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{"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"273afa8b-1bd7-4604-b9bf-c7cd3aee1400","kind":"publish","page_slug":"ether-fi","published_at":"2026-10-13T05:07:03.757Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"ether.fi","sections":[{"content":"ether.fi describes itself as a non-custodial liquid restaking protocol. Mike Silagadze is described by CoinDesk and The Block as CEO and founder. In February 2024 the company announced a $23M Series A led by Bullish Capital and CoinFund, which with a roughly $4M SAFE closed in late 2023 totals about $27M, according to press coverage. Investors named in coverage include OKX Ventures, Foresight Ventures, Consensys and Bankless Ventures. This search could not verify other team members' names or roles from reliable sources.","heading":"Overview, team and funding","severity":"low","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"The Block: ether.fi closes $27 million investment round","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/279586/ethereum-liquid-restaking-protocol-ether-fi-closes-a-27-million-investment-round"},{"credibility":3,"name":"Crypto Times: ether.fi secures $23M Series A","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2024/02/28/ether-fi-secures-23m-in-series-a-led-by-bullish-capital/"}]},{"content":"On 13 Oct 2026 the DefiLlama TVL API endpoint for ether.fi-stake returned about $4.79B, below the roughly $5.0B supplied by the requester (the endpoint may cover only the staking product). CoinGecko's API showed an ETHFI market cap of about $693M at a price of about $0.7178, with circulating and total supply both listed as 965,350,000, versus the roughly $709M supplied. DefiLlama's protocol data lists Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Berachain, Scroll and Optimism (six chains). Figures move continuously.","heading":"Scale: TVL and market cap (re-verified)","severity":"low","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"DefiLlama TVL API: ether.fi-stake","type":"on_chain","url":"https://api.llama.fi/tvl/ether.fi-stake"},{"credibility":2,"name":"DefiLlama protocol API: ether.fi-stake","type":"on_chain","url":"https://api.llama.fi/protocol/ether.fi-stake"},{"credibility":2,"name":"CoinGecko API: ether-fi","type":"other","url":"https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3/coins/ether-fi"}]},{"content":"ether.fi's documentation lists audits by Certora, CertiK, Decurity, Halborn, Nethermind, Omniscia, Paladin, Solidified and Zellic. It states staking contracts have been reviewed since February 2023, with the most recent listed being a Certora review of a 26Q2 security upgrade dated 2026-06-28, and separate reviews of its Cash product contracts (by Certora and Paladin). It also reports a public Immunefi bug bounty and a December 2023 Hats Finance competitive audit. These are self-reported by the project; audits do not guarantee the absence of vulnerabilities.","heading":"Audits and bug bounty","severity":"low","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"ether.fi docs: Audits","type":"official","url":"https://etherfi.gitbook.io/etherfi/security/security-and-risks/audits.md"}]},{"content":"Per ether.fi documentation, upgrades are controlled by a 6-of-10 Safe behind a 10-day timelock, and day-to-day operations by a 4-of-7 Safe that can pause instantly. A 3-of-3 oracle committee submits weETH exchange-rate reports, capped onchain at 5% APR. The documentation states no key can move or seize user funds, and that crosschain lanes require a 4-of-4 DVN quorum. These claims are project-reported and were not independently verified onchain here. An earlier Curve governance post noted oracle and validator management were centralized in early stages.","heading":"Governance, admin keys and centralization","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"ether.fi docs: MultiSigs and Controls","type":"official","url":"https://etherfi.gitbook.io/etherfi/security/security-and-risks/multisigs-and-controls.md"},{"credibility":3,"name":"Curve governance: weETH/WETH gauge proposal","type":"community_report","url":"https://gov.curve.finance/t/proposal-to-add-weeth-weth-on-ethereum-to-gauge-controller/9770"}]},{"content":"ETHFI launched with an airdrop beginning 18 March 2024. Blockworks reported the token fell more than 25% after distribution began, with 1 billion initial total supply and allocations of roughly 11% airdrop, 23% core contributors, 27% treasury and 32.5% investors. The Block reported community complaints about a large allocation to Justin Sun, after which Silagadze said more