What is LsETH?
Liquid Staked ETH (LsETH) is the receipt token programmatically generated when users stake ETH through the Liquid Collective protocol. Dive into LsETH, its use cases, the risks of liquid staking, the tax implications, and more.
The growth of staking
The two leading mechanisms for achieving consensus in decentralized blockchain networks today are proof of work and proof of stake. The Bitcoin network uses proof of work and relies on a decentralized set of network participants to contribute computing power to submit new blocks to the blockchain. Proof of stake is used by nearly all other major blockchain networks today, and relies on network participants (“stakers”) to lock-up (“stake”) their tokens for the opportunity to submit new blocks to the blockchain and earn network rewards for doing so. Generally, in proof of stake networks, the greater the number of stakers and tokens staked by good actors, the more decentralized and secure a network becomes.
Institutional and retail participants are increasingly looking to participate in staking to earn network rewards. But the biggest blockers for participation in staking are the illiquidity windows and the lock-up of staked tokens, which are mechanisms that primarily exist to preserve network security and integrity. Liquid staking is an innovation that addresses these needs, providing stakers with increased liquidity and capital efficiency, while preserving the network's security features that accrue to the network as a whole.
How does liquid staking work?
When a user deposits a token into the Liquid Collective protocol, they receive a receipt token that evidences legal and beneficial ownership of the associated staked token. The receipt token can be transferred, stored, traded, and utilized in DeFi or supported decentralized apps (“dapps”). Liquid staking enables participants to contribute to the security and decentralization of proof of stake networks, without the tradeoff of illiquidity. Liquid staking provides stakers with increased liquidity and capital efficiency.
What is LsETH?
LsETH is a fungible receipt token based on the Ethereum ERC-20 cToken model. When a user deposits ETH to the Liquid Collective protocol, they receive LsETH that evidences their legal and beneficial ownership of the staked ETH as well as any network rewards that accrue to the staked ETH minus protocol service fees and network slashing penalties, if any.
Always make sure to confirm the Liquid Staked ETH (LsETH) token address on Etherscan here before interacting with LsETH on any exchanges, DEXs, or applications you use. The LsETH token contract address is: 0x8c1BEd5b9a0928467c9B1341Da1D7BD5e10b6549
LsETH implements the cToken model, which uses a floating conversion rate – a.k.a. the protocol conversion rate – between a receipt token and the staked tokens to reflect the value of accrued network rewards, penalties, and fees associated with the staked tokens. The conversion rate is the amount of ETH for which LsETH can be converted. The conversion rate is independent of the price at which ETH or LsETH may trade on the open market.
At least once every 24 hours, an oracle network reports the new balance of staked ETH from accrued network rewards or fees. The conversion rate is computed as the total balance of staked ETH over the total supply of LsETH. If accrued network rewards are greater than penalties and fees, the protocol conversion rate would increase to reflect the net network rewards collected by the protocol.
Because of the cToken design, LsETH's conversion rate may fluctuate. In contrast to token models, such as aTokens that issue new net network reward tokens on a unit basis, depositors on the Liquid Collective protocol will not receive more or less tokens. Instead, the conversion rate for each unit of LsETH owned by the depositor will increase or decrease (i.e., the LsETH will evidence legal and beneficial ownership of more or less ETH) in an amount that reflects accrued network rewards.
User example
If you deposit 100 ETH to the Liquid Collective protocol, when the protocol conversion rate is 1, you will receive 100 LsETH in return (ETH amount / conversion rate = 100/1).
After some time, you decide it's time to withdraw your ETH from the protocol. Your staked ETH has accrued 20 ETH in network rewards. The conversion rate is now 1.2.
Your 100 LsETH is now equal to 120 ETH (100 * 1.2). You receive your 120 ETH when converting your 100 LsETH tokens.
What can you do with LsETH?
- Hold LsETH and accrue network rewards
- Exchange LsETH for another token
- Use LsETH as collateral to participate in a wide range of DeFi activities
What are some of the risks of liquid staking?
1. Smart contract risk
The Liquid Collective protocol is a layer of code written on top of the Ethereum Deposit contract. Similar to any protocol providing a service, there is a potential for code vulnerabilities that are missed by third-party auditors.
Liquid Collective's mitigation strategy
Relative to a DeFi lending protocol, where the entire TVL is held in smart contracts, the Liquid Collective smart contracts only hold value as it flows through to the ETH Deposit contract. Multiple third-party service providers have been engaged to conduct audits of the protocol's code. In addition to conducting third party audits, the strategy to deliver multi-chain liquid staking involves collaborating with existing liquid staking technology providers and leveraging their already battle-tested code.
2. Slashing risk
As is the case in all proof of stake networks, validators may be penalized for failing to perform their job efficiently. This most commonly results from validator downtime and from a double signing event.
Liquid Collective's mitigation strategy
Part of Liquid Collective's strategy to provide a secure and enterprise-grade liquid staking solution involves conducting sanctions checks on the protocol's active validator set. Liquid Collective leverages the support of security-focused Node Operators that institute best practices, including multi-cloud/multi-region infrastructure, technical support teams, and security posturing (including double-sign protection).
Although the protocol's validator set consists of prominent node operators, in the event that a slashing event occurs the protocol intends to provide a combination of slashing coverage that would be supported by Node Operators as well as third party decentralized slashing coverage providers.
