2025 Decentralized Finance staking track seven major players analysis | Who is the king of yields?

Why is staking so popular?

Staking, in simple terms, is locking up coins to earn rewards. But this is not just simple interest; it is:

Price of Cybersecurity — PoS chains rely on stakers to validate transactions; the more you stake, the greater your influence.

A New Way to Earn Passive Income — No need to watch the market every day, the coins will make money on their own.

The possibility of yield stacking — Staking tokens can continue to participate in DeFi (re-staking, liquidity mining, etc.)

Compared to centralized exchange staking? In DeFi staking, you hold the private key, and the transparency is higher, but the threshold is indeed steeper.

Overview of Seven Major Platforms

Why these seven

Lido Finance: A textbook case of liquid staking. The core logic can be summed up in one sentence - your staked ETH is converted into stETH, allowing you to earn rewards while continuing to participate in DeFi. The introduction of decentralized governance (LDO token voting) and a community staking module has gradually helped it escape from centralized risks.

Pendle Finance: Bringing traditional finance's “yield derivatives” to DeFi. The core innovation is breaking down yield-bearing assets into principal tokens (PT) and yield tokens (YT), allowing users to lock in fixed yields or speculate on yield fluctuations. It sounds complex, but it's a powerful tool for professional investors.

EigenLayer: The pioneer of the re-staking concept. It allows staked ETH to be reused—serving both Ethereum validation and simultaneously validating for other applications (AVS). It's like having money working in multiple places at the same time. The EIGEN token serves as insurance during extreme security risks.

Ether.fi: One of the players in Ethereum liquid staking. It features non-custodial (you control the private key) + eETH liquidity tokens + seamless integration with EigenLayer. Simplicity and security are its selling points.

Ethena Finance: An anomaly in the stablecoin space. USDe does not rely on fiat reserves, but instead uses ETH + delta hedging (derivatives short) to maintain its peg. It’s equivalent to building a “chain-native dollar”. sUSDe is in the form of yield.

Jito: The staking light of the Solana ecosystem. The core innovation is the integration of MEV( maximum extractable value) strategies - JitoSOL not only earns validation rewards but also shares the profits from packaged transactions, with an APY exceeding 8%, significantly higher than regular staking.

Babylon: The pioneer of Bitcoin staking. BTC can directly participate in PoS chain security for the first time (no bridging/wrapping required), with users self-custodial. A fast unbinding mechanism ensures liquidity. This is an important step for the Bitcoin ecosystem's involvement in DeFi.

Returns vs Risks: A Table for Clarity

Yield Side

• Basic rewards (protocol rewards + transaction fee sharing)
• Re-staking bonus (EigenLayer, Jito MEV, etc.)
• Derivatives overlay (participate in lending/mining with liquid staking tokens)
• Governance income (protocol revenue sharing of voting tokens such as vePENDLE, vEIGEN, etc.)

Risk Side

• Smart contract vulnerabilities (new protocols are more likely to fail)
• Reduction of penalties (Malicious/improper validation behavior in PoS networks will result in the forfeiture of part of the stake)
• Token price fluctuations (especially the decoupling risk of LST and ETH)
• Impermanent loss (faced by certain liquidity staking products)
• Governance risks from project parties (sudden rule changes or absconding with funds)

Ways to Reduce Risk: Diversify staking across multiple platforms, choose well-audited established protocols, pay attention to governance voting trends, and set position limits when using LST for secondary staking.

Getting Started Guide (Five Steps)

1. Choose the protocol: Decide based on supported assets (do I have ETH, SOL, or BTC) + risk preference (aggressive using Pendle/EigenLayer vs conservative using Lido)

2. Wallet: MetaMask( Ethereum series) / Phantom( Solana) / Unisat( Bitcoin), be sure to back up the mnemonic + enable MFA

3. Buy Coins: Purchase the corresponding assets on exchanges like Gate and transfer them to your own wallet.

4. Connect Stake: Go to the official website (lido.fi/jito.network/ etc. ), authorize wallet connection.

5. Confirm Transaction: Select amount, confirm, pay gas fee, receive LST/derivative tokens.

6. Continuous Management: Regularly review earnings, consider reinvesting or transferring to other DeFi products.

The Prospects of DeFi Staking in 2025

Data clustering: Lido is about to reach a historical high of 40 billion TVL, EigenLayer's staking sector is still rapidly growing with a volume of 20.1 billion, and Jito's penetration rate in the Solana ecosystem is also on the rise… What does this indicate?

Staking has evolved from a niche choice to a fundamental infrastructure of DeFi. It has progressed from simply “depositing coins to earn interest” to “multi-chain cross-protocol composite returns”. The widespread application of liquid staking tokens, innovative designs for re-staking, and optimizations of the MEV sharing mechanism—each step is lowering the barriers and increasing returns.

But don't be blindly optimistic. Insufficient audit of the new protocol, unclear regulatory attitudes, market cycle fluctuations… these are all variables. The real winners are those participants who understand the risks, diversify their investments, and continue to learn.

Core Recommendation: Start with established and stable protocols like Lido or Ether.fi. After understanding the basic mechanisms, gradually try the complex strategies of Pendle or the restaking innovations of EigenLayer. Allocate 20% of the staking amount to higher-risk new projects like Babylon(, while keeping 80% on verified platforms. This way, you can catch the wave of innovation without risking fatal consequences from a single point of failure.