those described under “Risk Factors” in BitGo Holdings, Inc.’s registration statement on Form S-1, as amended, relating to the initial public offering. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in the registration statement. Although BitGo believes that the expectations reflected in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results. BitGo undertakes no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.