Coinbase
Staking · Liquid Staking · cbETH
Coinbase Wrapped Staked ETH (cbETH) is a non-rebasing liquid staking token representing ETH staked through Coinbase, redeemable for the underlying plus rewards.
Exchange-native ETH liquid staking.
Total staked
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Risks identified
- Counterparty
cbETH is a fully centralized, custodial product: Coinbase custodies the staked ETH, operates the validators, and controls minting/burning and the exchange-rate contracts. Holders depend entirely on Coinbase's solvency, honesty, and operational continuity, and Coinbase's user agreement states it will not backstop or guarantee cbETH liquidity.
- Regulatory
Coinbase's staking-as-a-service program has been the subject of US securities scrutiny; the SEC's June 2023 enforcement action alleged the staking program was an unregistered securities offering. Although the SEC dismissed that action in February 2025, the legal status of exchange-run staking remains policy-dependent and could shift with future administrations or in other jurisdictions.
- Oracle
DeFi protocols that price cbETH rely on its exchange rate being published on-chain (via the ExchangeRateUpdater and third-party price feeds with heartbeat/deviation-based updates). A stale, delayed, or manipulated rate feed could cause mispricing, faulty liquidations, or bad debt in protocols that accept cbETH as collateral.
- Reserve / Depeg
cbETH secondary-market liquidity is highly concentrated (the large majority of trading historically sat on the Coinbase venue). During stress, mass redemptions or an unwrap/unstaking queue backlog can push the secondary-market price of cbETH below its fair conversion-rate value, producing a temporary depeg from its ETH-plus-rewards redemption value.
- Smart Contract
cbETH depends on its wrapping, minting, and rate-limiting contracts. OpenZeppelin's August 2022 audit found no critical or high issues but flagged a medium-severity scenario in the RateLimit contract where callers could deplete their mint/rate-update allowance, potentially leaving the exchange rate outdated if not enough callers maintain sufficient allowance.