Ethereum's shift to proof of stake has opened up a new marketplace, with a range of staking providers now offering different ways to earn rewards by securing the network.
But not all staking providers are created equal: some ask you to give up control over your assets, while others require technical knowledge or take a big cut of your earnings.
To help you navigate the marketplace and chart a course to staking success, here are our 10 biggest reasons to stake with Swell.
1. Higher yields
Swell enables you to access both staking yields and DeFi opportunities from one single interface.
Simply stake your ETH, withdraw swETH, and then deposit it into vaults running proven yield-boosting strategies — all from within the Swell dApp.
2. Lower fees
The average ETH staking APY sits at roughly 4%, which doesn't leave much room for staking providers to levy their own fees.
Even so, some providers charge around 20%, which cuts directly into your staking yield.
Swell currently offers 10% staking fees, making it one of the lowest-cost staking options on the market.
3. No minimum stake
It costs 32 ETH to set up a validator node on Ethereum ⏤ a $50,000 sum that excludes billions of people from being able to stake independently.
Swell cuts down this barrier to entry, enabling anyone to earn rewards by staking with only a few dollars worth of ETH.
4. 100% alignment with Ethereum
Liquid staking makes ETH easier to trade, and democratizes the staking process.
But, the dominance of any single staking provider threatens to overturn Ethereum's key values of decentralization and censorship resistance.
Swell believes in a dynamic liquid staking market that preserves the diversity and decentralization of Ethereum. That's why we are moving towards a permissionless operator set which will be enabled by mechanisms such as DVT, bonding, and others.
5. No technical knowledge needed
Staking independently requires steady electricity, stable internet, and a healthy dose of hopium that your validator setup won't fail — leaving you out of pocket due to slashing penalties.
Swell strips away this technical complexity and streamlines the staking process, enabling you to get started in seconds through a clean and simple interface.
6. Full self-custody
One way to stake ETH is through centralized exchanges. But this is a deal with the devil because it exposes you to third-party risk.
Staking on a centralized platform requires you to hand over your assets. And, as we've seen many times before, this can lead to total losses when platforms misuse customer funds and end up insolvent.
Swell's self-custodial staking enables you to keep assets in your own wallet, and receive staking rewards without compromising on control.
7. Security-first approach
Too many DeFi protocols have sacrificed security for the sake of growth.
Swell takes the opposite approach; prioritizing security every step of the way with continuous auditing by leading blockchain security firms.
8. Fully-vetted validators
When things go wrong and validators display harmful behavior, staked assets can be forfeited to the network.
That's why Swell’s staking pool is managed by a vetted group of best-in-class professional validators, that have the technical expertise and experience needed to avoid problems.
9. Tax efficiency
Depending on your jurisdiction, staking may be a taxable event.
In fact, you might even be taxed twice: first when you receive the crypto in your wallet (income tax), and then later when you sell the coins (capital gains tax).
Furthermore, if you receive staking rewards in the form of a rebasing liquid staking token (where the number of tokens held increases daily to reflect staking yield) then you may have an additional tax liability.
Swell's swETH is not a rebasing token. Instead, it is a reward-bearing token, meaning that the value of the tokens increases to reflect the accumulated staking yield — avoiding the creation of potentially taxable transactions.Disclaimer: Swell does not provide tax, legal or accounting advice.
10. Technical innovation
Swell is not simply another forked protocol, but has been built from the ground up to provide a superior staking experience.
Looking ahead, we are committed to staying ahead of the curve, and continue to explore the latest Ethereum innovations.
Ready to learn more about Swell?
Follow Swell on Twitter and join the community in our Discord server to be ready for the launch.
