{
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  "schemaVersion": "1.0.0",
  "id": "liquid-staking",
  "canonical": "https://degreesofsatoshi.com/encyclopedia/liquid-staking/",
  "collection": "defi",
  "title": "Liquid staking: a transferable claim on a staking arrangement",
  "description": "Distinguish a liquid staking token from native ETH, compare rebasing and exchange-rate accounting, and follow the difference between selling and redeeming.",
  "aliases": [
    "liquid staking token",
    "LST"
  ],
  "dates": {
    "published": "2026-10-02",
    "modified": "2026-10-02",
    "verified": "2026-10-02T15:08:18.373Z",
    "dataAsOf": null
  },
  "authorship": {
    "publisher": "Degrees of Satoshi editorial project",
    "process": "AI-assisted research and drafting with a separate automated source-verification pass; no external expert or named human review is implied."
  },
  "quickAnswer": {
    "text": "Liquid staking combines a staking arrangement with a transferable token representing an interest in it. The token’s accounting, market price and redemption path are separate properties. For example, Lido’s stETH uses share-based rebasing, while wstETH wraps those shares into a balance that does not rebase.",
    "claimId": "liquid-staking-quick-answer",
    "sourceIds": [
      "lido",
      "wsteth"
    ]
  },
  "keyFacts": [
    {
      "label": "stETH accounting",
      "value": "Balances reflect shares of the accounted pooled ether.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "lido"
      ],
      "id": "steth-accounting",
      "claimId": "liquid-staking-fact-steth-accounting"
    },
    {
      "label": "wstETH accounting",
      "value": "The token balance does not rebase; its stETH conversion can change.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "wsteth"
      ],
      "id": "wsteth-accounting",
      "claimId": "liquid-staking-fact-wsteth-accounting"
    },
    {
      "label": "Exit",
      "value": "Protocol withdrawal requests and secondary-market sales are different paths.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "withdrawal",
        "lido"
      ],
      "id": "exit",
      "claimId": "liquid-staking-fact-exit"
    }
  ],
  "prerequisites": [
    "ethereum-staking-withdrawals",
    "wrapped-assets"
  ],
  "sections": [
    {
      "id": "receipt",
      "heading": "The token is a claim with its own dependencies",
      "paragraphs": [
        "Native ETH and a liquid-staking receipt are distinct assets. The receipt depends on the staking arrangement’s validators, contracts, accounting and operational rules. A transferable claim does not remove those dependencies.",
        "In the Lido mechanism documented when checked on 2 October 2026, stETH balances derive from a holder’s shares and the protocol’s accounted pooled ether. Rewards and penalties can affect that accounting. This describes the cited mechanism rather than a guarantee of future yield."
      ],
      "sourceIds": [
        "lido"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "two-balances",
      "heading": "Rebasing and conversion rates display growth differently",
      "paragraphs": [
        "A rebasing token can change a wallet’s displayed token quantity while the wallet’s share count stays fixed. A wrapper can keep its token quantity unchanged and represent growth through the amount of underlying claim redeemable per wrapper unit.",
        "For an illustrative wrapper, ten units at a conversion of 1.2 underlying units represent twelve underlying units. If conversion later becomes 1.21, the same ten represent 12.1. This arithmetic is not a live wstETH quote or a promise that the rate only rises."
      ],
      "sourceIds": [
        "wsteth",
        "lido"
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "exit",
      "heading": "Selling a receipt is different from redeeming it",
      "paragraphs": [
        "A secondary-market sale exchanges the receipt at an available market price. A protocol withdrawal follows its request, finalization and claim process. In Lido’s queue, submitting a request is not the same as receiving ETH.",
        "Market price can diverge from an accounting conversion rate when buyers price timing, liquidity or risk differently. Using a receipt as collateral also adds lending and liquidation rules on top of the staking arrangement."
