Ankr

Liquid Staking

Ankr is a decentralized infrastructure provider helping users stake assets to secure different blockchains.

Risk Rating
Average
Protocol Code Quality
Protocol Maturity
Protocol Design
Summary
What we like
Ankr abstracts away the challenges and risks around maintaining staking infrastructure by allowing users to delegate their Proof-of-Stake (PoS) assets to professional node operators.
What we like less
Staking with Ankr assumes greater security risks as the underlying smart contracts may be exploited. Centralization risk as contracts are controlled by a single admin key with no multisig or timelock for protocol changes.
What it means for you
Ankr's liquid staking solution offers you a great way to stake your PoS assets and earn rewards for securing the network while remaining liquid.
Information
Exploit/Hacks
One
Info
  • Website
  • Token: ANKR
  • Tags: Liquid Staking
Key Metrics
  • TVL: $66.3M (Rank #63)
  • TVL Ranking by Liquid Staking: #9
  • Blockchain: Ethereum, Binance, Avalanche, Fantom, Polkadot, xDai, Kusama
  • Chain TVL
    • Ethereum: $54.49M
    • Binance: $10.83M
    • Avalanche: $597.59K
    • Fantom: $225.9K
    • Polkadot: $151.3K
    • Others: $5.36K
Risk Assessment
Average
Protocol Code Quality
  • Code reviewed by several experienced auditors including Beosin and PeckShield
  • Public team promotes accountability
  • One unmitigated protocol hack since launch
Protocol Maturity
  • Core protocol launched in 2020; maturity over one year minimizes technical risk as smart contracts are well battle-tested
  • Top 10% by total value locked reduces risk
  • Multisig wallet controls protocol upgrades
  • Multisig consists of less than 4 signers, which makes the protocol more susceptible to centralization risks
  • No timelock exists or no information documented, which mean a malicious actor could approve upgrades without any delay
  • At least one critical governance issue documented
  • Highly concentrated voting power increases risk
Protocol Design
  • No death spiral concerns
  • Robust controls to mitigate oracle price manipulation
  • This protocol is susceptible to risks related to staking a token to secure a network, such as slashing events
Things to know about Ankr

How Ankr works

Ankr allows users to earn staking rewards without locking assets or maintaining staking infrastructure. Users deposit their PoS assets into Ankr's smart contracts and receive reward-earning or reward-bearing tokens in return, representing the value of the user's staked assets along with any staking rewards accrued or penalties inflicted on the validators. Reward earning tokens (aka rebase tokens) represent the underlying staked assets. These tokens have an elastic supply as rewards occur through the rebasing process where more tokens are continuously issued to the staker's wallet, which serves to increase the number of tokens without changing the price. Reward-bearing tokens represent the staked asset plus all accrued staking rewards. These tokens accrue value rather than increasing the token supply. Users can withdraw or redeem their liquid staking assets back for their original PoS assets at any time, following an unbonding period.

How Ankr makes money

Ankr generates revenue by charging a 2-10% fee on the staking rewards earned by depositors. This fee varies depending on each PoS network. For example, AVAX staking incurs a 2% fee, BNB staking incurs a 5% fee, and ETH staking charges a 10% fee (earned by Ankr's validator node).

How you make money on Ankr

Passive holders can generate additional yield by participating in the PoS validation mechanism to earn block rewards. The unlocked liquidity with reward-bearing or reward-earning tokens can also be used on a number of popular DeFi protocols to generate additional yield.