Sous la vague de mise à niveau de Shanghai, les directions spécialisées et le développement de LSDFi
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Sous la vague de mise à niveau de Shanghai, les directions spécialisées et le développement de LSDFi
Au fil du temps, de plus en plus de protocoles LSDFi ont été lancés.
Dédié à des analyses Web3 approfondiesProduction : TechFlow Research
Author : Yu Zhong Kuang Shui
In a previous article titled "The LSD Matryoshka War Escalates: Liquidity Is Not Enough—High Yield Is Key", three LSDFi protocols—YFI, PENDLE, and AURA—were discussed. Since the completion of Ethereum's Shanghai upgrade, more LSDFi protocols have emerged and performed well.
Agility is a prime example. In its short time since launch, Agility has attracted $400 million in TVL thanks to high liquidity mining rewards. Indeed, as hinted in the title of our earlier article, the most crucial aspect of LSDFi is pursuing high yields. Extending this idea further, it becomes about pursuing higher capital efficiency: achieving more effective use of capital by minimizing costs or maximizing output under the same conditions.
As time progresses, even more LSDFi protocols are being launched. Next, we’ll introduce several noteworthy LSDFi protocols and break down their underlying logic.
EigenLayer
EigenLayer is an Ethereum restaking protocol that allows stakers to re-stake their ETH into new smart contracts, using ETH to secure other networks such as sidechains, cross-chain bridges, and middleware. Beyond expanding revenue sources for ETH stakers, EigenLayer also fosters broader development within the Ethereum ecosystem by enabling developers to build sidechains, bridges, and middleware leveraging restaked ETH security.
Currently, EigenLayer has launched a non-incentivized testnet. Interested users can refer to this guide for interaction details.
It’s also worth noting that Ion Protocol is a CDP protocol built on Ethereum staking positions. The protocol aims to accept deposits of various types of liquid staking tokens (LSTs) and EigenLayer-staked assets, collectively referred to as allETH. It uses vaETH to track the yield generated by allETH. Its goal is to integrate all Ethereum liquid staking derivatives and aggregate their yields.
unshETH
unshETH is an LSDFi protocol promoting decentralization of Ethereum staking validation through liquidity incentives. unshETH introduces two key concepts: validator decentralization mining (vdMining) and validator dominance options (VDOs).
vdMining can be understood as a form of nested liquidity incentive. Pure nesting isn't sustainable, so vdMining incorporates a decentralization incentive mechanism. In simple terms, governance sets an ODR (Optimal Decentralization Ratio). The closer the CR (Current Ratio) is to the ODR, the higher the mining rewards for all users in the pool. This approach aims to incentivize users to stake ETH into more decentralized LSD protocols, thereby advancing overall decentralization in the Ethereum staking landscape.
We mentioned ODR earlier. Holders of dominant LSD assets within the ODR can issue VDOs (Validator Dominance Options), which non-dominant LSD holders can purchase via the unshETH DAO. My understanding is that VDOs represent your right to exercise at expiry, with profit or loss depending on the CR: if the LSD asset’s share at expiry is closer to the ODR, you profit.
This offers non-dominant LSD holders an additional revenue stream. The ultimate goal of VDOs is to better adjust the CR value by creating a secondary market. Of course, this interpretation reflects my personal understanding and may differ from the final implementation of the protocol.
Lybra Finance
Lybra is an over-collateralized stablecoin protocol. Unlike MakerDAO or Liquity, Lybra mints interest-bearing stablecoins (eUSD) by collateralizing interest-generating assets like stETH. The stETH yield is converted into eUSD and distributed to both eUSD holders and Lybra token stakers.
At its core, Lybra captures the yield from Ethereum staking via the stablecoin eUSD. eUSD has a safety collateral ratio of 160% and an APY of 7.2%. Under ideal conditions (minting $1 of eUSD with $1.6 worth of stETH), the profitability of eUSD is slightly lower than holding stETH directly. However, since eUSD is a liquid asset, holders can deploy it across DeFi protocols to generate additional returns, thus offering higher capital efficiency for Lybra stakers.
From another perspective, Lybra effectively helps Ethereum stakers monetize future yield ahead of time.
However, prior to its IDO on April 20, Lybra faced widespread community skepticism due to concerns including funding originating from Tornado Cash, a frontend deposit cap without a corresponding backend restriction, and the ability for the team to withdraw raised funds before users could claim tokens. Despite these FUD issues, Lybra’s IDO sold out within one minute.
Index Coop
Index Coop has launched three index products related to LSD.
The first product is called the dsETH Index. dsETH consists of rETH (Rocket Pool), wrapped stETH (Lido), and sETH2 (StakeWise). This design aims to reduce exposure to any single LST while stabilizing overall returns across the basket. Currently, dsETH holds 800 ETH in staked assets, with an APY of 4.93%.
The second LSD-related index product from Index Coop is icETH. The icETH strategy leverages Aave’s lending protocol to provide leveraged exposure for Ethereum stakers, aiming for higher returns. It offers icETH holders leveraged exposure with automated leverage management, reducing the risks and effort associated with manual adjustments. Simply put, after purchasing icETH, the protocol deposits stETH into Aave as collateral to borrow ETH. Then, the borrowed ETH is converted back into stETH and redeposited into Aave, creating a leveraged position. Currently, icETH holds 10,139 ETH in staked assets, with an APY of 9.79%.
Both dsETH and icETH capture value from both the "staking layer" (validator rewards) and the "execution layer" (DeFi yields).
The third product is the gtcETH Index, a collaboration between Gitcoin and Index Coop. Unlike the others, gtcETH does not aim to maximize returns. Instead, stakers contribute part of their staking rewards to fund public goods through Gitcoin.
From my perspective, including Index Coop in this article makes sense because its product logic is straightforward and easy to grasp. While icETH’s yield isn’t extraordinary, its automated leverage execution enables more investors to easily access enhanced staking rewards.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the common goal of all LSDFi products is to improve capital efficiency in Ethereum staking. Yet, we also observe the emergence of distinct subcategories:
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Promoting adoption of LSD assets: EigenLayer, Lybra, Aura;
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Simple, low-barrier index products: Index Coop, YFI;
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Delivering higher capital efficiency: Pendle, Agility;
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Advancing decentralization in LSD staking: unshETH;
Short-term price fluctuations in Ethereum following the Shanghai upgrade will not undermine the long-term potential of the LSD and LSDFi sectors. Undeniably, LSD assets and LSDFi applications have become integral components of the Ethereum ecosystem.
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