Liquid staking is at the forefront of the DeFi movement on the TON blockchain, offering enhanced liquidity and returns for users.
In this article, we explore the top liquid staking apps:
- Tonstakers
- bemo
- Stakee
- Whales
- Hipo
Let’s go in-depth and examine how they benefit users and are shaping the future of decentralized finance on TON.
State of Staking on TON Blockchain
Compared to other prominent blockchains, TON currently has relatively low Total Value Locked (TVL) and decentralized exchange (DEX) volumes. However, TON’s DeFi sector is just beginning to develop, as shown by its 30x TVL growth in six months of 2024 alone.
A significant difference in staking participation between Ton and other top market cap blockchains also indicates the potential for growth in TON’s Liquid Staking market.
This data suggests that TON has strong potential to increase its share of staked tokens similar to other major blockchains. Liquid staking providers are likely to drive the trend given their financial benefits.
Benefits of Liquid Staking
The core mechanism behind staking is intended to add more security to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) networks. From an investor’s perspective, it is similar to depositing savings in a bank to earn consistent returns.
Traditional cryptocurrency staking, however, has lost its original appeal as it creates certain limitations: deposited assets are locked up and cannot be used for other profit-generating opportunities within the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.
Liquid staking addresses these issues offering several advantages over a traditional model:
- Enhanced Accessibility: Liquid staking allows users to retain flexibility and access to their assets without having to wait for a cooldown period as in self-staking.
- Capital Efficiency: Unlike traditional staking, participants in a liquid staking protocol can often retain liquidity by receiving liquid staking tokens (LSTs) that enable participation in DeFi activities while assets are still staked.
- Lower Barriers to Entry: By reducing the upfront capital needed, it makes cryptocurrency staking more accessible to a wider range of participants.
In essence, liquid staking caters to investors seeking more efficient and versatile ways to utilize their assets.
Liquid Staking Protocols on TON
As of June 11, 2024, the top liquid staking platforms on the Ton Blockchain by Total Value Locked (TVL) are as follows:
These protocols work on simple premises: smart contracts accept TON deposits, assigning them to validators. Participants contributing their Toncoins to liquidity staking pools indirectly contribute to the network’s security and operation. In return, they earn a portion of the rewards generated by validators.
Each protocol mints a Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) which represents a part of the user’s deposit on the protocol:
- Tonstakers — tsTON
- bemo — stTON
- Stakee — STAKED
- Whales — wsTON
- Hipo — hTON
All Liquid Staking Tokens on the TON network fall into the Non-Rebase (Value-Accruing) tokens category. This means their value increases over time as staking rewards accumulate, without changing the number of tokens held.
This model contrasts significantly with Rebase LSTs (like Lido’s stETH) which increase the number of tokens as rewards are distributed.
With that, TON holders earn staking rewards by simply holding the LST tokens but can potentially use these assets in other DeFi activities, such as lending, borrowing, and yield farming.
Top 5 TON Liquid Staking Applications: Overview
Now, let’s dive into each protocol and review them one by one in the order they appeared on the market.
1. bemo
bemo was among the first protocols to carve out a niche on the TON blockchain, launching in May 2023 with support from the investment firm DWF Labs.
The protocol has experienced steady growth, topping the list of largest players in the liquid staking market on TON, with $75 million in Total Value Locked (TVL).
When users deposit TON into bemo, they receive stTON tokens, which accrue rewards over time based on the performance of the bemo pool. Additionally, users earn stXP point rewards for their activity both within and outside the app.
The bemo team is currently preparing for the launch of their native token, BMO. Plans include distributing up to 20% of the supply to stXP holders.
The upcoming airdrop will consider users’ stXP point balances. Plus, bemo stakers can earn extra stXP points through trading stTON and providing liquidity on DEXs, so higher stXP holdings will translate to increased BMO token rewards.
bemo successfully completed a Certik audit in December 2023 and, according to the team, further audits are currently in progress.
2. Hipo
Launched in July 2023, Hipo followed the footsteps of bemo, offering a platform for secure and accessible liquid staking. Shortly after its launch, the team completed audits with two independent auditors.
Hipo provides stakers with hTON tokens, which are usable across several DeFi platforms on TON.
In March 2024, Hipo released an enhanced v2 of the protocol, audited by Ender Ting (ProgramCrafter), a TON contributor and freelance auditor.
The platform offers several incentive programs, including a referral program and rewards for active community members and contributors in the form of Hipo NFTs. NFT holders will also be eligible for the HPO token airdrop, the project’s governance token.
Additionally, stakers are entitled to receive 1% of the $HPO supply distributed to users upon reaching certain TVL milestones.
3. Tonstakers
When Tonstakers started its journey in October 2023, it collaborated closely with TON core developers to build its platform. This collaboration helped build trust within the community.
As a result, Tonstakers attracted over 60,000 users to its platform and quickly rose to dominate the TON liquid staking market, with a TVL of $265 million.
With Tonstakers, users can earn rewards in tsTON even with the smallest deposits, making staking accessible to a wide range of participants.
The protocol does not have its own token or any announced plans to introduce it in the future, which potentially leaves users with no additional utility or benefits.
Similar to bemo, Tonstakers codebase is CertiK audited. The protocol’s smart contracts are also open-source, meaning that anyone can report issues through a bug-bounty program.
4. Whales (beta)
Ton Whales is a well-known name in the TON blockchain world, famous for its TON Hub and commitment to decentralized, open-source traditional staking solutions.