3. Limited validator set
There is a small risk that a validator would surpass a certain threshold of tokens staked and be incentivized to act maliciously by censoring transactions on a given network.
Liquid Collective's mitigation strategy
Liquid Collective intends to work with third party validator rating providers to establish validator standards and increase the active set of validators.
4. Risk of hack
A significant risk would be a hack where the minting functionality for LsETH is compromised.
Liquid Collective's mitigation strategy
Protocol activity, such as LsETH supply updates, will be monitored and analyzed. In case of any anomalies, a first incident response plan will be executed to remedy the issue, which may result in pausing the protocol to temporarily disable all types of activities.
How does Liquid Collective compare to Lido and other liquid staking solutions?
Other liquid staking solutions have focused on the needs of crypto-native stakers. The number of liquid staking protocols solving for staker liquidity has resulted in numerous, relatively illiquid receipt tokens that can only be utilized in certain corners of web3.
Liquid Collective seeks to solve these challenges by developing a protocol that is suitable for institutional stakers, and that offers deep liquidity. Liquid Collective's objective is for this level of liquidity to result in the protocol's receipt tokens (e.g., LsETH) being the most adopted (and thus the most useful) receipt tokens in web3. A few areas where the Liquid Collective protocol differs from existing solutions include:
Industry standardization
- LsTokens create a single user-friendly receipt token standard vs. the current “alphabet soup” of receipt tokens that exist in web3 today.
- An open system encourages composability of Liquid Collective's receipt token, unlocking numerous potential use cases.
- Receipt tokens require liquidity to gain mainstream adoption. Liquid Collective aims to become a standard through collaboration with industry leaders and for LsTokens to become the most utilized and adopted token standard in the industry.
- Platform-specific solutions have historically not gained traction relative to industry standards. The stablecoin market is a good example of this.
Security and compliance standards
- With Liquid Collective's enterprise-grade validator set, network rewards are generated by security-focused infrastructure providers.
- Initial node operators in the Liquid Collective, such as Coinbase Cloud, Figment, and Staked, operate multi-cloud, multi-region, and multi-client infrastructure.
Built for enterprises and institutional participants
- KYC/AML for users and operators facilitates compliance
- API-first solution provides a frictionless onboarding path for Integrators
- cToken design on Ethereum allows customers to control their network reward flow
Native multichain access
- Liquid Collective is collaborating with top teams on other blockchains to provide the native liquid staking solution on each network (i.e. Acala for Polkadot and Rome Blockchain Labs for Avalanche).
Collaborative approach
- Liquid Collective's mission to empower global participation in securing the decentralized internet involves collaborating with industry participants including trading venues, custodians, tech providers, and node operators to build a liquid staking standard.
What are the tax implications?
While the status of liquid staking activities under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, remains uncertain, certain market views have developed around the U.S. tax consequences of liquid staking, including the following:
- Depositing ETH and receiving LsETH may not be deemed a taxable event. Unlike a traditional token exchange (e.g., trading ETH for another token), depositing ETH is not a token exchange. LsETH is a receipt token that evidences legal and beneficial ownership of the staked ETH.
- Additionally, because LsETH is based on the cToken model, the accrual of network rewards may not be deemed taxable events, especially when compared to the unit incremental basis in aToken models (or standard staking) for the accrual of network rewards.
Notwithstanding the views outlined above, all liquid staking participants are strongly encouraged to consult with qualified accountants to understand tax implications of staking and liquid staking.
Liquid Collective Litepaper
Learn about the growth of liquid staking, Liquid Collective, the protocol's features and more in our comprehensive Litepaper.
Download PDF · 2.1 MBKey concepts
Deposit — the act of staking ETH through the Liquid Collective protocol and receiving Liquid Staked ETH (LsETH) in return.
Redeem — the act of withdrawing LsETH through the Liquid Collective protocol to receive ETH.
LsETH — Liquid Staked ETH is the receipt token programmatically generated when users stake ETH through the Liquid Collective protocol. LsETH is a fungible receipt token based on the Ethereum ERC-20 cToken model.
LsETH protocol conversion rate — the amount of ETH for which LsETH can be converted.
Network rewards — rewards generated by the network and earned by Ethereum validators for effectively participating in the validation of transactions and contributing to the security of the Ethereum network. Network rewards are locked on the consensus layer up until withdrawals are enabled on Ethereum.
Execution layer fees (priority fee and MEV network rewards) — fees received by validators for the execution of transactions. Those fees are distributed on the execution layer directly. The Liquid Collective protocol automatically stakes the execution layer fees.
Protocol fee — the fee received by the protocol.
Total LsETH supply — amount minted by the protocol for staked ETH, minus the total amount redeemed.
Liquid staking via the Liquid Collective protocol and using LsETH involves significant risks, and you should not enter into any transactions or otherwise engage with the protocol or LsETH unless you have fully understood all such risks and have independently determined that such transactions are and/or engagement is appropriate for you.
Any discussion of the risks contained herein should not be considered to be a disclosure of all risks or a complete discussion of the risks that are mentioned. The material contained herein is not and should not be construed as financial, legal, regulatory, tax, or accounting advice. ↩
