rocketpool
rocketpool
The open, decentralised Ethereum liquid staking protocol — stake any amount of ETH, receive rETH, and earn proof-of-stake rewards without giving up custody of your funds.
Start Staking ETHMost staking services ask you to trust a company with your ETH. The rocketpool platform was built on a different premise: that validators should be run by a distributed network of independent node operators, not a single entity. This matters enormously for Ethereum's long-term health.
Here are the concrete reasons thousands of stakers choose the protocol.
Your ETH goes directly into audited smart contracts on Ethereum mainnet. No company wallet, no sign-up, no KYC. You keep control.
Receive rETH the moment you stake. The token's exchange rate rises automatically as validator rewards accumulate — sell or use it in DeFi at any time.
Run a validator with just 8 ETH of personal collateral. The protocol tops up the rest from the deposit pool, which is a model unique to rocketpool among major staking platforms.
Protocol upgrades are voted on by RPL token holders. No back-room decisions. Every change goes through the rocketpool DAO on-chain.
Want more context? Read the full protocol overview or browse the common questions section.
Staking with rocketpool takes about two minutes. Here's the process from start to finish.
Open the rocketpool staking interface and connect any EVM-compatible wallet. MetaMask, WalletConnect, and Coinbase Wallet all work out of the box.
Enter how much ETH you want to stake. There is no minimum enforced by the UI — even 0.01 ETH is accepted. The interface shows the current exchange rate before you confirm.
After the transaction confirms on Ethereum, rETH lands in your wallet. Done. The token begins earning rewards immediately and requires zero ongoing interaction from you.
Return to the interface and swap rETH back to ETH whenever you like, subject to protocol exit liquidity. Unstaking follows the same smart-contract path — no approval from any third party.
Node operators follow a separate but equally documented path. You install the rocketpool smart node software, deposit ETH plus RPL collateral, and the protocol assigns staker ETH to your validator automatically. More detail lives in the Ethereum proof-of-stake documentation.
The rocketpool protocol ships a collection of technical capabilities that set it apart from simpler staking wrappers.
rETH is also available as liquidity on Base, which means users of Base-native DeFi protocols can access rocketpool rewards without bridging back to Ethereum mainnet for every trade.
The protocol's growth since its November 2021 mainnet launch speaks for itself. These figures reflect live on-chain state as of mid-2025.
For context on why decentralised staking distribution matters, see the Ethereum Wikipedia article covering the proof-of-stake transition.
rocketpool is a decentralised Ethereum staking protocol launched in 2021. It lets anyone stake ETH and receive rETH, a liquid staking token that accrues staking rewards automatically without locking your funds. The team behind rocketpool designed it so that no single company ever holds user ETH.
Connect a Web3 wallet to the staking interface, enter the amount of ETH you want to stake (minimum 0.01 ETH), confirm the transaction, and rETH appears in your wallet. That's it — no account, no email, no waiting period before the token starts earning.
rocketpool's smart contracts have been audited by Sigma Prime and ConsenSys Diligence. Both reports are publicly available. The protocol has processed over 614,000 ETH without a single contract-level exploit since launch — a track record that covers the Merge, the Shanghai upgrade, and multiple protocol versions.
rETH is the liquid staking token issued by rocketpool. Its exchange rate against ETH rises over time as validator rewards flow into the pool. You do not claim rewards manually. Holding rETH is enough — when you eventually swap back to ETH, the extra value is already baked in.
Yes — this is one of rocketpool's defining features. Node operators can launch validators with as little as 8 ETH of personal collateral after the Saturn upgrade. The protocol supplies the remaining ETH from the staking pool, making validator operation far more accessible than solo staking.
rocketpool is fully non-custodial. Smart contracts are open-source, governance is on-chain, and Chainlink oracle feeds handle price data without trusting a single source. Centralised services hold your keys. The rocketpool platform never does. For a deeper look at the protocol's design philosophy, visit the info page.
RPL serves two purposes in the rocketpool protocol. Node operators must hold RPL worth at least 10% of their bonded ETH as insurance collateral — this aligns operator incentives with staker safety. On the governance side, RPL holders vote on upgrades through the rocketpool DAO. You can read more about RPL mechanics in the FAQ section.