About

Ether.fi is a modern crypto neobank that replaces the traditional consumer bank. Users can save, grow, and spend their crypto through one connected experience. Common use cases include buying tokens, earning on crypto through vaults, sending money globally through fiat on and off ramps, and purchasing every day goods through a credit card.

Behind that experience is crypto-native, non-custodial infrastructure that keeps users in control of their assets. Rather than separating investments from everyday finances, ether.fi makes it possible to put assets to work, access liquidity against them, and use them in daily life from the same platform. Stake provides access to Ethereum staking while keeping positions liquid and usable. Liquid automates onchain strategies designed to generate variable yield across eligible assets. Cash supports card spending and payments. Trading, transfers, and collateralized borrowing bring additional flexibility, giving users more ways to manage and use their wealth without first selling their holdings.

History

Mike Silagadze and Rok Kopp founded EtherFi in 2022 to build a non-custodial ETH staking protocol that “allows stakers to retain control of their keys while delegating validator operations to node operators.”

The following key protocol developments have occurred per the project’s roadmap and social profiles:

• In March 2023, EtherFi launched its beta application.
• On May 3, 2023, EtherFi launched its mainnet, which included delegated staking of ETH to whitelisted validators.
• In June 2023, EtherFi opened the application to non-whitelisted users for delegated ETH staking and self-custody of validator keys. The project team also launched the Ether.Fan NFT collection, whereby users could stake ETH to mint a fan NFT representing the underlying staked ETH position and accrued staking rewards. Of note, the 10,000 mint cap has been reached, so no more NFTs can be minted.
• In August 2023, EtherFi partnered with Obol Labs to launch its first validator using Distributed Validator Technology (DVT). This concept was partially automated into the protocol in August 2023.
• In October 2023, EtherFi’s smart contracts were open-sourced.
• On Nov. 15, 2023, eETH fully launched, allowing anyone (not just previously whitelisted users) to mint/redeem eETH for ETH at a 1:1 ratio by staking/unstaking via the application.
• On March 18, 2024, the ERC-20 ETHFI token launched when it became claimable by wallet addresses that qualified for EtherFi’s Airdrop Season 1. On the same day, the project team launched Liquid, EtherFi’s DeFi strategy vault (provided by Seven Seas) that allocates eETH, weETH, and WETH deposits across a variety of third-party applications, allowing depositors to earn yield from the underlying strategy.

Notable upcoming roadmap items include:

• Implement EtherFi governance (detailed here) - Offchain governance via Snapshot, onchain governance via Agora, and “fully automating and ossifying governance function” thereafter.
• As of March 18, 2024, the project team manually reviews applications for prospective users to run a node. On Oct. 13, 2023, the team announced it intends to release a fully automated integration for users to operate nodes “free and clear of ether.fi and Obol’s management and assistance” in March 2024.
• Deploying Cash, EtherFi’s intended feature for allowing a user to spend or borrow against EtherFi deposits by using a mobile app MPC wallet that connects to the user’s EtherFi account, as well as a credit card that will be able to load the user’s EtherFi balance.
  • Notably, the project team intends to develop a Layer-2 “with built-in handling for payment disputes” as part of this feature.