Safety
Liquid staking carries inherent risks. This page covers them and how StakeWise addresses each.
Vault Performance
Your staking rewards depend on how well your Vault performs. Ethereum rewards validators for performing their duties correctly, but also penalizes them ↗ for going offline, missing attestations, or acting maliciously. These penalties reduce the staked ETH in your Vault.
Each Vault is fully isolated — poor performance in one Vault has no effect on stakers in other Vaults. You can review every Vault's performance in the app before staking. If a Vault's performance starts declining, consider unstaking and moving to a better-performing Vault.
Smart Contract Risk
All DeFi protocols carry smart contract risk. StakeWise runs on battle-tested, regularly audited contracts that secure over $1B in staked assets. The protocol has been live since 2021 with no security incidents.
osETH Depeg Risk
osETH could temporarily trade below its fair value on secondary markets. The protocol's redemption and liquidation mechanisms create arbitrage incentives that keep the market price aligned with the underlying value.
Boost Risks
Boost amplifies your rewards by borrowing ETH on Aave, which introduces exposure to Aave's variable borrow rate. If the borrow rate exceeds the staking rate for an extended period, your Boost APY turns negative. StakeWise protects against this with a 2% safety buffer between the max borrow LTV and the liquidation threshold, and an automatic unboost mechanism that exits your position before liquidation can occur. You can monitor your Boost APY on the Vault page and exit at any time. Stay informed about market conditions via the StakeWise Discord ↗.
Unstaking Delay
When you unstake, your position enters the Vault's exit queue. If the Vault already holds enough liquid ETH, your request can be fulfilled immediately. Otherwise, the Vault will attempt partial withdrawals from its compounding validators or full exits if needed. Expect at least 28 hours, though actual waiting times depend on Ethereum network conditions ↗. The estimated wait time is always shown in the Exit duration field before you confirm, and your assets continue earning rewards until the exit is complete.