What is StaFi (FIS)?

By CMC AI
02 November 2025 09:20AM (UTC+0)

TLDR

StaFi (FIS) is a decentralized finance protocol that unlocks liquidity for staked assets by issuing tradable synthetic tokens (rTokens) while maintaining staking rewards.

  1. Liquidity for Staked Assets: Enables users to stake PoS tokens (e.g., ETH, SOL) and trade derivative rTokens.

  2. Governance & Utility: FIS powers staking, fees, and community-driven protocol decisions.

  3. Cross-Chain Architecture: Built on Polkadot’s Substrate, with bridges to Ethereum, Cosmos, and others.

Deep Dive

1. Purpose & Value Proposition

StaFi addresses the liquidity lock-up problem in Proof-of-Stake (PoS) networks. When users stake tokens (e.g., ETH), they receive rTokens (like rETH) that represent their staked assets and rewards. These rTokens can be traded on exchanges or used in DeFi, allowing users to earn staking yields while retaining liquidity.

2. Technology & Ecosystem

  • rTokens: Synthetic assets pegged 1:1 to staked tokens, redeemable anytime.
  • Multi-Chain: Originally built on Polkadot’s Substrate, StaFi supports cross-chain operations via bridges to Ethereum, Cosmos, BSC, and Solana.
  • Liquid Staking Vaults (LSV): Modular frameworks for cross-chain staking, recently expanded to include SubDAOs for community-managed vaults.

3. Tokenomics & Governance

  • FIS Utility: Used for staking validation, transaction fees, governance voting, and capturing value from protocol fees (5–10% commission on rToken solutions).
  • Deflationary Mechanics: Since October 2024, 100% of treasury-minted FIS is burned monthly, and inflation is phased down from 10% to 0% by 2027.
  • Governance: Holders vote on upgrades, fee structures, and partnerships via on-chain proposals.

Conclusion

StaFi redefines staking by decoupling liquidity from rewards, with FIS acting as the economic and governance backbone. Its cross-chain design and deflationary tokenomics aim to balance scalability and scarcity. Key question: Can StaFi’s rToken model sustainably compete as liquid staking becomes a DeFi standard?

CMC AI can make mistakes. Not financial advice.