Balance enables its custody clients to access Lido stVaults via Northstake

TORONTO, March 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Northstake has announced that Balance's clients can now access Lido V3 stVaults through the Northstake Staking Vault Manager (SVM), as the first North American custodian to offer this integration.

This enables Balance's institutional clients to deploy Ethereum (ETH) through Lido's newest modular staking module, in a true enterprise-grade fashion. Using the Northstake SVM, clients can directly stake ETH into operator-specific stVaults and mint stETH or wstETH against their staked assets, providing on-demand liquidity access alongside staking yield. Institutions managing significant ETH positions can now maintain liquidity, without exiting validators.

Canadian and U.S. accredited investors can perform the above workflow directly from qualified custody, through Balance Trust Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Balance, and qualified U.S. and Canadian custodian. Balance Trust Company serves asset managers, registered investment advisers, crypto asset trading platforms, and accredited investors across North America. It is the second-ever registered digital asset custodian in Canada, and the only one with a proprietary technology platform developed entirely in-house through more than seven years of continuous research and development.

"Qualified custodians are a gateway to regulated capital. This means asset managers and digital asset treasury companies, who custody with Balance can now use stVaults to mint stETH or wstETH against their staked assets, without leaving their secure custody environment. That's a meaningful unlock for institutions evaluating Ethereum staking solutions," said Jesper Johansen, CEO of Northstake.

The announcement comes as institutional demand for liquid Ethereum staking infrastructure continues to grow. Lido V3's stVault architecture enables operator-specific, configurable staking vaults, but institutional adoption requires a full-stack layer combining enterprise tooling, compliance-grade custody, and regulatory alignment. Northstake's SVM is designed to provide that enterprise layer, while Balance addresses the qualified custody for regulated institutions across North America.

"Qualified custodians are the gateway to regulated capital, and Balance Trust Company becoming the first in North America to support stVaults demonstrates that this architecture is ready for institutional deployment. stVaults gives institutions something they couldn't get before: the ability to stake on their own terms without sacrificing liquidity. That's a meaningful shift, and we expect it to accelerate," said Kean Gilbert, Head of Institutional Relations at Lido Ecosystem Foundation.

George Bordianu, co-founder and CEO of Balance, continues: "Our integration with Northstake reinforces Balance's role as a premier financial services and infrastructure provider. We can now enable our clients to put their ETH to work with minimal hassle, thanks to Northstake's unique and novel solution."

With Balance joining the Northstake SVM ecosystem, Northstake extends its footprint to both Canada and the United States. The integration marks a significant step in building a full institutional infrastructure layer for Lido V3 stVaults, one that connects node operators, qualified custodians, and end-users through a single enterprise platform designed to meet the standards of regulated financial institutions.

Jesper Johansen, CEO and Founder of Northstake, is available for interviews.

About Northstake

Northstake is a Copenhagen-based financial technology company providing regulatory-compliant staking solutions for institutional investors. Supervised by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (DFSA) under the Danish AML Act, Northstake serves regulated financial institutions, digital asset managers, and custodians with innovative staking infrastructure. The company enables institutions to participate in Ethereum staking through a secure, multi-operator framework built on Lido V3 primitives. For more information, visit northstake.dk.

About Balance

Balance connects its clients to top-tier providers such as Attestant, DARMA Capital, Maple Finance, and Northstake through its digital asset rails, enabling them to stake, lend, and liquidate billions of dollars' worth of assets directly from the comfort of Balance Trust Company, its qualified custodian. Full disclaimer at balance.ca/disclaimer.

Contact:
Jesper Johansen
jesper.johansen@northstake.dk