Ether.fi

Ether.fi is a liquid restaking protocol on Ethereum, and ETHFI is its governance token. The protocol lets users stake ether while retaining a liquid token representing that position, and additionally routes the staked ether into restaking, where the same capital also helps secure other services built on Ethereum.

The distinguishing feature of Ether.fi among liquid staking providers is non-custodial staking. In most liquid staking designs, the protocol or its node operators hold the validator withdrawal keys. Ether.fi is built so that the staker retains control of those keys, meaning the operator can run the validator but cannot withdraw the funds. That reduces one of the more significant trust assumptions in the category.

Restaking

Restaking, popularized by EigenLayer, lets staked ether be used a second time as economic security for additional protocols, in exchange for extra rewards and additional slashing risk. Ether.fi issues eETH and its wrapped form weETH, which accrue both regular staking rewards and restaking rewards.

The additional yield carries additional risk. Restaked capital can be slashed for faults in the services it secures, not only for faults on Ethereum itself, so the risk profile is different from plain staking even though the underlying asset is the same.

Supply

ETHFI has a maximum supply of one billion tokens, with total supply at roughly 998.5 million and around 973.5 million circulating, so nearly all of the supply is already in the market. The token was distributed partly through a Binance Launchpool and airdrops to early depositors.

Ether.fi has expanded beyond staking into payment cards and other products, and it operates across Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, and Scroll.