Liquid Staking Derivatives: A Staking Alternative Post-Merge

Staking has become a popular feature amongst many cryptocurrency holders today. When a token is staked, it is dedicated to supporting the strength and security of its network. When a cryptocurrency token holder stakes tokens, he or she can receive a staking reward for their support. In addition to providing cryptocurrency holders with passive income, staking often provides governance rights. However, it also presents the challenge of capital inefficiency. Liquid staking stands as a solution to the capital inefficiency problem.

What Is Liquid Staking?

Liquid staking is an alternative to traditional staking that offers flexibility and greater efficiency. Specifically, it allows stakers to access their assets while still enjoying the benefits of staking their tokens.

Staking tokens has traditionally had a high opportunity cost for token holders. By staking their tokens, they agree to lock up their assets for a specific period of time. By doing so, they may miss out on opportunities to profit by trading their tokens or using them in other ways. This opportunity cost may deter some token holders from participating in regular staking. Through liquid staking, however, networks enjoy the stability and security associated with staked tokens. At the same time, token holders have the ability to use their assets as desired while still receiving staking rewards.

What Are Liquid Staking Derivatives?

Liquid staking derivatives are a representation of a token holder’s staked assets. Liquid staking derivatives tokens confirm the staker’s participation in the staking pool, and this token can be used for lending, trading and collateral throughout the decentralized finance (DeFi) world.

Derivatives are used extensively throughout the financial sector. They are contracts between two entities. The price of a derivative is determined by the underlying asset’s value fluctuations. In addition to liquid staking derivatives, other types include swaps, futures, forward contracts and options. With cryptocurrencies, the two parties contractually speculate on the future value of a cryptocurrency at a specific date. Variations in pricing represent the opportunity for profits. Liquid staking derivatives use tokenization so that participants can benefit from derivatives while also enjoying the benefits of staking their tokens.

How Does Liquid Staking Work?

When tokens are staked, they typically are locked for a period of time. This means that they cannot be traded or withdrawn for that time period. This provides greater stability to the network, but it creates inefficiency for stakers. Liquid staking provides a staker liquidity on their staked tokens via tokenization. Liquid staking derivatives are tokens that have an equivalent value to the amount that the user has staked. 

Through the use of the liquid staking derivatives tokens, the assets of an equivalent value may be used on other DeFi protocols and still earn staking rewards. With liquid staking, token holders may be more motivated to stake their native tokens and contribute to the stability and security of the network.

Why Is Liquid Staking an Alternative Post-Merge?

Back on Dec 1, 2020, Ethereum tested the proof of stake (PoS) approach on its Beacon Chain, where users could become validators by staking 32 ETH. However, their ETH tokens were subject to a locking period. This meant that the staked assets will be illiquid for a period of time.

On Sep 15, 2022, the Ethereum network successfully merged with its Beacon Chain, and this transitioned the entire Ethereum network from a proof of work (PoW) protocol to a PoS protocol. The miners that participated in the PoW protocol were completely replaced by validators staking their ETH tokens. While the launch of The Merge did not allow existing stakers to withdraw their locked tokens, this will soon change with the Ethereum Shanghai upgrade that is due to launch in March 2023. 

The appeal of soon being able to withdraw staked ETH may entice new staking users, but not every investor has 32 ETH to spare for staking. Since staking is a viable option to earn passive income, users may try to look for alternative ways in which they can stake ETH without compromising liquidity. As a result, the rise in popularity of staking ETH on the Beacon Chain has inadvertently also led to the rise of liquid staking protocols. 

Liquid staking protocols such as Rocket Pool allow ETH holders to stake as little as 0.01 ETH in exchange for ERC-20-compliant liquid staking derivatives. These tokens are backed one-to-one, allowing users to have the flexibility to enter or exit the market whenever they want. Further, since the tokens are derivatives, investors gain access to additional markets. With a lower barrier to entry along with higher flexibility in terms of liquidity, liquid staking protocols encourage more ETH holders to stake their tokens and support the enhanced security and stability of the Ethereum network in the process.

Pros of Liquid Staking

Before jumping into liquid staking, it is important for cryptocurrency holders to understand how this could impact their financing holdings. As is true with many other aspects of cryptocurrencies, liquid staking derivatives have both benefits and drawbacks that require a closer look.

Continued Access to Assets

Through liquid staking protocols, those with staked ETH or other staked tokens do not have to lock their assets up to receive staking rewards. In exchange for staking their tokens, they get liquid staking derivatives that can double as collateral in DeFi yield farming protocols. These tokens enable token holders to generate passive income through staking rewards while still taking advantage of liquid assets. Unlike regular staking, liquid staking solutions offer the best of both worlds.

Promotes Staking Activity

Staking ETH and other tokens does more than generate staking rewards for the token holders. It also supports the network by enhancing its stability and security. However, because regular staking requires the token holders to lock away their tokens, staking ETH or other tokens has not been embraced by all token holders. Liquid staking derivatives, however, provide the liquidity that token holders may need or want even while their tokens are staked. Because of this, token holders may be motivated to contribute to the network through liquid staking.

Cons of Liquid Staking

Slashing

While liquid staking derivatives offer exciting benefits, liquid staking is not without its risks and drawbacks. Node operators on a PoS network are faced with the risk of financial loss from slashing. A slashing mechanism is beneficial in that it discourages misbehavior by validators and promotes the availability of the validator, security and network participation in the process. Misbehavior usually entails double signing or validator downtime. When misbehavior is detected, even if the behavior is not intentional, a percentage of the validator’s tokens will be lost.