      ],
      "sourceIds": [
        "withdrawal",
        "lido"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "question": "Does liquid mean instant redemption at a fixed price?",
      "answer": "No. Transferability permits a market sale if liquidity exists, while protocol redemption has separate timing and conditions. Neither property guarantees a fixed secondary-market price.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "withdrawal",
        "lido"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": "liquid-staking-quick-answer",
      "articleSlug": "liquid-staking",
      "statement": "Liquid staking combines a staking arrangement with a transferable token representing an interest in it. The token’s accounting, market price and redemption path are separate properties. For example, Lido’s stETH uses share-based rebasing, while wstETH wraps those shares into a balance that does not rebase.",
      "sourceIds": [
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        "source-0c2e10353d5983bd"
      ],
      "sourceLocators": [
        {
          "sourceId": "source-ed9152cad5abfcb8",
          "locator": "Deposit; Redeem; Rebase"
        },
        {
          "sourceId": "source-0c2e10353d5983bd",
          "locator": "What is wrapped stETH (wstETH)?; wrap; unwrap"
        }
      ],
      "scope": {
        "collection": "defi",
        "dataAsOf": null,
        "blockHeight": null
      },
      "qualification": "",
      "evidenceStatus": "documented",
      "verification": {
        "status": "verified",
        "method": "independent automated source review",
        "checkedAt": "2026-10-02T15:08:18.373Z",
        "reviewer": "automated independent verification",
        "notes": [
          "Read current Lido core share/rebase accounting, wstETH wrapper and WithdrawalQueue request/finalization/claim. The text does not assert that current Lido consists only of the old core pool or that conversion always rises.",
          "Changed fixed token balance to does not rebase: transfers/mint/burn can still change balances. Secondary-market liquidity, protocol withdrawal and market price remain distinct. Added Ethereum staking prerequisite."
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "liquid-staking-fact-steth-accounting",
      "articleSlug": "liquid-staking",
      "statement": "stETH accounting: Balances reflect shares of the accounted pooled ether.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "source-ed9152cad5abfcb8"
      ],
      "sourceLocators": [
        {
          "sourceId": "source-ed9152cad5abfcb8",
          "locator": "Deposit; Redeem; Rebase"
        }
      ],
      "scope": {
        "collection": "defi",
        "dataAsOf": null,
        "blockHeight": null
      },
      "qualification": "",
      "evidenceStatus": "documented",
      "verification": {
        "status": "verified",
        "method": "independent automated source review",
        "checkedAt": "2026-10-02T15:08:18.373Z",
        "reviewer": "automated independent verification",
        "notes": [
          "Read current Lido core share/rebase accounting, wstETH wrapper and WithdrawalQueue request/finalization/claim. The text does not assert that current Lido consists only of the old core pool or that conversion always rises.",
          "Changed fixed token balance to does not rebase: transfers/mint/burn can still change balances. Secondary-market liquidity, protocol withdrawal and market price remain distinct. Added Ethereum staking prerequisite."
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "liquid-staking-fact-wsteth-accounting",
      "articleSlug": "liquid-staking",
      "statement": "wstETH accounting: The token balance does not rebase; its stETH conversion can change.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "source-0c2e10353d5983bd"
      ],
      "sourceLocators": [
        {
          "sourceId": "source-0c2e10353d5983bd",
          "locator": "What is wrapped stETH (wstETH)?; wrap; unwrap"
        }
      ],
      "scope": {
        "collection": "defi",
        "dataAsOf": null,
        "blockHeight": null
      },
      "qualification": "",
      "evidenceStatus": "documented",
      "verification": {
        "status": "verified",
        "method": "independent automated source review",
        "checkedAt": "2026-10-02T15:08:18.373Z",
        "reviewer": "automated independent verification",
        "notes": [
          "Read current Lido core share/rebase accounting, wstETH wrapper and WithdrawalQueue request/finalization/claim. The text does not assert that current Lido consists only of the old core pool or that conversion always rises.",
          "Changed fixed token balance to does not rebase: transfers/mint/burn can still change balances. Secondary-market liquidity, protocol withdrawal and market price remain distinct. Added Ethereum staking prerequisite."
