Liquid Staking RFP

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7

1) Overview – What is your proposal and what benefit does it bring to the Optimism Ecosystem?

Staking a portion of the Optimism Collective’s ETH via Rocket Pool’s rETH liquid staking token (LST) on Optimism would deliver a sustainable and highly decentralised source of yield. The Rocket Pool protocol has a sole focus on its core competency - delivering market-leading excellence in decentralised Ethereum liquid staking. The protocol has no exposure to or reliance on restaking, other chains, TVL deals, token incentives, additional strategies, curators, or price oracles for its continued operation and delivery of staking rewards. This makes rETH a highly reliable asset to hold, with centralisation risks minimised.

Because of rETH’s liquidity and integrations, there are additional DeFi opportunities available on Optimism, should that be desired.

One optional add-on is the Rocket Pool “STAR program” - it would require rETH to be minted on Ethereum mainnet and then bridged to Optimism but would pay out some additional incremental rewards in the form of RPL tokens. More info on the STAR program here: https://rocketpool.notion.site/Rocket-Pool-Star-Program-Guideline-18a574a282d680d191ecfc6bd553e8f9#190574a282d6809a921af86b0e3e2511.

2) Design – Provide an overview of your system architecture and security.

Rocket Pool’s system architecture provides unique security benefits to the protocol, its users, and Ethereum as a whole. Running a node with Rocket Pool has always been fully permissionless, which means anyone can participate without prior approval or KYC. Thousands of Ethereum-aligned individuals worldwide have operated a node with Rocket Pool since launch in 2021, including EF members and protocol founders.

Uniquely in the liquid staking space, Rocket Pool does not have any permissioned/whitelisted node operators. This means that Rocket Pool is also the only LST protocol where all node operators provide their own ETH bond, which covers slashing risks. This means that rETH is uniquely overcollateralised by design. There is no need to “trust” node operators with the security of staked ETH - since they have their own ETH at stake, they are economically aligned and incentivised to perform. Because smart contracts manage all of the liquid staking (rETH) and node operator ETH deposits, trust assumptions are minimised compared to more centralised options. Rocket Pool is the most decentralised liquid staking protocol on Ethereum.

3) Risks & Mitigation – Provide an overview of the following.

  • Smart Contract Audit
    Rocket Pool maintains rigorous security standards with all smart contract changes audited by industry-leading firms: Sigma Prime, Consensys Diligence, ChainSafe, and Trail of Bits. To date, 12 comprehensive audits have been completed, and can be reviewed on the Rocket Pool website here: https://rocketpool.net/protocol/security.

  • Governance
    Rocket Pool has a rigorous and transparent governance framework that ensures the protocol remains highly decentralised. Following research and discussion among the protocol DAO (pDAO), every proposed change to the protocol must be submitted for node operators to vote on. The RPL token only has governance power when it is staked in a node, and this voting power is quadratically smoothed across each node. Approved changes are then executed onchain. Because this governance structure is distributed across thousands of independent node operators worldwide, Rocket Pool’s governance is a resilient system that resists capture by any single entity or coordinated group - also unique among the Ethereum liquid staking space. The combination of transparent processes and broad participation ensures that protocol decisions reflect the collective interests of the ecosystem rather than a privileged few: https://rocketpool.net/governance/process

  • Collateral & Financial Performance

    What is the amount of assets secured by your protocol on Optimism Mainnet?
    4,507 ETH (US$17.6m): https://optimistic.etherscan.io/token/0x9bcef72be871e61ed4fbbc7630889bee758eb81d

    What is the amount of assets secured by your protocol overall across EVM blockchains?
    641,499 ETH (US$2.17b): https://defillama.com/protocol/rocket-pool

    Have there been any significant de-pegging events in the past 12 months?
    No.

    Process for technical upgrades
    Rocket Pool’s oracle DAO (oDAO) is comprised of 11 prominent Ethereum-aligned entities. The oDAO must approve and submit any technical upgrades, following a seven-day timelock: https://rocketpool.net/governance/oracle-dao.

    Liquidity risks - how do you recommend mitigating liquidity risks? (i.e. slippage)
    A subcommittee of the pDAO, called the Incentives Management Committee (IMC), incentivises and manages liquidity on Ethereum mainnet and Optimism, among other L2s. Their targeted approach ensures deep, reliable liquidity for both staking and unstaking operations. The latest IMC reporting is available on Rocket Pool’s governance forum: https://dao.rocketpool.net/t/imc-period-41-report-period-42-budget/3818

    Regulatory risks
    SEC guidance issued earlier this year clarifies that liquid staking tokens, including Rocket Pool’s rETH, do not constitute securities. Rocket Pool’s fundamentally decentralised protocol design, which includes permissionless node operators and distributed governance, further solidifies this advantageous regulatory positioning.

4) Yield / Fees

  • What is your historical yield? What yield do you project, if any?
    Rocket Pool’s yield is closely linked to staking rewards paid by Ethereum’s Proof of Stake system. Historic yield averaged around 3% or more. Current yield is around 2.4% and is projected to be steady or slightly increase in the future due to gains from the Saturn One upgrade which is due to launch in January 2026.

