Liquid staking has reemerged as a major focus within the crypto market, driven by innovations like restaking. The total value of staked Ethereum has reached 14.15 million ETH (approximately $37.702 billion), with Lido alone accounting for 69.49% of the entire Ethereum staking market. Newer protocols are continually gaining recognition, intensifying competition and offering more choices for participants.
What Are Ethereum Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs)?
Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) are a cornerstone of the modern Ethereum staking ecosystem. They provide investors with flexibility and potential yield, allowing users to earn rewards while supporting the network. These tokens offer liquidity for staked assets, enabling holders to trade, lend, or use them across various decentralized applications (dApps) without unlocking their underlying ETH.
While Lido and its stETH token dominate the market, numerous other projects are innovating to improve token stability, decentralization, and long-term growth potential.
Top 10 Ethereum Liquid Staking Tokens
1. Lido Finance (stETH)
Total Value Locked (TVL): $25.737B
Lido Finance is one of the earliest and largest liquid staking protocols. It is renowned for its security, deep liquidity, and competitive yields. Users can stake ETH and receive stETH tokens in return, which accumulate staking rewards over time. The protocol has gained widespread adoption due to its decentralized architecture and efficient reward distribution.
Lido was founded in 2020 by a team with a background in non-custodial staking services. It has raised $170 million across four funding rounds from prominent investors, including Paradigm, a16z, and Coinbase Ventures.
Users can visit the Lido website, stake their ETH, and immediately receive stETH. The current Annual Percentage Rate (APR) ranges between 4% and 6%, depending on network conditions. stETH can be freely traded on major decentralized exchanges (DEXs) like Curve and Uniswap. Beyond Ethereum, Lido also supports staking on Solana, Polygon, Polkadot, and Kusama.
2. Binance Wrapped Beacon ETH (WBETH)
TVL: $3.738B
As a leading global cryptocurrency exchange, Binance offers a user-friendly platform for Ethereum staking. It significantly lowers the entry barrier, allowing users to stake with as little as 0.0001 ETH. Users receive WBETH, a liquid staking token that represents their staked ETH and accrued rewards. WBETH can be used across Binance’s ecosystem for trading, as loan collateral, or in other DeFi applications for additional yield.
Binance boasts a vast suite of crypto products and achieved a historic milestone in 2024 with $100 trillion in cumulative trading volume. WBETH’s value accrues over time as staking rewards compound, meaning its value gradually increases against ETH.
The current staking APR on Binance is 2.74%, which dynamically adjusts based on Ethereum’s on-chain staking rewards.
3. Rocket Pool (rETH)
TVL: $3.189B
Rocket Pool distinguishes itself as a fully decentralized Ethereum staking pool. Its primary goal is to foster a distributed network of node operators, preventing the centralization of validation power. It lowers the staking barrier by allowing node operators to run a validator with only 16 ETH instead of the usual 32.
According to its website, Rocket Pool has 3,753 active node operators and 721,536 staked ETH, commanding 8.59% of the staking market.
Users holding rETH earn staking rewards with a current liquid staking APR of 2.58%. Node operators can earn a higher APR of 5.01%. The protocol allows anyone to generate passive income by staking ETH or by becoming a node operator and earning commissions.
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4. Mantle Staked ETH (mETH)
TVL: $1.332B
Mantle Staked ETH is a permissionless, non-custodial liquid staking protocol deployed on Ethereum Layer 1. The mETH token aims to become one of the most widely adopted and capital-efficient yield-bearing assets. It is backed by Mantle, a project supported by BitDAO—one of the largest decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), which is associated with the Bybit exchange.
The protocol is designed for simplicity post-Ethereum's Shanghai upgrade, allowing users to stake ETH for mETH and unstake to receive their principal plus accrued rewards seamlessly. The current APR for mETH is 3.39%, with over 500,722 ETH staked.
5. Coinbase Wrapped Staked ETH (cbETH)
TVL: $528.18M
Coinbase, a major global cryptocurrency exchange, offers cbETH to provide liquidity for staked assets. cbETH is an ERC-20 utility token that represents a user’s staked ETH on Coinbase. It allows holders to maintain exposure to staking yields while using the token across various DeFi applications on Ethereum and Base, with plans to expand to other networks.
Coinbase employs a robust infrastructure with multiple Ethereum clients and validator environments to minimize slashing risks. The current staking APR on Coinbase is 2.26%.
