This makes decentralized finance (DeFi) staking platforms the most popular options for investors. They provide thrilling chances to make a passive income from cryptos. The DeFi landscape is ever-changing. In their place, a complex and diverse array of platforms has emerged, each with different contract mechanisms, supported assets, fee schedules, and beneficial features. In this article, we take a look at the best DeFi staking platforms of 2025. It takes a complete look at what they offer and what kind of returns you can possibly see.
This landscape overview dives into a few of them, such as Pendle Finance, EigenLayer, EtherFi, Yearn, Rocket Pool and Jito. It delves into their supported assets, their fee structures, and their estimated APYs (annual percentage yields). By exploring these platforms, investors can gain valuable insights into the opportunities and considerations associated with DeFi staking in 2025.
Pendle Finance
Pendle Finance is a decentralized, permissionless protocol that allows users to tokenize and trade their future yield on a range of non-yield-bearing assets. The platform allows users to mint yield-bearing tokens on any public blockchain network, including Ethereum, Arbitrum, BNB Chain, and Optimism. This diversity provides users a wide variety of tools to find ways to generate yield.
Pendle Finance operates by allowing users to split yield-bearing tokens into two components: Principal Tokens (PT) and Yield Tokens (YT). PTs account for the underlying principal, while YTs account for the value of the future yield produced by the asset. This separation further enables users to speculate on and trade yield independent of the underlying asset.
Pendle Finance takes a 3% fee on everything earned on yields produced via its platform. The estimated APY differs based on the asset staked on the platform. For sUSDe, the projected APY is 15.52%, USDe yields 17.58%, and eUSDe earns 18.77%.
EigenLayer
EigenLayer is a protocol built on top of Ethereum that pioneered the concept of restaking. This new capability will enable users to restake their ETH and liquid staking tokens (LSTs), assisting with further extending Ethereum’s security to other applications and services. Users can receive additional rewards through the ability to restake their assets. In addition to providing more choice and convenience, this move further deepens the Ethereum ecosystem’s security and decentralization.
EigenLayer supports any Ethereum asset. Users can engage with the restaking ecosystem using ETH, liquid staking tokens (such as stETH, rETH, cbETH, and LsETH), ERC-20 tokens, and EIGEN.
EigenLayer charges a fixed operator fee of 10%. This fee is shared among the node operators that provide the infrastructure and security required by the protocol. The platform does not display an estimated APY for users. Returns can differ depending on the individual restaking strategies and how well the underlying assets perform.
EtherFi
EtherFi is an open-source, decentralized, and non-custodial staking protocol. This new feature allows users to stake ETH and earn rewards without ever losing control of their private keys. Powering the whole ecosystem, the platform introduces a new approach to staking. It combines the benefits of decentralized finance (DeFi) with best-in-class security and compliance tailored for institutions.
EtherFi natively supports both ETH and stETH, giving users the choice to stake their assets and earn rewards in the format they prefer. You can stake your ETH through the platform’s Liquid Vaults. In exchange, you’ll get stETH that you can use in other DeFi apps.
EtherFi has an annualized platform fee of 1% for Liquid Vaults. Additional features The platform’s expected APY of 3.8% gives users an attractive return on their staked assets compared to traditional savings accounts, among other features.
Yearn
Yearn is a decentralized asset management platform and Yearn automates the process of yield optimization for its users. The platform offers a suite of products and services, including Vaults, which are automated investment strategies that seek to maximize returns on deposited assets.
Yearn mainly focuses on stablecoins and enables users to deposit their stablecoins into Vaults, which are used to generate yield using different DeFi strategies. The platform’s Vaults automatically rebalance assets across multiple protocols to ensure maximum yield at any given time. This provides users with a highly automated, no-fuss method of earning yield with ease.
Yearn collects a 10% performance fee on the profits made by its Vaults, meaning Yearn collects rewards earned by the Vaults. The platform provides different APYs depending on the Vault you choose and market conditions. Our users will be able to enjoy some great returns on their deposited stablecoins!
Rocket Pool
Rocket Pool is your ticket to the Ethereum staking network – a decentralized network of ETH stakers. By it, you can reinvest profits without worrying about managing your own ETH2 validator node. The platform offers two main staking options: liquid staking and node staking.
Rocket Pool is a decentralized staking protocol that supports ETH, allowing users to stake their assets. Participants can accrue rewards via liquid staking or by directly staking on nodes. Thanks to the advent of liquid staking, users are able to stake a minimum of 0.01 ETH. In exchange, they get rETH tokens in return, which can be used across a multitude of DeFi applications. Currently, to stake a node you must hold a minimum of 8 ETH. This larger investment allows you to operate your own validator node and earn higher rewards.
Rocket Pool provides an estimated APY of 2.79% for liquid staking and 4.39% for node staking. In addition, the platform has a minimum staking amount of 0.01 ETH for liquid staking and 8 ETH for node staking.
Jito
Jito, which is a Solana-based infrastructure provider, aims to maximize MEV (Miner Extractable Value) rewards for Solana stakers. Jito’s primary product is JitoSOL. This new liquid staking token allows users to earn both native staking rewards and MEV rewards simultaneously.
Jito is natively built on SOL, enabling a seamless staking experience, where users can stake their SOL and get JitoSOL as a stake reward. JitoSOL can then be used in other DeFi applications, giving users more ways to generate yield with their newly minted JitoSOL.
Jito provides a competitive estimated APY of 7.26%, factoring in staking rewards alongside MEV rewards. By focusing on MEV maximization, the platform provides users a greater return than if they participated in staking through a conventional approach.