  • What are your fees / commissions?
    Commissions/fees currently average 14% and are entirely paid to node operators. The current protocol architecture permanently sets commission for each validator at the time of its launch. In January, the Saturn One upgrade will implement a flexible mechanism that allows for rETH commission rate adjustments through governance. Given the pDAO’s strategic focus on driving rETH adoption, commission reductions are anticipated to enhance rETH yields and strengthen its competitive position in the liquid staking market.

5) Strategic Benefits

  • In addition to the Collective ETH (6.4K) in this proposal, how do you plan to grow OP Mainnet ecosystem around your LST (e.g., DEX liquidity, DeFi use cases)
    rETH already has multiple major DeFi integrations on Optimism, such as Aave and Compound. With the launch of the Saturn One upgrade in January, a marketing campaign is being planned in support. An increase in rETH’s presence, liquidity, and usage on Optimism would also see a corresponding focus as part of the upgrade’s marketing. The IMC generally prioritises liquidity to be directed to where rETH is used. An increase in rETH’s presence on Optimism would likely result in a corresponding shift in additional liquidity towards Optimism.
    A note from the IMC: “The Rocket Pool Incentives Management Committee (IMC) is a community-run committee responsible for directing liquidity incentives. While most of the incentives are focused on mainnet, Optimism is one of three L2s that we have seen as significant enough to warrant ongoing incentives. We would encourage the Collective to consider holding their ETH in an active position (eg, a Balancer rETH-Aave wETH position, or perhaps an LP position with rETH-anotherLST), which could earn roughly similarly to rETH while also benefitting the ecosystem through greater liquidity. If the Collective took a path like this, the IMC would be happy to significantly increase our spend on the chain (we’ve thrown out numbers like 50-70% increases, which would make Optimism our most-favored L2).”

  • What other economic benefits are there for OP Mainnet and the Superchain ecosystem?
    rETH already exists on multiple Superchain L2s such as Ink, Base, Soneium, and Unichain, with further expansion always being investigated and considered. In addition, Rocket Pool has partnered with RockSolid to provide a vault opportunity for rETH liquid stakers that returns a boosted return via curated DeFi opportunities. Rocket Pool and RockSolid work together to ensure vault funds are deployed optimally including across Superchain L2s - allocation considerations include the presence, liquidity, and usage of rETH: https://rocketpool.net/#rocksolid.

6) Security: Provide an overview of your security posture including:

  • Summarize results of all third-party security audits, including auditor names, dates, scope and keyfindings / remediation status. Provide links to public reports where available.
    Audit details can be viewed on the Rocket Pool website here: https://rocketpool.net/protocol/security.

  • Outline your bug bounty program, including historical data on reported issues or paid bounties.
    Up to US$500,000 via Immunefi: https://immunefi.com/bug-bounty/rocketpool/information/.

  • Describe your system’s upgrade process, including who can propose and execute upgrades, how decisions are made, and any existing veto or emergency powers.
    Rocket Pool’s oracle DAO (oDAO) is comprised of 11 prominent Ethereum-aligned entities. The oDAO must approve and submit any technical upgrades, following a seven-day timelock: https://rocketpool.net/governance/oracle-dao. There is currently no upgrade veto, this functionality will be added as part of the Saturn One upgrade in January. Emergency powers can only temporarily pause the protocol via a security council - funds cannot be frozen.

  • Detail the client software implementations that support your system, including the number of independent clients, and measures taken to ensure resilience.
    Just like solo stakers, Rocket Pool’s independent node operators are free to choose from any/all EL/CL clients. There is generally a high degree of Ethereum alignment and awareness of client diversity considerations among node operators.

7) Transparency & Reporting

8) Roadmap

  • What timeline will it take to deploy your proposal?
    Funds can be deployed to Rocket Pool instantly and permissionlessly. Any liquidity shifts to Optimsim would be executed at the discretion of the IMC.

  • What are the major milestones?
    Once deployed, funds will immediately begin earning rewards until withdrawn. The IMC is responsible for decisions relating to liquidity. The Saturn One marketing opportunity will run from roughly 01 JAN 26 to 07 FEB 26. RockSolid’s expansion into Superchain DeFi is ongoing.

  • What treasury operations approach for deploying the Collective ETH to your LST?
    On Ethereum mainnet, either interact with the protocol’s front end at rocketpool.net, or via the smart contracts directly. rETH can then be bridged to Optimism. Or rETH can be purchased directly on Optimism via DEX liquidity. Based on current Optimism liquidity, only relatively small volumes of ETH could be swapped to rETH in each transaction, to minimise slippage. More information on liquidity and slippage can be found here: https://xrchz.net/imc/?token=rETH.

  • What are the success metrics?
    Ongoing provision of staking rewards via rETH on Optimism. Increased rETH liquidity on Optimism as directed by the IMC. Increased awareness from participation in the Saturn One marketing opportunity in early 2026. Participation in RockSolid’s ongoing expansion into Superchain DeFi opportunities.

9) Team

  • Who are the founders of this project?
    Rocket Pool was founded by David Rugendyke in 2016.

  • What experience and track record does your team bring?
    The Rocket Pool team invented liquid staking on Ethereum back in 2019. Rocket Pool is the only liquid staking protocol that has been built since day one in close alignment with Ethereum’s core values, helping to ensure that Ethereum remains credibly neutral and free from censorship via maximal decentralisation and permissionless node operation. Rocket Pool’s many contributors are proud to have enabled thousands of diverse node operators worldwide to directly contribute to Ethereum’s Proof of Stake security.

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