Ethereum · Beacon Chain
Ethereum’s switch to Proof of Stake in September 2022 turned ETH into a yield-bearing asset. Today it powers a full-stack staking economy: native validators, liquid staking tokens, restaking on EigenLayer, and leveraged yield strategies that compose protocol layers to amplify returns — each layer trading more reward for more risk.
Ways to Stake
From running your own validator to holding a liquid token — each path is a different mix of capital, operational effort, and custody.
Run your own consensus + execution client (Lighthouse/Teku + Geth/Nethermind). Full rewards, full MEV, no counterparty — but you’re on the hook for uptime, key security, and slashing protection.
Kiln, Allnodes, P2P.org, Figment, and others run the node while you keep withdrawal keys. Fees are 5–15% of rewards. A solid middle ground: no ops, still non-custodial.
Become a node operator on Rocket Pool with a fraction of 32 ETH; the protocol matches your deposit with pooled staker ETH. Requires 10–150% RPL collateral and earns commission on top of base rewards.
Deposit any amount with Lido, Rocket Pool, Frax, etc. Receive an ERC-20 (stETH, rETH, sfrxETH) that accrues staking rewards and plugs into the rest of DeFi. The fastest path from ETH to stacked yield.
Liquid Staking Tokens
An LST is a tradeable receipt for your staked ETH. It accrues native staking rewards (~3.4%) and plugs into DeFi as collateral or LP capital. Rebasing tokens grow in quantity; value-accruing tokens grow in price.
Liquid Restaking (EigenLayer)
Restaking lets your staked ETH simultaneously secure additional networks — "AVSs" (Actively Validated Services) built on EigenLayer. LRTs wrap that restaked ETH into a single liquid token, earning native staking rewards plus AVS fees plus points — at the cost of additional slashing exposure.
Yield Farming
Once you hold an LST or LRT, the rest of DeFi opens up. These strategies stack additional yield on top of base staking — each adds layers of smart-contract, oracle, and market risk. Difficulty badges reflect operational complexity, not just APY.
Mint frxETH 1:1 from ETH, then split: deposit part into the sfrxETH vault (captures all validator rewards) and LP the rest into the Curve frxETH/ETH pool. The non-LP side concentrates the full staking yield.
The deepest stable LP pool on Curve pairs stETH with ETH. LP fees plus CRV emissions; locking CVX on Convex boosts CRV rewards up to ~2.5×.
Pendle splits any yield-bearing asset into Principal Tokens (PT) and Yield Tokens (YT). Buying PT-weETH or PT-rsETH locks in a fixed yield until maturity — often at a premium to native staking because the market bids up YT for EigenLayer points.
The mirror trade: buy YT-LRT for leveraged exposure to EigenLayer and LRT-provider points with a fraction of the ETH. Points stop accruing at maturity, so timing matters — YT decays toward zero.
Supply wstETH (or an LRT) as collateral, borrow ETH, swap back to more wstETH, repeat. Each loop adds leverage on staking yield minus borrow cost. Morpho Blue’s isolated markets allow up to ~94% LTV vs ~80% on Aave.
Skip the LRT wrapper. Deposit native ETH (via EigenPod) or an LST directly into EigenLayer and delegate to operators running AVSs (EigenDA, Lagrange, AltLayer, Witness Chain…). Earn native rewards + AVS fees + points; withdrawals take 7 days and slashing is per-operator.
Alternative restaking platforms that accept broader collateral (stablecoins, BTC wrappers, LP tokens) and use a modular slashing model. Often paired with Mellow-style curator vaults for managed exposure.
Auto-compounding vaults that execute one of the above strategies on your behalf — Yearn’s yvWETH, Sommelier’s Turbo stETH, and similar products. Higher fees (10–20% of yield) but fully hands-off.
Stack-Specific Risks
Each layer you stack on top of native staking adds a new failure mode. Reading these before committing capital is table stakes.
An LST tracks ETH in redemption value, not market price. In June 2022 stETH traded ~6% below ETH on Curve for weeks. If you’re leverage-looping, even a temporary depeg can force liquidation while the underlying staking is still healthy.
EigenLayer AVSs can slash operators for misbehavior, which propagates to delegators. AVSs set their own slashing conditions — some are still evolving. Pick operators and AVSs carefully; don’t assume all are equally safe.
A leveraged Pendle YT-weETH position touches ether.fi, EigenLayer, Pendle, a DEX aggregator, and potentially Aave. One exploit anywhere in the stack puts the whole position at risk.
Ethereum’s validator exit queue can stretch during mass unstaking events. Redeeming an LST for native ETH may take days to weeks; the secondary market gives immediate liquidity but at whatever price the DEX is quoting.
cbETH issuers, custodial LSTs, and any wrapper with an admin multisig carry counterparty risk. Regulatory action against a major issuer can freeze redemptions overnight.
Many restaking yields are denominated in unlaunched protocol points. Point valuations are speculative until TGE, and early-leader protocols often distribute fewer tokens per point than latecomers. Don’t treat point APYs as cash.