ether.fi: Secure ETH Restaking, Rewards & Crypto Spend

ether.fi is a decentralized liquid restaking protocol and crypto-native financial platform that enables users to save, grow, and spend their crypto assets. As the largest liquid restaking protocol on Ethereum with over $3 billion in total value locked (TVL), ether.fi provides staking rewards while maintaining liquidity through its eETH and weETH tokens. The platform has evolved into a comprehensive "DeFi bank" offering staking, automated investment vaults, and a Visa credit card—all built on non-custodial principles.
Company Overview
ether.fi was founded in December 2022 by Mike Silagadze (CEO) and Rok Kopp in George Town, Cayman Islands. Silagadze is a serial entrepreneur who previously founded Top Hat, a student engagement software company he grew to 500 employees and $60 million in annual revenue before selling in 2021. He purchased his first Bitcoin in 2011 and transitioned to full-time crypto in 2021 after witnessing DeFi's development.
The company raised $32.3 million across multiple funding rounds:
- Series A (February 2024): $23M led by Bullish Capital and CoinFund
- SAFE Round (Late 2023): $4M
- Seed Round (February 2023): Undisclosed
Key Investors:
- CoinFund
- Bullish Capital
- OKX Ventures
- Foresight Ventures
- Consensys
- Amber Group
- Draper Associates
- Bankless Ventures
- North Island Ventures
- Version One Ventures
- Chapter One
- Node Capital
ether.fi reported $26 million in revenue in 2024 with approximately $2 million profit. The company projects $45-90 million in revenue for 2025, depending on ETH price.
Products & Services
Stake
ether.fi's core product is liquid restaking, enabling users to stake ETH, BTC, or stablecoins while receiving liquid tokens for DeFi use.
Liquid Restaking Tokens:
- eETH: Rebasing ERC-20 liquid staking token (1:1 with ETH)
- weETH: Wrapped eETH for DeFi compatibility (non-rebasing, value-accruing)
- eBTC: Liquid restaking for Bitcoin
- eUSD: Stablecoin staking with rewards
How It Works:
- Deposit ETH, BTC, or stablecoins
- Receive liquid tokens (eETH/weETH/eBTC/eUSD)
- Earn staking rewards + EigenLayer restaking rewards
- Use liquid tokens across 400+ DeFi integrations
Key Features:
- Non-custodial: Users maintain control of validator keys
- Native restaking via EigenLayer
- No lockup periods (instant liquidity via pool)
- 20,000+ Node Operators globally
- Distributed Validator Technology (DVT) for resilience
Liquid (Strategy Vaults)
Automated DeFi strategy vaults that put assets to work:
- Auto-rebalancing across protocols
- Auto-compounding rewards
- Multiple vault strategies for ETH, BTC, and stablecoins
- Optional Nexus Mutual coverage available
- Deposit and withdraw anytime
DeFi Integrations:
- Aave ($5B+ TVL)
- Pendle ($10M+ TVL)
- Gearbox ($2M+ TVL)
- And 400+ more protocols
Cash (Visa Credit Card)
A DeFi-native Visa credit card launched on the Scroll L2 network in partnership with Rain infrastructure:
Card Features:
- Up to 15% cashback on purchases
- Non-custodial: Card connects directly to your wallet
- Borrow USDC against crypto collateral
- No need to sell crypto to spend
- Apple Pay and Google Pay compatible
- Accepted at 100M+ Visa locations worldwide
- Physical and virtual cards available (free)
- Contactless payment supported
- 1% FX fee on foreign transactions
- 2% ATM withdrawal fee
Supported Assets:
- USDC (yield-bearing stablecoins)
Cashback Tiers:
| Tier | Cashback | Monthly Cap |
|---|---|---|
| Core | 2% | $1,000 |
| Luxe | 2.5% | $1,000 |
| Pinnacle | 3% | $2,500 |
| VIP | 3% | Higher limits |
Cashback is paid in SCR tokens (Scroll's native token).
