Swell (swETH): liquid restaking rating breakdown
Clean fee disclosure — 10%, split evenly — and honest withdrawal guidance that admits exits "can be up to 12 days or more".
Clean fee disclosure — 10%, split evenly — and honest withdrawal guidance that admits exits "can be up to 12 days or more".
How the score is built
Each criterion is scored 0–10 and weighted. The median column is the middle score across every entry in this ranking, so a row reads as a position rather than a number.
| Criterion | What we measured | Weight | Score | Category median | Rank | Weighted gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restaking risk, disclosed | — | 30% | 10 | 3 | 1 of 5 | +2.10 |
| Is “liquid” actually true? | ~$150k exit depth · sourced · 2026-07-15 · source | 30% | 2 | 2 | 2 of 5 | 0.00 |
| Does it beat simply staking? | — | 20% | 8 | 8 | 1 of 5 | 0.00 |
| Custody and slashing cover | — | 12% | 7 | 5 | 1 of 5 | +0.24 |
| Do they tell you what they take? | — | 8% | 8 | 6 | 1 of 5 | +0.16 |
Measured 15 July 2026 · weights and method · decided by restaking risk, disclosed, worth +2.10 points against the median
Restaking risk, disclosed: 10/10
EigenLayer slashing has been live since April 2025, and redistribution now lets a service take your slashed funds rather than burn them. We ask whether the extra risk is quantified for the holder: which services the stake is delegated to, what the maximum loss is, and who decides. It essentially never is.
Scored 10 of 10 against a category median of 3, which places it 1st of 5 among liquid restaking on this criterion. At a 30% weight that is 2.10 points above the median contribution of the weighted total. The best score in the category is 10, the worst 2.
Is “liquid” actually true?: 2/10
Outstanding value against the depth genuinely available to sell into. ezETH wicked 73% in April 2024 on a fully-backed token because there was no market underneath it. Every token here is thinner than the liquid staking token it wraps, and the ratio is the score.
Scored 2 of 10 against a category median of 2, which places it 2nd of 5 among liquid restaking on this criterion. At a 30% weight that is exactly level with the median of the weighted total. The best score in the category is 5, the worst 1.
Does it beat simply staking?: 8/10
Measured against plain staking, not against other restaked tokens. A token paying less than a plain stake while adding a slashing layer is not a yield product, and it is scored as what it is.
Scored 8 of 10 against a category median of 8, which places it 1st of 5 among liquid restaking on this criterion. At a 20% weight that is exactly level with the median of the weighted total. The best score in the category is 8, the worst 1.
Custody and slashing cover: 7/10
Do you hold an asset or an IOU, who can change the operator set, and what covers a slashing event — a claim you own, a fund of stated size, or a governance vote after the fact.
Scored 7 of 10 against a category median of 5, which places it 1st of 5 among liquid restaking on this criterion. At a 12% weight that is 0.24 points above the median contribution of the weighted total. The best score in the category is 7, the worst 5.
Do they tell you what they take?: 8/10
Whether the advertised rate is net of the protocol’s cut, and whether the formula and the raw inputs are published so a holder can recompute it.
Scored 8 of 10 against a category median of 6, which places it 1st of 5 among liquid restaking on this criterion. At a 8% weight that is 0.16 points above the median contribution of the weighted total. The best score in the category is 8, the worst 4.
Other measurements
Its nearest neighbours in this ranking
| # | Entry | Restaking risk, disclosed | How it differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | ether.fi (weETH) | 3 | Behind by 7 on restaking risk, disclosed. |
| 3 | Kelp DAO (rsETH) | 3 | Behind by 7 on restaking risk, disclosed. |
Questions about this score
How long does it take to withdraw from Swell?
+
Its own guidance says exits can be up to twelve days or more. That is honest, and it is the number that matters: a token described as liquid whose redemption queue runs to a fortnight is liquid only to the extent that someone will buy it from you in the meantime.