Education

Liquid Staking on Fantom in 2024

Liquid staking on Fantom allows users to unlock liquidity from staked assets, opening new opportunities within DeFi. Traditionally, if you stake FTM on Fantom, you lock your tokens to support the operation and security of the network in exchange for monetary rewards. However, doing this makes your FTM illiquid, meaning they cannot be used for other DeFi opportunities until they’re unstaked.

On Fantom, two protocols aim to fix this limitation: Ankr Protocol and Beethoven X. Learn about them below and how to liquid stake on Fantom.

This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not represent financial advice. We encourage all users to decide if liquid staking is right for them and to familiarize themselves with different liquid staking providers' specific rules and practices.

What is liquid staking?

Liquid staking addresses the limitations of traditional staking by delegating your tokens to a validator and then minting synthetic tokens that represent the staked assets on a 1:1 basis. These tokens can then be freely traded and used in DeFi protocols for lending, borrowing, or earning additional yield, while the original assets remain staked and continue earning staking rewards.

For example, if you stake 100 FTM through one of the liquid staking providers below, you receive the equivalent value in their FTM liquid staking tokens, which you can use in any DeFi application that supports them.

Liquid staking on Fantom not only enhances the utility of its native token but also enriches its DeFi ecosystem, making it more attractive to users seeking to maximize the productivity of their assets. This mechanism fosters greater capital efficiency within the network, allowing users to participate in securing Fantom while also engaging in other DeFi activities without having to choose one over the other.

Ankr Protocol

How to liquid stake on Ankr

Ankr offers liquid staking on Fantom through its ankrFTM token. Follow these steps to liquid stake on Fantom using Ankr:

Visit Ankr’s FTM Liquid Staking page
Select how many FTM you wish to stake
Click Get ankrFTM and confirm in your wallet

You have now staked your FTM through Ankr and received an equivalent value in ankrFTM tokens! These tokens are reward-bearing, meaning their quantity is stable, but they gain in value such that their redemption ratio grows daily to reflect Fantom staking rewards. The tokens can now also be used across various DeFi applications while they continue to earn staking rewards from the Fantom network.

To unstake your FTM, head to the Ankr Staking dashboard, scroll to the Liquid staking section, and click the minus symbol next to the ankrFTM token. However, please note the unstaking period given above the Unstake button. As an alternative to unstaking, you can swap from ankrFTM to FTM on various DEXs.

15% of the staking rewards that you earn are given to the validator on which your underlying FTM is staked, and then Ankr takes a 15% technical service fee from the remaining rewards that you receive. Learn more here about liquid staking on Ankr.

Where to use ankrFTM

With ankrFTM, you can add liquidity to the following pairs and earn rewards (at your own risk):

Beethoven X:
- Ankr Fantom Liquid Mosaic
- Ankr Fantom Liquid Ocean
Equalizer Exchange: ankrETH - ankrFTM

If your DeFi application offers an ankrFTM opportunity, please reach out to have it included in the list above.

Beethoven X

How to liquid stake on Beethoven X

Beethoven X is a DeFi platform on Fantom that offers liquid staking through its sFTMx token. Follow these steps to liquid stake on Fantom using Beethoven X:

Head to Beethoven X’s sFTMx page
Select how many FTM you wish to stake
Click Stake and confirm in your wallet

You have now staked your FTM through Beethoven X and received an equivalent value in sFTMx tokens! These tokens are reward-bearing, meaning their quantity is stable, but they gain in value such that their redemption ratio grows daily to reflect Fantom staking rewards. The tokens can now also be used across various DeFi applications while they continue to earn staking rewards from the Fantom network.

To unstake your FTM, head to the Unstake tab. However, please note that any FTM tokens you unstake will only be available for withdrawal after 7 days, identical to the waiting period required for unstaking native FTM. As an alternative to unstaking, you can swap from sFTMx to FTM using Beethoven X’s DEX on the Swap page.

15% of the staking rewards that you earn are given to the validator on which your underlying FTM is staked, and then Beethoven X takes a 10% protocol fee from the remaining rewards that you receive. Learn more here about liquid staking on Beethoven X.