ether.fi Stake

Ether.fi runs a non-custodial liquid staking and restaking protocol where stakers retain control of their validator keys via the protocol’s “Distributed Validator” design. A user deposits ETH and receives eETH, which auto-rebases as validator rewards accrue, and weETH as the wrapped non-rebasing version preferred by most DeFi integrations. What differentiates Ether.fi from Lido and Rocket Pool is the integration with EigenLayer: every weETH is restaked through EigenLayer by default, layering a second yield source (Actively Validated Services securing data availability, oracles, and shared sequencers) on top of base ETH staking.

The “non-custodial” framing is enforced cryptographically - stakers generate validator keys locally before they’re handed to node operators, so operators never possess the withdrawal credentials. This eliminates the operator-collusion attack vector that purely permissioned staking pools carry. The trade-off is operational complexity: a misbehaving operator can be replaced through governance but only after a delay during which the validator may underperform or get slashed. Slashing losses are socialized across weETH holders.

The protocol has been audited by Spearbit, Certik, Certora, Nethermind, and the EigenLayer team for the restaking integration; public bug bounty is at $3M for critical issues on the staking pool and validator manager contracts. The dominant risk profile to keep in mind is restaking-specific: AVS slashing events from EigenLayer can in principle hit weETH holders if Ether.fi’s selected operators get slashed by an AVS. The protocol has been live through multiple EigenLayer mainnet phases without major incident, but the systemic risk model of restaking is still less battle-tested than vanilla LST exposure.