Benchmarking: Standardized interest rates are foundational across global finance. They serve as reference rates and performance indicators, and enable derivatives that serve as risk assessment tools. A standardized benchmark would help market participants clearly identify relative performance to Ethereum’s benchmark rate. Like an exchange-traded fund (ETF), which integrates efficiently into traditional financial securities infrastructure, a standardized staking rate benchmark would neatly fit into traditional systems – just like any other fiat reference rate. It would be a big deal for institutions. Today, institutional staking providers pay clients variable, bespoke, annual percentage yields (APYs) or floating rates. Offering yield returns relative to a common reference rate would give end users greater transparency and confidence about the floating returns they are set to receive.