The Club (Membership Program)
A loyalty and rewards program offering:
- Reward boosts for members
- Crypto event tickets and lounge access
- Airport companion lounge access
- Luxury hotel discounts (up to 65% off)
- IBAN/SWIFT integration (coming soon)
- Concierge services
- Crypto concierge (coming soon)
- Priority support (24/7 live chat and email)
- Price protection up to $2K
- Purchase protection up to $10K
- Extended warranty up to $10K
- Auto rental insurance
- Family member cards with controls (coming soon)
Referral Rewards:
- 1% cashback on referral purchases
- 10% points on their deposits
Loyalty Points:
- Spending: 3,000 points per $1,000 spent
- Staking: 3 points/day per $1,000 staked
- Liquid Vaults: 9 points/day per $1,000 staked
- sETHFI holding: 20 points/day per 1,000 sETHFI
Institutional Staking
White-glove staking services for institutions:
- Custom custody integrations (Fireblocks, BitGo, etc.)
- Dedicated account management
- ether.fi Fund for fiat-based ETH investment
- Compliance-ready infrastructure
- Transparent reporting
Corporate Cards
Business-focused card programs with:
- Multi-user card management
- Expense tracking
- Treasury optimization
- Crypto-to-fiat spending
ETHFI Token
ETHFI is ether.fi's governance token launched in March 2024:
Token Details:
- Total Supply: 1 billion ETHFI
- Initial Circulating: 115.2 million (11.52%)
Token Distribution:
- Airdrop (Users): 13.3% (Season 1: 7.5%, Season 2: 5.8%)
- Investors & Advisors: 32.5% (2-year vesting)
- Core Contributors: 23.26% (3-year vesting)
- Treasury: Remaining allocation
- Binance Launchpad: 2%
Token Utility:
- Protocol governance voting
- Treasury management decisions
- Protocol fee decisions
- StakeRank status improvement
- Future value accrual mechanisms
sETHFI: Staked ETHFI for enhanced loyalty point earning
Security & Audits
Audit Partners:
- Certik
- Certora
- Hats Finance
- Nethermind
- Omniscia
- Solidified
- Zellic
Security Features:
- Open-source smart contracts on GitHub
- Bug bounty program on Immunefi
- SOC2-compliant infrastructure
- Decentralized validator network
- Distributed Validator Technology (DVT)
- Non-custodial design
Insurance:
- Optional Nexus Mutual coverage for Liquid vaults
Supported Assets & Networks
Staking Assets:
- ETH and ETH LSTs (stETH, rETH, cbETH, wstETH, sfrxETH)
- BTC (wrapped)
- USDC, USDT, and other stablecoins
Supported Networks:
- Ethereum Mainnet
- Scroll (L2 for Cash card)
- Multiple L2s for weETH deployment
Target Users
Ideal For:
- ETH holders seeking maximum staking yields
- DeFi users wanting liquidity while staking
- Crypto natives needing real-world spending utility
- Institutions requiring compliant staking solutions
- Users seeking non-custodial financial services
- Those wanting to earn while spending
Not Suitable For:
- Users in sanctioned jurisdictions
- Those seeking traditional fiat banking services
- Users uncomfortable with smart contract risk
Geographic Availability
- Headquarters: George Town, Cayman Islands
- Staking: Global (except sanctioned jurisdictions)
- Cash Card: Currently available in the US
- Token Claims: US and sanctioned jurisdictions excluded from some features
Pricing & Fees
Staking:
- No deposit fees
- Protocol takes portion of staking rewards (exact % via governance)
- No withdrawal fees (subject to liquidity)
Cash Card:
- Annual fee: Free
- FX fee: 1%
- ATM fee: 2%
- No staking requirement for basic card access
Pros
- Largest liquid restaking protocol by TVL ($3B+)
- Non-custodial: Full control of assets and keys
- Triple rewards: Staking + restaking + DeFi yields
- 400+ DeFi integrations for weETH
- Credit card without selling crypto
- Up to 15% cashback
- Free annual fee and physical cards
- Successful airdrop history (generous distributions)
- Profitable protocol ($26M revenue, $2M profit in 2024)
- Institutional-grade security with multiple audits
- Open-source and transparent
- Comprehensive protection benefits (price, purchase, warranty)
Cons
- Complex for crypto beginners
- US users excluded from token claims and some features
- EigenLayer dependency introduces additional risk
- Cashback paid in SCR tokens (not stablecoins)
- Higher tier card benefits require ETHFI staking
- Smart contract risk inherent in DeFi
- Credit card not directly issued by ether.fi protocol
- Restaking may slightly reduce pure ETH staking yields
- 1% FX fee and 2% ATM fee
Alternatives
- Crypto.com Card (CeFi crypto card with CRO staking)
- RedotPay (crypto card for spending)
- Karta (stablecoin-backed business cards)