Ton Whales gives users a choice of staking pools, including Whales Liquid, active since November 2023. The liquid staking pool, however, is among the least utilized options on the platform and now commands around $8 million in TVL. This may be linked to the fact that this initiative from Ton Whales is currently in its beta phase.
5. Stakee
Stakee, the latest addition to staking protocols on TON. Since its launch in December 2023, the platform has accumulated $20m TVL, according to DefiLlama data.
The platform offers the most straightforward approach to staking TON, providing depositors with STAKED tokens in return, that grow in price over time thanks to accumulating rewards.
However, the limited documentation leaves users uncertain about the detailed functioning of the application.
Comparing the Leading Liquid Staking Protocols on TON
While the liquid staking market on TON is still in its early stages of maturity, there is healthy competition and room for growth.
The chart by Tonalytica provides several insights into the liquid staking scene on the TON blockchain:
- Tonstakers clearly leads the liquid staking market on TON, with the highest growth in TVL;
- bemo has established itself as a significant player, showing steady growth. While it lags behind Tonstakers, its growth trajectory indicates a solid user base and increasing trust in its platform;
- Other protocols have shown minimal growth in TVL, which suggests that these platforms have yet to capture a significant share of the market.
Given the rapid growth of Tonstakers and bemo, as more users become aware of and comfortable with liquid staking, we can expect TVL across all platforms to increase.
Key Metrics
bemo strategically offers the highest APYs among competitors. As liquid staking protocols gain traction and attract more users, they may experience network effects that enable them to offer higher APYs.
Notably, Hipo reports to be charging smaller protocol fees than other platforms, allowing them to distribute a larger portion of staking rewards to users.
A minimum deposit of 1 TON and less suggests that all the protocols aim to be accessible to users with limited funds or those who prefer to start with smaller investments. This inclusivity can help onboard a diverse user base and contribute to the growth of the network.
User Base: Who’s Staking on TON
The “Whale Holders Market Share — Holders balances distribution” chart shows the distribution of LST holders’ balances across four top protocols:
- Tonstakers and bemo have a more diverse distribution of holders, including significant whale holders (over 1m LST);
- Whales has a high concentration of large holders (100k-1m LST);
- Hipo is exclusively dominated by small holders, with no presence of medium or large holders.
In general, Tonstakers and bemo show a balanced mix, suggesting they cater to both small and large holders.
Other protocols are in the early stages of adoption among larger investors and have yet to convince these users to stake their TON with them.
DEX Liquidity
Decentralized Exchange liquidity is important for LSTs as it determines the ease and efficiency of trading staked tokens. Higher liquidity ensures sufficient market depth, enabling users to buy and sell staked tokens without price slippage.
DEX liquidity varies significantly across different liquid staking protocols on TON:
- bemo’s stTON and Tonstakers’ tsTON show the highest availability with overall TVLs of $1.54 million and $1.35 million respectively;
- Additionally, bemo’s LST is traded on all top decentralized exchanges, highlighting a strong market presence and leading position;
- Hipo and Whales have more limited reach;
- It appears that Stakee’s token is not listed on any of the top DEX platforms, which limits opportunities to utilize STAKED tokens.
Sufficient liquidity means that stakers can earn additional tokens or rewards by staking their LSTs in liquidity pools on DEXes and participating in yield farming programs, thereby increasing their overall returns.
Security
Three projects — Tonstakers, bemo, and Hipo — have completed audits which helps build trust in the community.
Notably, Tonstakers and bemo earned a Code Category Score over 90 in a CertiK audit, which signifies that the codebase has achieved a high standard of quality, security, and functionality
Hipo has also shown a strong focus on security, performing audit checks with three independent and freelance auditors. However, while many freelance auditors are highly skilled, their track record can be harder to verify compared to established cybersecurity firms.
User Experience
bemo, Hipo, and Stakee are available both as web applications and Telegram Mini Apps for user convenience.
Tonstakers, however, compensates with native integration into Tonkeeper, allowing wallet users to participate in liquid staking without leaving the app.
Whales’ interface is clean and minimalistic, focusing on essential information and actions, making it easy for users to navigate and understand the staking process.
Key Takeaways
- TON’s DeFi scene features five main liquid staking protocols: Tonstakers, bemo, Stakee, Whales, and Hipo;
- Tonstakers and bemo lead with the highest TVL: competitive APYs, strong liquidity on prominent TON DEXes, and CertiK audits — key factors that attract users ;
- The bemo protocol stands out by offering the highest APY in the market and an additional layer of passive income with stXP points, attracting users looking to maximize earnings from liquid staking;
- As per bemo team’s announcements, the platform is actively developing and currently planning to add more yielding strategies promising even more rewarding staking experience;
- Two protocols — bemo and Hipo — have announced upcoming native token launches and airdrops. These initiatives are expected to drive platform adoption and facilitate further growth;
- Although Whales is currently in beta and less utilized, it has potential due to its established reputation;
- Stakee faces challenges such as insufficient DEX liquidity, limited documentation, and the absence of an audit. These factors may raise concerns among prospective users.
In general, the TON blockchain’s user-friendly environment and the positive growth trends in DeFi make a favorable landscape for liquid staking protocols. These applicarions are in a great position to do very well in this cycle.
For more updates from the world of TON staking and innovative earning mechanisms, follow bemo on Telegram and X.
Reminder: Always DYOR and get involved in the welcoming and growing DeFi on TON with the right knowledge!
