Borrow against liquid staking tokens
Teller pools accept liquid staking tokens including pufETH and cbETH as collateral at up to 83.3% LTV, the highest tier on the platform, lending USDC. The staking position keeps accruing while it is deposited. Every loan is fixed-term with no margin-call, so a price fall during the loan cannot liquidate your collateral.
| Collateral | Network | LTV | APR |
|---|---|---|---|
| pufETH | Ethereum | 83.3% | 1% |
| cbETH | Base | 50% | 1.1% |
Pool data read . Rates and LTVs are set per pool and change when operators change them.
What the two contracts call themselves
cbETH on Base is 0x2ae3f1ec7f1f5012cfeab0185bfc7aa3cf0dec22, named “Coinbase Wrapped Staked ETH”, with about 78,868 tokens in issue. pufETH on Ethereum is 0xd9a442856c234a39a81a089c06451ebaa4306a72, with about 22,237.
Both accrue through a redemption value that rises rather than by rebasing a balance, so a deposited amount does not change while the loan runs. That is what makes them workable as collateral: a pool holding a fixed number of tokens is holding a claim that grows on its own.
Collateral that keeps working while it is deposited
A liquid staking token accrues staking rewards through its exchange rate rather than by paying them out, so the position keeps earning while it sits in a pool. That is the argument for depositing one instead of the plain ether behind it: the collateral works through the term of the loan.
Teller pools take 2 of them, at ceilings up to 83.3%, which is the highest tier on the platform alongside mainnet wrapped ether. The rates sit near the bottom of the range too.
The two on offer
pufETH at 0xd9a442856c234a39a81a089c06451ebaa4306a72 on Ethereum is Puffer’s staking token, and it earns the platform’s top ceiling across two pools. cbETH at 0x2ae3f1ec7f1f5012cfeab0185bfc7aa3cf0dec22 on Base is Coinbase’s, priced against ether and redeemable through a Coinbase account.
Both trade at a premium to ether that grows as rewards accrue, so the same nominal balance backs a slightly larger loan over time. Neither is the same asset as ether itself, and each pool accepts one contract only.
What a high ceiling does and does not buy
A higher ceiling means more dollars against the same collateral. It does not change the risk of the term, because there is none to change: every loan is fixed-term with no margin-call, so a price fall during the loan cannot liquidate your collateral. What a bigger loan does change is the repayment, which is fixed in dollars while the collateral is not. Borrow to the size you want to repay rather than to the size the pool allows.
Staking risk stays with you
The staking position underneath these tokens carries its own risks, validator performance and protocol design among them, and depositing the token as collateral neither adds nor removes any of that. What the loan adds is the pool as a counterparty for the term, and the due date as the obligation. Miss it and the collateral is forfeit.
Plain ether borrows at the same tier: borrowing against WETH.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. A liquid staking token accrues rewards through its exchange rate rather than by paying them out, so the position keeps earning while it sits in the pool.
They track ether, which pool operators grade as bluechip collateral, and they trade at a premium to it that grows as rewards accrue. Both pufETH and mainnet wrapped ether sit at the platform's top tier.
No. cbETH is Coinbase's liquid staking token, priced against ether and redeemable through a Coinbase account. It is a separate contract on Base and the pool accepts that address only.
No. The staking position underneath carries its own risks either way, and the loan neither adds nor removes them. What the loan adds is the pool as a counterparty and the due date as the obligation.
A higher ceiling means more dollars against the same collateral, not more safety. The repayment is fixed in dollars while the collateral is not, so borrow to the size you want to repay.
Open a loan
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