LRT · ETHFI · $4.3B TVL. Screen grades as of November 12, 2026: Solvency A, Legitimacy A, Growth BB. Largest LRT; expanding into cards/neobank product line.
| Input / Grade | July 27, 2026 | November 12, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| TVL | $6B | $4.3B |
| 12-month TVL change | -30% | -49% |
| Worst 90-day drawdown | 40% | 24% |
| Drawdown scored | 40% (90-day only, v1.0) | 49% (worse of 90-day and 12-month, v1.1) |
| Solvency (credit grade) | BBB · 64.8 | A · 70 |
| Growth | BB · 53.8 | BB · 53.8 |
TVL figures: DefiLlama, parent-level listing. The July 27, 2026 TVL was an analyst estimate and may have used a narrower definition, so part of the TVL difference can be definitional. Only these three inputs were refreshed in the re-screen; sustainability, unlocks, risk, audits, team, delivery, governance, category share and momentum were left as the July 27, 2026 estimates. Since then, some of those inputs have been checked against public data (November 13, 2026); see Input Sources. Where that changed a scored value, the grades in the right-hand column include it.
Solvency screens at A (70 / 100), previously BBB in the July 27, 2026 screen. The worst 90-day TVL drawdown is 24% and 12-month TVL change is -49%. TVL stability is scored on the 12-month decline of 49%, because it is worse than the latest 90 days. Sustainability ratio (2x) and risk quality (7 / 10) are carried over from July 27, 2026. Unlock pressure (1.9%) was taken from public data on November 13, 2026 (see Input Sources).
Legitimacy screens at A (71 / 100). No Legitimacy input was refreshed in the November 12, 2026 re-screen, so the grade is unchanged from July 27, 2026. All four inputs are analyst judgment; the evidence behind each is linked under Input Sources.
Growth screens at BB (53.8 / 100), unchanged from the July 27, 2026 screen. TVL is $4.3B, -49% over twelve months (it was -30% at the previous screen). Category share (45%) and momentum (6 / 10) are carried over from July 27, 2026.
Of the 11 scored inputs, 3 are taken from public data, 6 are analyst estimates with the evidence linked, and 2 are under review because the public data disagrees with the estimate or the definition is not settled. An input under review keeps its previous scored value until the review is published.
| Input | Scored Value | Status | Source Or Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sustainability ratio Solvency | 2x | Under review | DefiLlama: protocol revenue $43.7M over 12m; total fees $180.3M; $7.4M returned to token holders. DefiLlama's unlock schedule shows the incentive allocation fully distributed, with no incentive emissions in the last 12 months, so the ratio cannot be computed from it. The methodology does not yet say whether "revenue" means what the protocol keeps or all fees paid by users, so the July estimate is still the scored value. |
| TVL stability Solvency | 24% / -49% | Sourced | Worst 90-day drawdown and 12-month TVL change, from DefiLlama, parent-level listing, as of November 12, 2026. |
| Unlock pressure (next 12 months) Solvency | 1.9% | Sourced | Core Contributors unlock a further 17.4M ETHFI over the next 12 months, against 911.7M unlocked to date outside the DAO treasury: 1.9%. The July estimate was 8%. |
| Risk quality Solvency | 7 / 10 | Estimate | Analyst judgment. DefiLlama's hacks database lists one incident: September 11, 2026, about $43,000, in the ether.fi Liquid product. |
| Audit coverage Legitimacy | 8 / 10 | Estimate | Analyst judgment. A Zellic audit report is public. |
| Team & transparency Legitimacy | 8 / 10 | Estimate | Analyst judgment. |
| Delivery vs stated roadmap Legitimacy | 8 / 10 | Estimate | Analyst judgment. |
| Governance & decentralization Legitimacy | 5 / 10 | Estimate | Analyst judgment. Voting record is public on Snapshot. |
| TVL 12-month trend Growth | -49% | Sourced | 12-month TVL change, from DefiLlama, parent-level listing, as of November 12, 2026. |
| Category market share Growth | 45% | Under review | The 45% estimate treats ether.fi as a liquid restaking token. DefiLlama now lists ether.fi Stake under Liquid Staking, where its $3.71B is about 8% of $45.1B. Which peer set applies has not been settled, so the July estimate is still the scored value. |
| Momentum & users Growth | 6 / 10 | Estimate | Analyst judgment. Evidence: fees in the last 30 days were $13.9M, an annual run rate about 6% below the 12m total of $180.3M. |
"12m" is the twelve months to November 13, 2026. Token amounts are valued at DefiLlama prices on that date. Found an error? Tell us; corrections are published with a date.
The credit grade is Solvency A. Legitimacy is A and the Growth outlook is BB; the weakest axis is Growth. These grades use TVL data as of November 12, 2026 and qualitative inputs from July 27, 2026.
The credit grade answers one question: can ether.fi survive stress and pay its users back. Legitimacy (A) and the Growth outlook (BB) are published beside it and are never averaged into it. Weakest axis: Growth.
| Protocol | Solvency | Legitimacy | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| ether.fi (this page) | A | A | BB |
| Kelp DAO | BB | BBB | B |
| Renzo | BB | BBB | CCC |
| Puffer | B | BB | CCC |
| Bedrock | B | BB | CCC |
ether.fi is the largest liquid restaking token issuer at $6B TVL and ~45% of the LRT category, and it is deliberately diversifying beyond restaking beta — its cash-card and neobank product line is an attempt to attach consumer fee revenue to what began as a yield wrapper.
Solvency screens at BBB. A ~2x sustainability ratio is respectable for a young protocol and distinguishes it from pre-revenue restaking peers, but the 40% drawdown shows how tightly its deposits track the restaking cycle, and ~8% annual unlock pressure is non-trivial. Risk posture is reasonable with the caveat that every LRT inherits EigenLayer's still-maturing slashing machinery underneath.
Legitimacy screens at A: solid audit cadence, a public and responsive team, and consistent shipping — the product diversification arrived on schedule rather than as vaporware. Governance is young and foundation-weighted, which is the main deduction.
Growth screens at BB. Share of the LRT category is strong and momentum (6/10) benefits from the consumer product push, but twelve-month TVL is down ~30% with the restaking tide. The screen credits the diversification strategy without yet paying for results.
Composite BB. Best-of-category positioning with the same structural question as all LRTs: whether native revenue can decouple from restaking sentiment. The neobank line is the differentiator to track in a full rating.
