Kyber Network is adding a new staking option for token holders once a planned protocol upgrade is implemented in less than two months.

A new partnership with StakeWith.US, a Singapore-based blockchain infrastructure firm that provides staking services, is expected to provide "greater flexibility" for stakeholders and community members by increasing their control over decision-making, Kyber said.

Holders of Kyber Network Crystal (KNC), an Ethereum-based (ERC-20) token, will be able to delegate their tokens and voting power to StakeWith.US's staking pool, ATLAS, when the network's Katalyst upgrade is completed by the end of June.

"This seems like a logical tie-up and would allow KNC token holders who are either too busy or don't feel comfortable enough to vote on KyberDAO initiatives to delegate their votes to an informed third party and still receive voting rewards," said Gerrit van Wingerden, CTO and co-founder of crypto asset management platform Caspian.

Kyber Network is a decentralized exchange that allows instant trading and conversion of cryptocurrencies and tokens with high liquidity. 

Under the planned protocol upgrade, KNC holders will be able to vote on various protocol decisions and in return will receive rewards from network fees in the form of ether (ETH).

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“Kyber will be the only protocol that has a deflationary staking token with network fees paid out in ETH, an asset with monetary premium,” said Michael Ng, co-founder of StakeWith.Us.

With the change, KNC holders will receive their ETH rewards based on the number of tokens staked. Token burn and rewards are determined by actual network usage and DeFi growth, Kyber said.

"It's interesting to see staking providers, such as StakeWithUs, working closer with DAOs. Collaboration will lead a healthy debate around governance and proxy smart contracts," said David Freuden, DAO enthusiast and founder of Monsterplay, a blockchain consultancy firm working in the areas of smart cities, privacy and decentralized autonomous organisations.

"Staking providers can also access a broader and potentially larger network of staking participants which will increase the size of deployable pooled funds," Freuden added.

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Kyber Network activity surged in late April amid news that staking was on the way, with the number of addresses with a balance in KNC reaching an all-time high of 61,980 on April 27.