Liquid Staking Protocols
Liquid Staking evaluated across redemption mechanics, peg resilience and exit depth, operator decentralisation, and the commission take-rate.
22providers tracked
11ranked (methodology v2026.11.1)
12 November 2026Ranking snapshot
30 September 2026oldest read · due 14 Nov
Independent. Evidence-based.We rank with a published method and sourced evidence. No one can pay to rank.How it works
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Pick a country to see which liquid staking protocols serve it. Nothing is hidden — any that does not is listed with that reason.- 🇺🇸 United States
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This affects provider availability.
BalanceNot priced hereThe cut is a share of the yield, not of your balance; each row shows it.
Requirements (0)
Preferences (0)
Preferences re-weight Fit for you, which needs your country.
More filters
Funding & access
11 providers match your requirements
Out of 11 ranked providers. 0 excluded.
What this ranks
Ranked here: liquid staking receipts for the staking asset of Ethereum, Solana or a Cosmos/IBC chain, transferable tokens that accrue the staking reward and can be redeemed for that asset.Not ranked here: liquid restaking that adds a second slashing layer, Bitcoin staking receipts, and receipts for the staking asset of chains other than Ethereum, Solana and the Cosmos/IBC chains.11 of the 22 assessed are ranked; 11 were turned away by name. Who, and whyRequirements narrow the list; they never change a published ChainChoice Score. How the ranking works
JI
Jito
How Jito was chosen
Wins the weighted total without leading any single criterionSolana liquid staking
83 / 100 out of 100published score, #1 of all 11 worldwide
Evidence
High
4/4 criteria scored, with 4 dated sources quoted.Take rateRedemptionPeg stability
Why it leads
- Jito is 2 points ahead of Marinade, mainly because it scores higher on its peg stability.
- Ahead of Marinade on peg stability (+1.6 points)
- Lists 3 regions — set your country to check them
Tradeoff
Decentralisation: 3 points below the best in this ranking
Commission on rewards
4%
Share
#ProviderCommission on rewardsCompare
2
Veteran Solana liquid staking
81 / 100 out of 100
0%
3
Default liquid-staking path
79 / 100 out of 100
10%
4
Ethereum liquid staking
70 / 100 out of 100
5%
5
Ethereum-native liquid staking
67 / 100 out of 100
14%
6
cbETH, Coinbase's liquid staking token, at a...
65 / 100 out of 100
10% (in-app 35%)
7
Frax-ecosystem ETH liquid staking
61 / 100 out of 100
10%
8
BI
Exchange-operated liquid staking
49 / 100 out of 100
7.5%
9
ETHx liquid staking on Ethereum
48 / 100 out of 100
10%
10
SW
Ethereum liquid staking and restaking through...
45 / 100 out of 100
10%
11
SR
SHUT DOWN
≤41 / 100 out of 100
Stride has shut down (SHUT DOWN: liquid staking frozen since 12 October 2026 and the Stride chain is winding down; do not deposit).
Compare providers (0)
See key differences in features, fees, security and more.
Take rate
Commission take-rate
20% of the published criteria weight. Scored 0–10 from the published evidence; the order below is by this criterion, then the published ranking.
| Provider | Take rate (0–10) | ChainChoice Score |
|---|---|---|
| Jito | 10 | 83 |
| Marinade | 10 | 81 |
| Binance Staked ETH (WBETH) | 8 | 49 |
| Lido | 6 | 79 |
| Coinbase Staking | 6 | 65 |
| Frax Ether | 6 | 61 |
| Stader | 6 | 48 |
| Swell | 6 | 45 |
| Stride | 6 | 41 |
| StakeWise | 5 | 70 |
| Rocket Pool | 3 | 67 |
Redemption
Redemption mechanics
28% of the published criteria weight. Scored 0–10 from the published evidence; the order below is by this criterion, then the published ranking.
| Provider | Redemption (0–10) | ChainChoice Score |
|---|---|---|
| Jito | 8 | 83 |
| Marinade | 8 | 81 |
| Lido | 8 | 79 |
| Binance Staked ETH (WBETH) | 8 | 49 |
| Stader | 7 | 48 |
| StakeWise | 6 | 70 |
| Coinbase Staking | 6 | 65 |
| Swell | 6 | 45 |
| Frax Ether | 5 | 61 |
| Stride | 5 | 41 |
| Rocket Pool | 4 | 67 |
Peg stability
Peg resilience & exit depth
26% of the published criteria weight. Scored 0–10 from the published evidence; the order below is by this criterion, then the published ranking.
