Staking Directly via Rocket Pool
The easiest way to stake with Rocket Pool is done via its web interface to the underlying smart contracts.
The advantage is that you will always get exactly as much rETH as your ETH is worth (minus a 0.05% deposit fee), since Rocket Pool's contracts will directly mint the rETH that you receive. No slippage, no liquidity issues, no sandwiching or front running... you just get the best possible deal for rETH.
The disadvantage is that the gas fee might be quite expensive if you are staking a small amount of ETH - we strongly recommend you check this before approving the transaction. Also, there is a limit to the amount of ETH that can be in the pool at any given time, so it's possible that the pool could be full until Node Operators pull ETH from it and stake that ETH on the Beacon Chain.
The process is slightly different for the Holesky Testnet and Mainnet, so choose the network you are interested in from the tabs below.
WARNING
When practicing staking on the test network, you do not need to provide any of your real ETH during this process. You will be given fake test ETH to use instead.Do not attempt to move your real ETH on mainnet to the testnet or you will lose it permanently!
Start by installing MetaMask if you haven't already. Follow the instructions on their site to install the extension, create an account, and sign in.
Next, open the MetaMask panel using its icon in your browser toolbar.
You will need to add the Holesky Testnet to MetaMask.
Click on the top left dropdown & click the "Add Network" button.
You will see a list of networks, Holesky is not in this list so click the "Add a network manually" button.
Fill in the following details:
Then click Save. You should now see the Holesky network in the top left dropdown.
Click on the network dropdown in the top left of the Metamask extension & select Holesky Test Network:
Finally, add the rETH token to MetaMask so you can see your balance and access it for trading. Click the Assets tab, then click Add Token:
Ensure that Custom Token is selected in this dialog. In the Token Contract Address box, put the following value:
The Token Symbol should automatically be populated with rETH, and the Decimals of Precision should automatically be populated with 18.
Accept the rest of the prompts, and then you will see the rETH token appear in your list.
Now that you have a wallet address in MetaMask, you need to fill it with some test ETH. Head over to the Practicing with the Test Network page for a quick guide on how to use a testnet faucet to get some test ETH on Holesky.
Once you have some Holesky ETH to test with, head to https://testnet.rocketpool.net/.
The page should look like this:
If you see a notice about a web3 browser being required, or the current network ID being unsupported, make sure you’ve completed the previous steps correctly before continuing.
Once you're at the site, click on the connect wallet button. Please read through and accept the Terms of Service & Privacy Policy, this will enable different ways to connect, then click connect metamask.
MetaMask will prompt you to select an account to connect to the website. Choose one, confirm a few permissions, and you’ll see your balances update in the UI. You can also see an overview of your balances by clicking the wallet icon located at the top right of the window.
Now, all that's left to do is deposit your ETH and receive some rETH back!
Enter the amount of ETH you want to deposit in the Stake ETH input field on the screen, then click the Stake button.
When entering the amount you want to stake, please make sure you take note of the routing. If the deposit pool is full, you will be routed via secondary markets using Rocket Router.
Secondary markets are subject to premiums/slippage & may result in you receiving less rETH than you expect.
MetaMask will pop up with a window asking you to confirm your transaction.
Check the total gas cost of the transaction before you approve it - if it is very expensive relative to your transaction, you may want to consider acquiring rETH via another method!
Once you confirm it, the transaction will begin. When it's been mined and added to the chain, you'll see your balances update!
As described in the previous page, it's completely normal to receive less rETH than the amount of ETH you put in. rETH and ETH have a dynamic exchange rate: as the Rocket Pool network earns rewards, 1 rETH will become worth more than 1 ETH, which in turn means 1 ETH will buy less than 1 rETH.
That's it! You're now staking with Rocket Pool. All you need to do is hold onto your rETH, and you'll automatically gain your staking rewards as the value of the rETH token increases.
Unstaking
When you're ready to unstake and trade your rETH back for ETH, head back to the staking website and click on the double arrow button in the middle of the trade amounts dialog to switch to rETH mode:
As with staking, enter an amount of rETH to unstake and click the Unstake button. Once again, a confirmation dialog will appear in MetaMask. Confirm the transaction, and once it's been mined, you will see the proper balances in your wallet.
Trading rETH back for ETH is only possible when the staking liquidity pool has enough ETH in it to handle your trade. This is Rocket Pool's pool of ETH that comes from two sources:
- ETH that other stakers have deposited, which hasn't been used by a Node Operator to create a new validator yet
- ETH that was returned by a Node Operator after they exited one of their validators and received their rewards from the Beacon Chain
During the period before the Merge, it's possible that the liquidity pool won't have enough balance to cover your unstaking. In this scenario, you may find other ways to trade your rETH back to ETH (such as a decentralized exchange like Uniswap) - though they will likely come with a small premium.
That's all there is to staking with Rocket Pool! We hope that you found the process quick and easy.
Feel free to swing by our Discord server to let us know what you thought of it and keep tabs on the project as it evolves.