Rocket Pool
Staking · Liquid Staking · rETH
Rocket Pool issues rETH, a non-rebasing liquid staking token whose exchange rate appreciates versus ETH as rewards accrue, backed by a permissionless network of node operators.
Decentralized, permissionless ETH liquid staking.
rETH price
$1.64
+1.8% 24h
Latest data · 15 min delay
Research
Components, facts, FAQ, timeline, and tokenomics in one place
Main components (6)
rETH (liquid staking token)
A reward-bearing ERC-20 that any user can mint by depositing ETH (no minimum). rETH does not rebase; instead its exchange rate to ETH increases as staking rewards accrue. It gives passive stakers liquid exposure to Ethereum staking yield without running a node.
Minipools / node operators
Permissionless node operators run validators by pairing their own ETH bond with ETH from the rETH deposit pool. Pre-Atlas a minipool required 16 ETH from the operator; the Atlas upgrade introduced 8-ETH minipools (LEB8), and the Saturn I upgrade further reduced the bond toward 4 ETH per validator, improving capital efficiency and rETH-collateralization capacity.
RPL (protocol/collateral token)
Node operators historically staked RPL as an insurance bond/collateral against their commission and to qualify for RPL inflation rewards. RPL secures the protocol and is used in governance. Post-Saturn, RPL is being repositioned to earn a share of protocol ETH revenue rather than relying on RPL inflation emissions.
Megapools (Saturn)
Introduced in Saturn I, megapools let a single node operator group multiple validators under one contract for gas and management efficiency, and support the reduced 4-ETH bond model plus express/standard deposit queues.
Oracle DAO (oDAO)
A permissioned set of members (including entities such as Consensys and Sigma Prime) that shuttle data between the Ethereum consensus and execution layers, submit oracle data (e.g., the rETH exchange rate and network balances) via threshold consensus, and historically handled protocol parameter and upgrade duties.
Protocol DAO (pDAO)
The token-holder governance body. The Houston upgrade (2024) moved the pDAO fully on-chain with an optimistic fraud-proof system, letting node operators raise, vote on, and challenge proposals directly on-chain, with Snapshot still used for gas-free signaling votes.
Differentiator
Anyone can run a node by posting reduced ETH collateral plus RPL bond — the most decentralized operator set among major LSTs.
Organizational structure
Units & roles
- Founder / Lead Engineer
David Rugendyke
Original author of the 2017 Rocket Pool whitepaper and long-time lead developer of the protocol.
- General Manager
Darren Langley
Leads day-to-day operations and has authored core team communications on protocol DAO governance.
Similarity to traditional finance products
How Rocket Pool maps onto established TradFi structures, and where it diverges.
| TradFi product | Similarity to Rocket Pool | Key differences |
|---|---|---|
| Money market / dividend-reinvesting fund share | rETH is a single fungible instrument whose per-unit value compounds automatically as underlying yield accrues, similar to an accumulating fund share where distributions are reinvested rather than paid out. | rETH is fully on-chain, redeemable 24/7 against a smart-contract deposit pool, has no fund manager or NAV cutoff, and its yield derives from Ethereum protocol staking rewards, which carry slashing and smart-contract risk rather than credit/interest-rate risk. |