Liquid staking

Liquid staking is staking with a receipt token. You deposit TON into a protocol; the protocol stakes those TON behind validators (via nominator pools or its own validator infrastructure); you receive a token — tsTON, hTON, stTON — that represents your share. The token can be transferred, sold, or used as DeFi collateral while the underlying TON keeps earning rewards.

Why people use it

Plain validator/nominator staking has two friction points:

1. Lockup. Funds are tied up across the election round. To unstake, you wait at least one cycle (~18 hours).
2. No composability. Staked TON cannot be used as collateral or LP’d.

Liquid staking solves both: the receipt token is liquid, so unstaking is just a swap on a DEX, and the token can flow into lending markets or LP pools.

How the receipt token tracks value

Two main models exist on TON:

• Rebasing. The token amount in your wallet grows over time as rewards accrue. Less common on TON.
• Non-rebasing. Your token balance stays constant; the exchange rate to TON grows. After a year, 1 tsTON might be worth 1.04 TON. This is the model used by Tonstakers, Hipo, and bemo.

Non-rebasing is friendlier for DEX integrations — pools see a predictable token, just with a slowly drifting price.

Major TON liquid-staking protocols

• Tonstakers (tsTON) — the largest by TVL in 2026. Backed by a multi-validator setup operated by the Whales team.
• Hipo (hTON) — runs its own pool, audited contracts, slightly higher APR thanks to lower commission.
• bemo (stTON) — the older option; smaller TVL but established track record.

All three sit on top of validator-pool infrastructure; the differences are in fees, validator selection, and DeFi integrations.

Yield in 2026

Net to the user, after protocol fees: roughly 3–5% APR, occasionally higher when an LST is paired with incentives in a DeFi pool. This is the same range as direct nominator pools, minus a small protocol cut.

Where you can use the token

Once you hold tsTON/hTON/stTON, you can:

• Provide liquidity in LST/TON pools on STON.fi or DeDust (often with bonus emissions).
• Borrow TON or stablecoins against it on lending protocols (EVAA Protocol, Tradoor, etc.).
• Hold it idle as a yield-bearing TON proxy.

Risks

• Smart-contract risk. Audits exist but are not insurance. A bug could halt withdrawals or, in the worst case, lose funds.
• Validator risk. If the protocol’s validators get slashed, the LST exchange rate drops accordingly.
• De-peg risk. During market stress, secondary-market prices of the LST can trade below the redemption rate. Direct redemption (waiting through a cycle) usually still works at the on-chain rate.
• Concentration. If most of TON’s stake routes through a few liquid-staking protocols, that concentrates validator power; a healthy network wants a diverse set of stakers.

Liquid staking vs nominator pool

Both pay roughly the same yield. Liquid staking adds composability and instant exit (via swap), at the cost of an extra layer of smart-contract risk. For users who plan to hold and never touch DeFi, a direct nominator pool can be marginally cheaper. For everyone else, an LST is the default.