| Provider | Peg stability (0–10) | ChainChoice Score |
|---|---|---|
| Lido | 9 | 79 |
| Jito | 8 | 83 |
| Marinade | 7 | 81 |
| Frax Ether | 6 | 61 |
| Rocket Pool | 5 | 67 |
| Coinbase Staking | 5 | 65 |
| StakeWise | 4 | 70 |
| Stader | 3 | 48 |
| Swell | 3 | 45 |
| Stride | 3 | 41 |
| Binance Staked ETH (WBETH) | 2 | 49 |
Decentralisation
Operator decentralisation
26% of the published criteria weight. Scored 0–10 from the published evidence; the order below is by this criterion, then the published ranking.
| Provider | Decentralisation (0–10) | ChainChoice Score |
|---|---|---|
| Rocket Pool | 10 | 67 |
| StakeWise | 9 | 70 |
| Jito | 7 | 83 |
| Marinade | 7 | 81 |
| Stride | 7 | 41 |
| Lido | 4 | 79 |
| Stader | 4 | 48 |
| Swell | 3 | 45 |
| Coinbase Staking | 2 | 65 |
| Frax Ether | 2 | 61 |
| Binance Staked ETH (WBETH) | 1 | 49 |
All 4 published criteria
Every ranked row’s score on each criterion, in the published order. Choose a column to order by it.
| Provider | ChainChoice Score | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jito | 8 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 83 |
| 2 | Marinade | 8 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 81 |
| 3 | Lido | 8 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 79 |
| 4 | StakeWise | 6 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 70 |
| 5 | Rocket Pool | 4 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 67 |
| 6 | Coinbase Staking | 6 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 65 |
| 7 | Frax Ether | 5 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 61 |
| 8 | Binance Staked ETH (WBETH) | 8 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 49 |
| 9 | Stader | 7 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 48 |
| 10 | Swell | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 45 |
| 11 | Stride | 5 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 41 |
How this ranking works
How firm the #1 is, the per-criterion arithmetic behind each score, who pays ChainChoice, and which liquid staking were assessed and left out.
One point from changingJito leads Marinade by 2 points
A one-point change on one criterion puts Marinade first, so read both.
See the arithmetic
Move redemption mechanics — the heaviest criterion that changes it, weighted 28 — by a single point and Marinade takes first place. Both are worth reading. The published rankings file
Why this score4 published criteria · leads 2 of 4
Published criterionWtScore, and the best hereGap/10 out of 10Pts
Redemption mechanics6.7·87.2
Peg resilience & exit depth6.2−186.7
Operator decentralisation6.2−375.8
Commission take-rate4.8·106.4
Σ methodology points26.0/32
Each bar is the score on that criterion’s own 0–10 scale, never rescaled to the pool. The dark line is the best any product here reached on that axis. Wt is the most the criterion can add to the 86-point weighted total. Pts is weight × score × 32; the sum is the methodology score, and each weighted point behind the leader costs 2.6 on the displayed score. how these are weighted
Why it ranks first
Why Jito leads this category right now
Solana liquid staking with MEV-aware reward capture for onchain users. Strongest on commission take-rate (10/10): JitoSOL charges a management fee of 4% of total rewards, applied to staking and MEV rewards after validator commissions, which Jito's delegation criteria cap at 5% (MEV commission 10%). A 0.1% fee applies only to direct unstakes. Weakest on operator decentralisation (7/10): JitoSOL stake is delegated by an on-chain program that scores validators against published criteria, excludes the superminority and gives the top 400 an equal 1/400th share each 10-epoch cycle; the DAO sets the criteria and governance can blacklist validators. Published price: Jito FAQ (jito.network docs, fetched 2026-09-30): "JitoSOL charges an annual management equal to 4% of total rewards. This fee is applied to staking rewards and MEV revenue after validator commissions." "JitoSOL also collects a fee of 0.1% on withdrawal value.
Best for
Take rate — 10/10
Main tradeoff
Solana-only — no Ethereum or multi-chain coverage
Verify before signup
Jito FAQ (jito.network docs, fetched 30 September 2026): "JitoSOL charges an annual management equal to 4% of total rewards. This fee is applied to staking rewards and MEV revenue after validator commissions." "JitoSOL also collects a fee of 0.1% on withdrawal value. This fee only applies if users directly unstake via the website." Validator commissions are charged first ("Jito's fees are calculated after the direct validator commissions are already charged"), and the delegation criteria cap them: "Validator commission ≤ 5%" and "MEV commission ≤ 10%". Selling JitoSOL on Jupiter avoids the 0.1% withdrawal fee but carries market spread (Jito's unstaking guide: "<0.3%" typical). Solana network fees apply.
Recommendation summary
What should decide this category
How quickly might you need to exit — and would you accept selling the receipt at a discount to do it?
Do you need the receipt token to be usable as collateral, or only to accrue?
Is the validator set permissionless, curated, or a single operator — and does that matter to you?
Quick picks
Strong options in this category
Start with the lead choice first, then use the shortlist only if you still need a challenger or stronger fit for a specific setup.