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "liquid-staking-fact-exit",
      "articleSlug": "liquid-staking",
      "statement": "Exit: Protocol withdrawal requests and secondary-market sales are different paths.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "source-e6758f7dcc7bc56a",
        "source-ed9152cad5abfcb8"
      ],
      "sourceLocators": [
        {
          "sourceId": "source-e6758f7dcc7bc56a",
          "locator": "Request; Finalization; Claim"
        },
        {
          "sourceId": "source-ed9152cad5abfcb8",
          "locator": "Deposit; Redeem; Rebase"
        }
      ],
      "scope": {
        "collection": "defi",
        "dataAsOf": null,
        "blockHeight": null
      },
      "qualification": "",
      "evidenceStatus": "documented",
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        "status": "verified",
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        "checkedAt": "2026-10-02T15:08:18.373Z",
        "reviewer": "automated independent verification",
        "notes": [
          "Read current Lido core share/rebase accounting, wstETH wrapper and WithdrawalQueue request/finalization/claim. The text does not assert that current Lido consists only of the old core pool or that conversion always rises.",
          "Changed fixed token balance to does not rebase: transfers/mint/burn can still change balances. Secondary-market liquidity, protocol withdrawal and market price remain distinct. Added Ethereum staking prerequisite."
        ]
      }
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "lido",
      "label": "Lido core contract",
      "publisher": "Lido contributors",
      "url": "https://docs.lido.fi/contracts/lido/",
      "locator": "Deposit; Redeem; Rebase",
      "note": "stETH share accounting, rebases and staking-pool dependencies.",
      "version": null,
      "checkedAt": "2026-10-02",
      "recordId": "source-ed9152cad5abfcb8",
      "contentSha256": null
    },
    {
      "id": "wsteth",
      "label": "wstETH wrapper",
      "publisher": "Lido contributors",
      "url": "https://docs.lido.fi/contracts/wsteth/",
      "locator": "What is wrapped stETH (wstETH)?; wrap; unwrap",
      "note": "Fixed wrapper balances with changing stETH conversion rates.",
      "version": null,
      "checkedAt": "2026-10-02",
      "recordId": "source-0c2e10353d5983bd",
      "contentSha256": null
    },
    {
      "id": "withdrawal",
      "label": "WithdrawalQueueERC721",
      "publisher": "Lido contributors",
      "url": "https://docs.lido.fi/contracts/withdrawal-queue-erc721/",
      "locator": "Request; Finalization; Claim",
      "note": "Withdrawal requests, finalization and claims are separate stages.",
      "version": null,
      "checkedAt": "2026-10-02",
      "recordId": "source-e6758f7dcc7bc56a",
      "contentSha256": null
    }
  ],
  "related": {
    "articles": [
      "wrapped-assets",
      "collateral-and-health-factors",
      "defi-composability",
      "restaking"
    ],
    "dossiers": [],
    "wallets": []
  },
  "revisionHistory": [
    {
      "date": "2026-10-02",
      "kind": "published",
      "summary": "First publication after primary-source research and independent automated verification."
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-10-02",
      "kind": "prepublication-review",
      "summary": "Before first publication, independent review checked and revised: keyFacts, sources, prerequisites. Read current Lido core share/rebase accounting, wstETH wrapper and WithdrawalQueue request/finalization/claim. The text does not assert that current Lido consists only of the old core pool or that conversion always rises. Changed fixed token balance to does not rebase: transfers/mint/burn can still change balances. Secondary-market liquidity, protocol withdrawal and market price remain distinct. Added Ethereum staking prerequisite."
    }
  ],
  "citation": "Degrees of Satoshi editorial project. “Liquid staking: a transferable claim on a staking arrangement.” Published 2026-10-02; updated 2026-10-02. https://degreesofsatoshi.com/encyclopedia/liquid-staking/"
}