A Lower Yield

Staking ETH or other tokens supports the network, and token holders are incentivized to do so through a reward mechanism. Regular staking comes with some predictability regarding how many coins will be supporting the network at a specific time. Because of this, regular staking may have a higher yield than liquid staking. Liquid staking enables token holders to unstake their tokens and remove them from the liquidity pool as desired. While this can be a downside for some stakers, the lower yield may allow crypto investors to profit in other ways through their liquid staking derivatives tokens.

Liquid Staking vs Regular Staking

Liquid staking and regular staking are comparable in some ways. For example, staked ETH or other staked tokens contribute to the support and growth of the network. This holds true for both liquid staking and regular staking. In addition, both of these staking protocols yield rewards for token holders. This yield is a source of passive income.

There are also key differences between regular and liquid staking protocols. For example, liquid staking results in the creation of liquid staking derivatives tokens, which are valued at the same price as that of the staked tokens. Through liquid staking derivatives, stakers can contribute to the network while taking advantage of liquid assets. This is unlike regular staking, which requires the tokens to be staked and unavailable for trading. 

In addition, the yield from regular and liquid staking protocols often differs. Generally, the yield is higher with regular staking. However, liquid staking enables token holders to potentially profit from their liquid staking derivatives tokens in other ways while generating staking rewards. Another difference is the ability to participate in mini pools through liquid staking. For example, 32 ETH must be staked to function as a validator through regular staking. Liquid staking derivatives enable token holders to stake a smaller number of tokens for the benefit of participation.

Best Liquid Staking Protocols

There are various liquid staking solutions out there on the market that have both comparable and unique pros and cons. In addition, their fees may vary. What are some of the best liquid staking protocols?

Lido DAO

Lido DAO is one of the most popular and best liquid staking protocols. It functions with its native token, LDO. This is a governance token that is used to support ETH liquid staking. When users stake ETH on Lido, they receive stETH in exchange. stETH can be used across the DeFi ecosystem to yield more rewards. The APR for ETH on Lido DAO is 4.9%. 

Notably, Lido DAO is a well-capitalized platform that focuses on growth and enhancement. However, currently, a large portion of Lido’s staking power is centralized, and this presents the risk of a centralization attack. Lido charges a 10% fee, which is evenly split between the DAO and node operators.

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Frax Finance

Frax Finance is a liquid staking protocol that allows users to stake ETH in exchange for frxETH. frxETH is a stablecoin loosely pegged to ETH and users can exchange frxETH for sfrxETH to accumulate staking yields. The platform’s validators are run via Frax Finance’s in-house team, and this comes with some of the inherent risks associated with centralization. 

However, ETH staked through Frax Finance yields up to a 10% return, which is notably higher than what other liquid staking protocols offer. The higher yield is due to its significantly large treasury holdings of CRV/CVX. Frax Finance charges a 10% fee on staking rewards. Of this fee, 20% is applied to the insurance pool, and the other 80% goes to veFXS holders.

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Rocket Pool

Rocket Pool is a popular liquid staking provider that is often compared to Lido. However, Lido functions with permissioned node providers while Rocket Pool is decentralized. 

Rocket Pool offers two types of staking options for ETH holders — rETH tokenized staking and node staking. rETH tokenized staking allows users to stake as little as 0.01 ETH. The staked ETH will contribute to the deposit pool that enables a Rocket Pool node operator to create a new Beacon Chain validator. In exchange for staking, users receive rETH that they can trade for RPL rewards.

On the other hand, users who have more capital can opt for node staking. This option is specifically designed so that even those who lack technical expertise can benefit from operating a node. Node staking requires users to stake 16 ETH. The remaining 16 ETH to form the entire 32 ETH will come from the deposit pool contributed by rETH tokenized staking. This will then establish a new Ethereum validator known as a mini pool. 

Rocket Pool charges a fee of 5% to 25% of staking rewards which is paid directly to the node operators.

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Ankr

Ankr supports the development of decentralized apps (DApps) through its decentralized web3 platform. It operates with its utility token, ANKR. This token is used for governance, paying for Ankr services and staking. By staking assets on Ankr in exchange for ankrETH, stakers also have the ability to earn farming rewards. These rewards are in addition to the rewards from liquid staking derivatives. By staking the farmed rewards, a compounding effect is generated. 

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Is Liquid Staking Worth Trying?

Liquid staking is a relatively new option for generating income through cryptocurrencies that is generating a buzz among crypto enthusiasts. While it may be viewed as being similar to regular staking, it comes with different risks and rewards. More than that, each liquid staking provider has different fees and return rates to consider. With these factors in mind, you may be wondering if liquid staking derivatives are a good option for you.

The primary benefit of liquid staking is the ability to retain the liquidity of crypto assets while also generating staking rewards at the same time. Because those staked assets continue to be in play for trading and other activities, token holders may be able to profit from other activities while also generating staking rewards. However, the return for liquid staking may be lower than it is for regular staking. Hence, token holders should thoroughly compare the options available as well as their unique goals before deciding which staking protocol is best for them at that specific moment in time.

The Bottom Line

Liquid staking derivatives are shaking up the cryptocurrency world with the unique benefit of maintaining the liquidity of their tokens while also drawing staking rewards. For many token holders, the flexibility that this provides is a true benefit. With a variety of liquid staking providers available and with key differences between them, a closer look at each provider is essential before taking advantage of liquid staking.