Best overall
JI
Jito
Solana liquid staking with MEV-aware reward capture for onchain users
Solana liquid staking with MEV-aware reward capture for onchain users. Strongest on commission take-rate (10/10): JitoSOL charges a management fee of 4% of total rewards, applied to staking and MEV rewards after validator commissions, which Jito's delegation criteria cap at 5% (MEV commission 10%). A 0.1% fee applies only to direct unstakes. Weakest on operator decentralisation (7/10): JitoSOL stake is delegated by an on-chain program that scores validators against published criteria, excludes the superminority and gives the top 400 an equal 1/400th share each 10-epoch cycle; the DAO sets the criteria and governance can blacklist validators. Published price: Jito FAQ (jito.network docs, fetched 2026-09-30): "JitoSOL charges an annual management equal to 4% of total rewards. This fee is applied to staking rewards and MEV revenue after validator commissions." "JitoSOL also collects a fee of 0.1% on withdrawal value.
Best for: Take rate — 10/10
Redemption mechanics · weight 28%8/10Peg resilience & exit depth · weight 26%8/10Operator decentralisation · weight 26%7/10Commission take-rate · weight 20%10/10
Quick pick
Marinade
Veteran Solana liquid staking with broad DeFi integration
Veteran Solana liquid staking with broad DeFi integration. Strongest on commission take-rate (10/10): Marinade charges stakers no performance fee on staking rewards: the pool's reward fee is zero, and protocol revenue comes from validators' bids in its stake auction and from exit fees, including 0.2% on delayed mSOL unstakes. Weakest on peg resilience & exit depth (7/10): mSOL exits instantly through Jupiter-routed DEX liquidity and trades on Coinbase, Kraken and Gate. Marinade warns that very large swaps can slip, and its own liquidity pool charges 0.03% to 1.5% as it is drawn down. No stress episode is published. Published price: "Marinade does not charge stakers a performance fee on staking rewards." — Marinade Fees and Pricing page (docs.marinade.finance, fetched 2026-09-30), which states the stake pool's on-chain reward_fee is 0 and that "Protocol revenue comes from the Stake…
Best for: Take rate — 10/10
Redemption mechanics · weight 28%8/10Peg resilience & exit depth · weight 26%7/10Operator decentralisation · weight 26%7/10Commission take-rate · weight 20%10/10
Quick pick
Lido
Default liquid-staking path for broad Ethereum use
A strong default when liquid staking, broad ecosystem support, and a familiar Ethereum staking path matter more than niche validator customization.
Best for: Users who want the clearest liquid-staking path with broad Ethereum ecosystem support.
Redemption mechanics · weight 28%8/10Peg resilience & exit depth · weight 26%9/10Operator decentralisation · weight 26%4/10Commission take-rate · weight 20%6/10
Quick pick
StakeWise
Ethereum liquid staking with V3 vaults for permissionless solo and pooled stakers
Ethereum liquid staking with V3 vaults for permissionless solo and pooled stakers. Strongest on operator decentralisation (9/10): Any operator can create a StakeWise Vault from the app in a few minutes, and each Vault runs its own validators; validator registrations need 6 of 11 oracle signatures, a technical check rather than an admission committee. Weakest on peg resilience & exit depth (4/10): StakeWise says osETH could temporarily trade below fair value and that redemptions keep it tethered to the protocol exchange rate, but its Risks and redemption pages give no depth figure and no stress record. Published price: StakeWise Fees page (docs.stakewise.io, fetched 2026-09-30) describes two layers.
Best for: Decentralisation — 9/10
Redemption mechanics · weight 28%6/10Peg resilience & exit depth · weight 26%4/10Operator decentralisation · weight 26%9/10Commission take-rate · weight 20%5/10
Considered and not ranked
11 products we looked at and left out
A shortlist is only honest if it says who it turned away. Each of these was assessed against the same published criteria as the ranked table and excluded for a stated reason — not overlooked.
We assessed 22 products here and rank 11 — 50% of what we looked at. That share is of the products we assessed, not of the category: how many exist is not something we can count, so we do not claim a number for it.
ether.fi (weETH)· Ranked elsewhereRenzo (ezETH)· Ranked elsewhereKelp DAO (rsETH)· Ranked elsewherePuffer Finance (pufETH)· Ranked elsewhereLiquid Collective (LsETH)StakeStone (STONE)Origin Ether (OETH)· Ranked elsewhereLombard Staked BTC (LBTC)· Ranked elsewhereBabylon-based Bitcoin liquid staking (Babylon, SolvBTC, Lorenzo stBTC, pumpBTC, Bedrock uniBTC)Bifrost vDOT· Ranked elsewhereSanctum-deployed branded Solana LSTs (hSOL, bonkSOL, pwrSOL and the rest of the Sanctum branded-LST directory)
What this ranking does not assess
- Contract failure: the code holding the funds is exploited.
