Rocket Pool
About
Rocket Pool is a permissionless, decentralised Ethereum staking protocol offering two products: liquid staking (via the rETH receipt token) and node staking (operating validators). Liquid stakers can deposit any amount of ETH (from 0.01 ETH) to receive rETH, which appreciates relative to ETH as staking rewards accrue over time. Node operators bond their own ETH alongside protocol-allocated ETH from liquid stakers to run Ethereum validators, earning consensus rewards plus commission fees — all without needing 32 ETH or permission from a central party.
Where Does Yield Come From?
Where the yield comes from
Rocket Pool's rewards start at the Ethereum network itself. When the protocol runs validators (the computers that help secure Ethereum), those validators earn staking rewards from the blockchain's proof-of-stake system. Those rewards then flow through a few layers before reaching different participants.
Two ways to participate
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Liquid stakers — anyone can deposit ETH (from 0.01 ETH) into Rocket Pool's deposit pool. In return, they get rETH, a token whose value slowly rises against ETH as staking rewards pile up. No need to run any software.
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Node operators — these are the people who actually run the validator computers. They put up some of their own ETH alongside ETH from the deposit pool (the liquid stakers' ETH) to meet the 32 ETH needed per validator. Since the Saturn One / MEGAPOOL upgrade, each operator bonds 4 ETH of their own, and the protocol supplies the other 28 ETH from the deposit pool.
What node operators earn
Node operators get three possible income streams:
- All rewards on their own 4 ETH — they keep 100% of whatever that bonded ETH earns.
- A commission on the protocol's 28 ETH — they earn a base commission of 5% on the rewards generated by that ETH.
- Extra ETH from RPL staking — if they also stake RPL (Rocket Pool's own token), they can earn a bonus share of protocol revenue, paid in ETH.
How rewards are split (the UARS system)
A system called the Universal Adjustable Revenue Split (managed by the Protocol DAO) divides the rewards from liquid staking:
- The base 5% commission goes to all node operators.
- An extra 9% bonus pool of ETH is collected and shared among operators who have staked RPL, in proportion to how much they've staked.
- rETH holders get everything left over — the net yield after commissions are subtracted. (Since the Atlas upgrade, the maximum effective commission has been capped at 14%, so rETH holders' share can't shrink beyond that limit.)
Smoothing Pool
Node operators can join a Smoothing Pool, which pools rewards across many validators. This smooths out the natural randomness of who gets block proposals (which are big, sporadic rewards), so everyone gets a steadier income.
Where RPL fits in
RPL used to earn value mainly through inflation rewards (new tokens minted). But Rocket Pool activated a "fee switch": now, staked RPL earns a share of actual ETH-denominated protocol commission revenue. The old inflation rewards still run alongside for now, but they are being phased out.
Fees (or lack thereof)
- Liquid stakers pay no deposit or withdrawal fees.
- Node operators pay gas costs (transaction fees on Ethereum) to run their validators.
Extra yield from DeFi
rETH isn't stuck sitting idle. Holders can use it in external DeFi protocols — like Uniswap, Curve, or Aave — or through the RockSolid vault partner to earn additional yields on top of the base staking rewards.
Persons
David Rugendyke
Founder, CTO
Darren Langley
General Manager
Joe Clapis
Software Engineering Lead
Kane Wallmann
Protocol Developer
Thomas Pan
Developer
Fornax
Developer
Maverick
Editor, Rocket Pool Medium Publication
Audits
| Audit / Date | Findings | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
Cantina27-07-2025 - 21-09-2025 |
| All critical and high-risk findings were fixed prior to deployment, and the three medium-severity issues were also resolved, making the Saturn 1 upgrade substantially safer; residual risks center on pDAO-controlled settings with acknowledged guardrail gaps and reliance on oDAO integrity for MEV theft challenges. |
| The Bailsec audit report for Rocket Pool's Saturn-1 was not available for analysis due to a persistent server timeout. No security assessment can be derived from this source. | |
| The Rocket Pool Saturn 1 audit by Sigma Prime could not be reviewed because the PDF is inaccessible (522 timeout). No safety assessment can be derived from this document. | |
Consensys Diligence20-11-2023 - 01-12-2023 |
| The audit found no critical or high-severity vulnerabilities; all medium and minor issues were fixed by the Rocket Pool team during the engagement, and a fuzzing campaign on the snapshot component added further confidence. However, due to the time-boxed and scope-reduced nature of the assessment, the report recommends a follow-up audit to cover areas not reviewed. |
Sigma Prime01-06-2024 |
| The Houston upgrade audit revealed two critical vulnerabilities (ETH lockup and proposal bond theft) that were both resolved, alongside four high-severity issues mostly remediated before deployment, meaning the most impactful attack vectors have been eliminated while some design-level risks (e.g., bond liquidity during upgrades) remain acknowledged by the team. |
| The Chainsafe audit report for Rocket Pool (Houston upgrade) was not accessible due to a server timeout, so no assessment of findings or protocol safety can be made from this source. |
Legal
Legal form
Pty Ltd (Proprietary Limited / private limited company)
Registration jurisdiction
Australia (based on the "Pty Ltd" designation disclosed in the website footer)
Status and notes
The operating entity is disclosed as "Rocket Pool Pty Ltd" in the website footer (© Rocket Pool Pty Ltd). The privacy policy (available at /files/privacy-policy.pdf) references Rocket Pool and its affiliates, provides EU/GDPR rights information, and lists [email protected] as the contact address. Terms of Service and governance pages were not accessible.