Introduction to Liquid Staking on Ethereum

Ethereum stands as a cornerstone of blockchain technology, renowned for its pioneering role in enabling smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps). As the blockchain evolves with Ethereum 2.0(aka Merge), staking emerges as a central feature, marking a shift from energy-intensive mining to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. This transition not only enhances network security but also offers participants a way to earn rewards by staking their ETH.

First Things First: Why Do We Need Liquid Staking?

• Liquidity: Unlike traditional staking which locks assets, liquid staking offers tokens for active use in DeFi, ensuring liquidity and rewards simultaneously.

• Accessibility: It lowers the entry barrier, allowing staking with less than the 32 ETH required for Ethereum's solo staking, by pooling resources.

• Immediate Rewards: It avoids the delays typical of traditional staking, facilitating faster engagement and reward generation within approximately 24 hours.
  

Understanding Liquid Staking

Basically, liquid staking may be viewed as a step down the line of activities required for putting assets on a network. So in traditional staking, the user locks up assets into the staking contract but in liquid staking, the user keeps them as liquid. In return for locking their tokens and providing the network with security, they enjoy back liquid tokens of equal value which represents the stake. The staking will give out these tokens which can then be traded, used on DeFi protocols or leveraged for extra yield, basically taking out the liquidity constraints of conventional staking modes.

Imagine Alice, who has 10 ETH she wants to stake. She decides to use Lido Finance for liquid staking due to its flexibility and the ability to keep her assets liquid. After staking her ETH on Lido, Alice receives an equivalent amount of stETH, which reflects her staked ETH but remains liquid and usable across various DeFi protocols. Seeking to maximize her yield, Alice explores DeFi platforms and decides to use Aave, a prominent lending and borrowing protocol. She deposits her stETH as collateral on Aave, which allows her to borrow stablecoins like DAI against her stETH. With the borrowed DAI, Alice looks for high-yield opportunities and finds Beefy Finance, a multi-chain yield optimizer that automates the best yielding strategies. Alice uses her borrowed DAI to enter a yield farming pool on Beefy Finance, which is optimized for DAI deposits. This pool auto-compounds her interest, maximizing her returns. Throughout this process, her original ETH is still staked via Lido, earning staking rewards, while her borrowed DAI is generating additional yield on Beefy Finance.
This scenario showcases the power of liquid staking to maintain liquidity and access to assets while participating in various yield-generating strategies across the DeFi ecosystem.

dApps in Liquid Staking

The Ethereum ecosystem boasts a variety of dApps that enable liquid staking, each offering unique features and benefits. Examples include:

• Lido: One of the most prominent liquid staking solutions, Lido allows users to stake their ETH and receive stETH in return, maintaining liquidity while earning staking rewards.

• Rocket Pool: A decentralized staking pool that not only offers liquid staking options but also democratizes access to staking for smaller ETH holders and node operators.

• StakeWise: This platform offers a unique dual-token system that separates staking rewards from the principal, providing flexibility in how rewards are managed and reinvested.
  Ankr: Provides a decentralized infrastructure service, offering users a way to stake ETH and earn rewards, enhancing the utility and accessibility of their staked assets.

• Frax: Part of the Frax Finance ecosystem, it allows users to stake ETH and participate in the Frax protocol's innovative stablecoin and DeFi solutions.

• Coinbase Wrapped Staked ETH: A product from the renowned exchange, Coinbase, offering users a way to stake Ethereum directly through the platform and receive CBETH, enhancing liquidity and integration within the Coinbase ecosystem.

These dApps exemplify the innovative approaches within the Ethereum liquid staking landscape, each contributing to enhanced liquidity, accessibility, and participation in the Ethereum network.

Risks of Liquid Staking

• Centralization Concerns: LSDs could lead to a small number of node operators controlling a large portion of validator nodes, raising centralization issues. As of the latest update, there are 929,299 validators, and a total of 29,737,571 ETH staked, comprising 24.79% of the total ETH supply, indicating a high level of participation which also brings attention to potential centralization and security vulnerabilities.

• Security Vulnerabilities: With centralization, the risk of 51% attacks becomes more pronounced. Additionally, collusion among large staking players could undermine the decentralization ethos of Ethereum, potentially leading to malevolent actions like MEV extraction and frontrunning​​.

• Governance and Regulatory Risks: LSD protocols that allow token holders to choose validators could enable cartel activities, including censorship or manipulation of miner-extracted value. If a single LSD protocol controls a majority of the stake, it could also become a simpler target for regulatory censorship demands​​.

• Market Dominance and Monopolization: The rise of LSD protocols like Lido, with significant total value locked, could lead to monopolization in staking, where a few protocols control a large fraction of staked Ether. This monopolization might increase the network's vulnerability to abuses of power and reduce the diversity of validators. ​

  

  
  

• Smart Contract and Depeg Risks: While liquid staking tokens like stETH aim to maintain a 1:1 value with ETH, market dynamics can cause deviations. Additionally, the reliance on smart contracts introduces the risk of bugs or exploits, which could lead to a loss of funds.

Liquid staking on Ethereum offers a transformative approach to blockchain participation, allowing users to stake assets without sacrificing liquidity. This innovation facilitates broader access to staking rewards and DeFi ecosystems, enriching the user experience and financial opportunities.

Looking ahead, liquid staking is poised to revolutionize DeFi integration and governance in the Ethereum network, promising enhanced financial products and increased ecosystem robustness. Its future holds significant potential for expanding blockchain accessibility and utility, signaling a vibrant direction for Ethereum's evolution.

If you also want to follow the latest happenings on Liquid Staking protocols and much more from a single screen, do not forget to check out our Liquid Staking dashboard