Lido Staked ETH (stETH) is the base liquid staking token for Ethereum and the single most widely held LST, representing ETH staked across Lido's validator set. It earns Ethereum proof-of-stake rewards that accrue daily as a rebasing balance, and underpins a large share of the ETH yield products in DeFi. stETH scores 74/100 (Tier 3) on the RWTS Trust Score, strong on liquidity and track record but carrying smart-contract, validator-slashing and Lido-governance risk. Exits run through the Lido withdrawal queue, typically one to five days, or an instant swap on Curve.
- Issuer / protocol
- Lido Finance
- Backing
- Staked ETH (Ethereum PoS validators)
- Redemption / lock-up
- None (liquid, tradeable) — exit via Lido withdrawals queue (~1-5 days) or swap on Curve
- Audit & proof of reserves
- Independently audited
- Availability
- Global
- Chain
- Ethereum
- Tier
- Tier 3 — Secured DeFi
- Contract
- 0xae7a…0084
Scored on the published RWTS methodology (v1.1), reviewed quarterly and on material events. Ratings are independent and never pay-influenced.
Calculations are indicative. Actual yields may vary.
Price data from CoinGecko. Not financial advice.
| Pool | DEX | Liquidity | 24h Vol |
|---|---|---|---|
| stETH / ETH | curve | $98.4M | $2.5M |
| stETH / ETH | curve | $24.5M | $2.4M |
| stETH / ETH | uniswap | $458K | $10K |
| stETH / WETH | uniswap | $386K | $47 |
| stETH / ETH | uniswap | $201K | $753 |
| stETH / WETH | curve | $82K | $473 |
Aggregated across public DEX pools holding more than $10K in liquidity. Daily snapshot, not a live feed. Source: DexScreener. Deep, distributed liquidity makes a token easier to enter and exit without slippage.
Current yield of 2.32% sits at -18% of the observed range. There may be room for rates to improve.
Projections assume constant APY of 2.32%. Actual returns may vary. Not financial advice.
Beyond stETH's own score, two structural questions matter: what is it built on, and what has broken before in this part of the market. A high score in isolation can still carry hidden, shared exposure.
What this and similar assets are built on, and where contagion could spread.
The depegs, defaults, and exploits that inform the Track Record dimension.
Liquidity read: TVL of $24.74B indicates deep on-chain liquidity. Lock-up: None (liquid, tradeable) — exit via Lido withdrawals queue (~1-5 days) or swap on Curve.
Is stETH safe?
stETH (Lido Staked ETH) scores 74/100 on the independent RWTS Trust Score, which places it in Secured DeFi (Tier 3). Tier 3 carries real DeFi exposure: the backing is sound but smart-contract and collateral risk are live, so size positions accordingly. Backing: Staked ETH (Ethereum PoS validators). It is independently audited. The score reflects backing, verification, redeemability, audit, regulatory standing, and track record, not headline yield. We rate. You decide.
Exit routes
12/15 · right 5/8 · routes 7/7If the issuer stopped cooperating tomorrow, could you get out?
Yes, by more than one independent route
- independent
17 venues
Largest 66% share, so markets alone would score lower.
- independent
Lido withdrawal queue
Enforced in contract rather than by Lido the organisation. This is the route the old rubric never credited.
- independent
deep DEX liquidity
Curve and others, permissionless.
Route 7. Right is 5: there is no issuer redemption desk, the exit is the queue, and the queue has a variable wait.
This is the redeemability component of the Trust Score above, which stands at 74/100 (B). Until 1 September 2026 redeemability was a single figure measuring the right to redeem while ignoring how many routes existed to exercise it. Splitting it moved this asset’s score. How the score works
Assessed 2026-09-01. Route independence asks how many ways out the issuer cannot close, not how much the asset trades.
Compare stETH
Head to head on the Trust Score with similar assets.