liquidUSD, issued by the ether.fi Liquid Protocol smart contracts under the governance of ether.fi tokenholders and strategists, is a tokenized automated vault representing a proportional interest in a basket of onchain U.S. dollar (USD) yield strategies [S1].

The vault accepts USD Coin (USDC) deposits and deploys them across a basket of DeFi strategies, with strategists able to move assets only among positions encoded in the vault smart contract [S1][S2]. Returns are auto-compounded within the vault, accruing to the tokenholder through the appreciating value of the vault position rather than distributions [S1]. The vault bears platform fees that generally range from 0% to 2%, plus network gas fees borne by the holder [S1].

The Liquid vaults operate through smart contracts rather than a chartered fund vehicle, and are governed by ether.fi tokenholders with strategists constrained to encoded positions [S2]. The tokenholder's claim is a smart contract position redeemable for the underlying strategy assets, not a bearer instrument or regulated fund interest [S1]. Access is restricted, and Liquid is unavailable to users in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom [S1]. Optional loss coverage is available separately through Nexus Mutual [S1]. Within the ether.fi ecosystem, the position carries an 80% loan-to-value ratio and a 90% liquidation threshold as collateral [S3].

Liquid vaults are primarily deployed on the Ethereum blockchain, with smaller allocations on other networks [S2]. Redemptions initiate immediately and settle within a vault-defined deadline, typically 3 to 10 days, extended by protocol cooldowns such as the 7-day periods for Karak and EigenLayer positions [S4]. USD vault withdrawals settle in USD, sent automatically to the holder's wallet without a manual claim [S5].

<Sources
  retrievedAt="2026-09-10"
  items={[
    { id: "S1", url: "https://www.ether.fi/app/liquid" },
    { id: "S2", url: "https://help.ether.fi/en/articles/517109-how-liquid-works" },
    { id: "S3", url: "https://help.ether.fi/en/articles/304388-how-does-collateral-and-borrowing-work" },
    { id: "S4", url: "https://help.ether.fi/en/articles/269720-why-is-it-taking-so-long-to-withdraw-from-the-liquid-vaults" },
    { id: "S5", url: "https://help.ether.fi/en/articles/284654-how-to-withdraw-from-liquid-vaults" },
  ]}
/>


Tokenized funds

Stakers deposit funds into Ether.fi and receive a return on investment in the form of staking rewards (supply-side fees).

Ether.fi is a non-custodial staking protocol built on Ethereum and other blockchains. Ether.fi was founded by Mike Silagadze and launched in 2023.

Ether.fi team & investors own and govern the protocol. They currently take a cut of the total staking rewards earned by the protocol (revenue). Ether.fi’s investors include North Island Ventures, Chapter One, Node Capital, and Arthur Hayes.

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Liquid staking

Ether.fi

ether.fi Liquid USD (liquidUSD) is a tokenized fund share issued by Ether.fi.

The fund is open-ended, invests in crypto assets, and locks up subscriptions for 0 months.

Retail investors, professional investors, accredited investors, qualified investors, qualified purchasers, and institutions can subscribe and redeem in USDC, and holders have a right to redeem at net asset value with two-to-five-business-day settlement.

liquidUSD has been issued on Ethereum as an ERC-20 token since April 2024, with a bridged version on one more network.

ether.fi Liquid USDliquidUSD

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