- Control failure: a key or vote changes the rules, freezes or mints.
- Insolvency failure: the firm or issuer that owes you cannot pay.
- Regulatory failure: no licence where you are, or a forced market exit.
- Execution failure: you get a worse price, later, or nothing.
These can still cost you money here; the ranking does not measure them, so a high place says nothing about them. Which criterion scores each family, and why the others do not apply, is in /data/risk-coverage.json.
How this ranking is built
Reviewed on redemption mechanics, peg resilience & exit depth, operator decentralisation, and commission take-rate.
Data checked Sep 2026 · Independent rankings · We show our work
How this page is reviewed
Reviewed means every product ranked on this page was read against its sources on or after that date; every ranked category is re-read at least every 45 days. Models research, extract and parse. A deterministic engine ranks. Every quote passes an adversarial refute pass.
Accountable for this review: Mathias Siemonsmeier, Founder.
How we review · Review calendar · Corrections log · How we make money
Direct answer
What is the best liquid staking protocol in 2026?
Jito ranks #1 overall for liquid staking on ChainChoice. Solana liquid staking with MEV-aware reward capture for onchain users. It holds that rank under an affiliate-blind methodology scored across 4 published, weighted criteria — the code that ranks providers physically cannot read affiliate payouts (CI-enforced), so a payout can't move a rank. The verdict re-computes on every fee change, incident, or regulatory action; the full reasoning and the audit receipt are under Methodology.
How you can lose money here, and what the ranking scores
- Verification failure: an invalid state or transfer is accepted.Scored by Operator decentralisation · 26% (Jito 7/10, Marinade 7/10, Lido 4/10)
- Exit failure: you cannot get out at par, on time, or with what is yours.Scored by Redemption mechanics · 28% (Jito 8/10, Marinade 8/10, Lido 8/10)Scored by Peg resilience & exit depth · 26% (Jito 8/10, Marinade 7/10, Lido 9/10)
Not assessed by this ranking: Contract failure, Control failure, Insolvency failure, Regulatory failure, Execution failure. A high place says nothing about these; the Methodology tab says what each means.
Also scored, as cost, quality or a summary of several families: Commission take-rate (20%).
Guides & FAQs
3 questions readers ask before choosing liquid staking, and 2 guides that go further.
Frequently asked
Questions people ask before choosing liquid staking
What is the safest way to start liquid staking crypto?
Usually a token with a native unstake path you can use at par and a queue it publishes, a receipt that has held par under stress, and a validator set that is not one operator, rather than the one showing the highest reward.
What is the difference between liquid staking and lending?
Liquid Staking usually involves earning rewards by supporting a network or validator model. Lending is more about credit and liquidity, with different yield, collateral, and counterparty risks.
What matters most when choosing a liquid staking option?
The ranking weighs how you get back to the native asset at par and how long it takes (28%), how the receipt has held par under stress and how deep the market exit is (26%), whether the validator set is permissionless, curated or one operator (26%), and the share of rewards the protocol keeps (20%). Yield itself clusters in the low single digits and is shown for context, never scored — a higher yield is usually more risk, not a better deal.
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Best picks
Best liquid staking in 2026
Weighted on redemption mechanics (28), peg resilience & exit depth (26), operator decentralisation (26), and commission take-rate (20). The heaviest is redemption mechanics: Native unstake path, queue behaviour, and how long a par exit actually takes.
Best overall
JI
Jito
Solana liquid staking with MEV-aware reward capture for onchain users
Data checked Sep 2026
Solana liquid staking with MEV-aware reward capture for onchain users. Strongest on commission take-rate (10/10): JitoSOL charges a management fee of 4% of total rewards, applied to staking and MEV rewards after validator commissions, which Jito's delegation criteria cap at 5% (MEV commission 10%). A 0.1% fee applies only to direct unstakes. Weakest on operator decentralisation (7/10): JitoSOL stake is delegated by an on-chain program that scores validators against published criteria, excludes the superminority and gives the top 400 an equal 1/400th share each 10-epoch cycle; the DAO sets the criteria and governance can blacklist validators. Published price: Jito FAQ (jito.network docs, fetched 2026-09-30): "JitoSOL charges an annual management equal to 4% of total rewards. This fee is applied to staking rewards and MEV revenue after validator commissions." "JitoSOL also collects a fee of 0.1% on withdrawal value.
Best for: Take rate — 10/10
Head-to-head comparisons
Comparison guides for this category
Lido vs Rocket Pool
Choose between the broadest mainstream liquid-staking option and a more Ethereum-native decentralization-led staking path.
Coinbase Staking vs Kraken Staking
Choose between the easiest mainstream exchange-staking path and a more serious trust-led exchange staking environment.
Browse this network
MS
Written and reviewed by Mathias Siemonsmeier, Founder
Not financial advice · For informational purposes only · Always do your own research