6. StakeStone (STONE)
TVL: $428.61M
StakeStone is a decentralized liquid staking protocol that integrates yields from major staking pools, restaking, and DeFi strategies. Its unique value proposition includes cross-chain compatibility via LayerZero's OFT standard and innovative yield-optimization mechanisms.
The protocol has received investments from Binance Labs and OKX Ventures. Users stake ETH to receive STONE tokens, which accrue staking rewards. The STONE price is determined by smart contracts and is not directly influenced by external market prices. The current APR is 3.19%. Users can also deploy STONE in other DeFi protocols to earn additional liquidity rewards.
7. Frax Ether (frxETH)
TVL: $362.15M
Frax Finance is a decentralized stablecoin protocol that has expanded into liquid staking with frxETH. The broader Frax ecosystem is a self-sustaining DeFi economy. Frax Finance also operates lending (Fraxlend) and automated market maker (Fraxswap) protocols.
The protocol's governance token is FXS, and its locked variant, veFXS, allows holders to earn a share of the protocol's revenue. The current APR for locking FXS is notably high at 790%, though this is specific to the FXS token, not frxETH staking.
8. StakeWise (osETH)
TVL: $345.3M
StakeWise offers flexible staking solutions on Ethereum. Users can stake ETH into vaults or hold osETH, a liquid staking token that accumulates rewards. osETH can be used across the DeFi landscape for additional yield opportunities.
The protocol was founded in 2019 and has completed funding rounds led by investors like Greenfield and Blockdaemon. The current staking APY is 3.21%, with over 128,384 ETH staked by more than 5,000 users.
9. Stader (ETHx)
TVL: $345.25M
Stader is a non-custodial staking platform that provides key staking middleware infrastructure for multiple Proof-of-Stake (PoS) networks, including Ethereum, Polygon, and Hedera. It aims to simplify staking for retail users, exchanges, and custodians.
Users receive ETHx when they stake, a token that represents their staked ETH and rewards, enhancing liquidity and DeFi compatibility. Stader has paid over $25 million in total rewards and currently offers an APR of 3.06%.
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10. Swell Network (swETH & rswETH)
TVL: $308.52M
Swell Network is a protocol offering liquid staking and restaking experiences. Users can stake ETH to receive swETH, a liquid staking token, or restake to receive rswETH, a liquid restaking token that offers additional rewards from Actively Validated Services (AVS) on EigenLayer.
Swell has raised funding from Framework Ventures and boasts angel investors like Mark Cuban. The current APR for swETH is 3.70%, and for rswETH, it's 3.08%. The protocol also offers users the potential to earn airdrop points for future token distributions.
Conclusion and Future Outlook
The Ethereum Shanghai upgrade and the rise of innovations like restaking have significantly boosted the liquid staking market. It is projected that the amount of staked ETH could eventually reach 31% to 45% of Ethereum's total supply, further increasing the market value of Liquid Staking Derivatives (LSDs).
Liquid staking provides distinct advantages over traditional methods by lowering participation barriers, enabling instant liquidity, and simplifying the user experience. LSTs can be integrated into various DeFi protocols for lending, borrowing, and liquidity mining, creating a more vibrant and flexible ecosystem for earning yield. This expanded utility continues to attract more users and capital into the space.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Liquid Staking Token (LST)?
A Liquid Staking Token is a representative token issued to users when they stake their cryptocurrency. It证明 their stake and accrued rewards, providing liquidity so the holder can use it in other DeFi applications while still earning staking yields.
How do I choose the best liquid staking protocol?
Consider factors like the protocol's security, decentralization, track record, the yield (APR) offered, the liquidity of its LST on DEXs, and any additional features like restaking or cross-chain compatibility. Always conduct your own research (DYOR).
Are there risks associated with liquid staking?
Yes, potential risks include smart contract vulnerabilities, slashing penalties for node operators (which could affect rewards), depegging of the LST from its underlying asset, and the centralization risk of some large providers.
Can I lose my Ethereum by liquid staking?
Your principal is generally not at risk from the staking process itself if the protocol is non-custodial and audited. However, value can be lost if the LST token trades below the value of the underlying staked ETH on the market or due to smart contract exploits.
What is the difference between staking and restaking?
Traditional staking involves locking assets to secure a single network (e.g., Ethereum). Restaking, pioneered by EigenLayer, allows staked ETH or LSTs to be used to secure additional third-party networks or services, often in exchange for extra rewards.
What happens to my LST if I want to unstake?
The process varies by protocol. Typically, you can trade your LST on the open market for ETH instantly. To directly unstake and redeem your underlying ETH from the protocol, there is often an unbinding period you must wait through.