Ethereum Liquid Staking Dominance Grows; 5 Platforms Management Over 97% of Market

As of February seventh, 2023, the Ethereum-based liquid staking sector has seen its worth locked surpass $11 billion. The expansion on this space has been largely pushed by a number of platforms, together with Lido, Coinbase, and Rocket Pool, who’ve seen 4-10% positive factors over the previous month. With over 73% of the overall worth locked (TVL), Lido presently holds the biggest portion of the 6.87 million ether that’s being held by the 11 liquid staking protocols.

Liquid Staking Turns into Extremely Sought-After Pattern

The recognition of staking Ethereum has risen tremendously since its introduction on the community’s Beacon chain. The Beacon chain presently holds 16.47 million ether, which is value roughly $26 billion and can’t be withdrawn till the upcoming exhausting fork in March. A big portion of this locked ether is being held inside liquid staking protocols, with 11 decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols holding 41% of the overall or 6.87 million ether.

Liquid Staking Defined

Liquid staking refers to exchanging ether for tokenized variations of the cryptocurrency. This permits holders to earn rewards whereas nonetheless having a liquid type of the coin that they’ll promote at any time with out counting on a custodian. The staked ether is being held inside varied protocols, and these platforms deal with the change and minting/redemption processes. Out of the 41% of the overall, valued at over $11 billion, Lido holds 73% of the overall worth locked (TVL). The worth locked in Lido elevated by 4.27% final month, and its TVL is now round $8.18 billion.

Coinbase’s Wrapped Ether Leads the Pack

Coinbase’s wrapped ether platform has 1,081,304 ETH locked in, and its TVL has grown by 5.74% prior to now month. The Coinbase wrapped ether platform TVL accounts for 15.72% of the market share and is value $1.76 billion. Rocket Pool and Frax Ether have been the 2 largest platforms to see the best positive factors over the previous month, with Rocket Pool’s TVL climbing 10.71% in 30 days and Frax Ether’s TVL rising by 76.73%. Rocket Pool has roughly 387,016 ETH locked in, whereas Frax Ether holds 87,134 ether. Stakewise, the fifth-largest liquid staker, holds 84,481 ether, valued at $136 million, as of February seventh, 2023. Frax Ether holds a 1.27% market share and Stakewise holds 1.23% of the 6.87 million ether. The opposite six DeFi liquid staking platforms account for under 2.6% of the $11 billion in worth, whereas the highest 5 liquid stakers management over 97.4% of the market.