tokens would go to community members. CoinGecko now lists total supply at about 965.35M, which differs from the 1B launch figure; the reason was not established.","heading":"ETHFI token and airdrop","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Blockworks: ether.fi begins up to $210M airdrop","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.blockworks.com/news/etherfi-airdrops-210m-token"},{"credibility":2,"name":"The Block: airdrop and allocation adjustments","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/news/ecosystems/2024-03-16-ether-fi-announces-airdrop-will-adjust-token-allocation-following-community-complaints-282962"}]},{"content":"Searches found no reported exploit of ether.fi's own contracts, nor any regulatory action or lawsuit against it. This reflects limited search coverage rather than proof of absence. ether.fi's weETH was one asset in a Cork Protocol wstETH:weETH liquidity vault that was exploited on 28 May 2025 (roughly 3,761 wstETH, about $12M per CertiK); sources describe the flaw as in Cork's contracts and do not say ether.fi was affected.","heading":"Incidents and ecosystem exposure","severity":"low","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"CertiK: Cork Protocol incident analysis","type":"research","url":"https://www.certik.com/blog/cork-protocol-incident-analysis"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Halborn: Cork Protocol hack explained","type":"research","url":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-cork-protocol-hack-may-2025"}]}],"sources_used":[{"credibility":2,"name":"The Block: ether.fi closes $27 million investment round","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/279586/ethereum-liquid-restaking-protocol-ether-fi-closes-a-27-million-investment-round"},{"credibility":3,"name":"Crypto Times: ether.fi secures $23M Series A","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2024/02/28/ether-fi-secures-23m-in-series-a-led-by-bullish-capital/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"DefiLlama TVL API: ether.fi-stake","type":"on_chain","url":"https://api.llama.fi/tvl/ether.fi-stake"},{"credibility":2,"name":"DefiLlama protocol API: ether.fi-stake","type":"on_chain","url":"https://api.llama.fi/protocol/ether.fi-stake"},{"credibility":2,"name":"CoinGecko API: ether-fi","type":"other","url":"https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3/coins/ether-fi"},{"credibility":2,"name":"ether.fi docs: Audits","type":"official","url":"https://etherfi.gitbook.io/etherfi/security/security-and-risks/audits.md"},{"credibility":2,"name":"ether.fi docs: MultiSigs and Controls","type":"official","url":"https://etherfi.gitbook.io/etherfi/security/security-and-risks/multisigs-and-controls.md"},{"credibility":3,"name":"Curve governance: weETH/WETH gauge proposal","type":"community_report","url":"https://gov.curve.finance/t/proposal-to-add-weeth-weth-on-ethereum-to-gauge-controller/9770"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Blockworks: ether.fi begins up to $210M airdrop","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.blockworks.com/news/etherfi-airdrops-210m-token"},{"credibility":2,"name":"The Block: airdrop and allocation adjustments","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/news/ecosystems/2024-03-16-ether-fi-announces-airdrop-will-adjust-token-allocation-following-community-complaints-282962"},{"credibility":2,"name":"CertiK: Cork Protocol incident analysis","type":"research","url":"https://www.certik.com/blog/cork-protocol-incident-analysis"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Halborn: Cork Protocol hack explained","type":"research","url":"https://www.halborn.com/blog/post/explained-the-cork-protocol-hack-may-2025"}],"summary":"ether.fi is a liquid restaking protocol on Ethereum that issues eETH and weETH and has an ETHFI governance token launched in March 2024. DefiLlama's API showed roughly $4.79B TVL and CoinGecko roughly $693M ETHFI market cap on 13 Oct 2026, slightly below the figures supplied by the requester. This search found no reported exploit of ether.fi's own contracts; its main risks are smart-contract, governance-key and token-distribution risks.","timeline":[{"date":"2023-02","event":"Staking contract security reviews begin, per ether.fi docs","source":"ether.fi docs: Audits","source_url":"https://etherfi.gitbook.io/etherfi/security/security-and-risks/audits.md"},{"date":"2024-02","event":"$23M Series A announced, led by Bullish Capital and CoinFund","source":"Crypto Times","source_url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2024/02/28/ether-fi-secures-23m-in-series-a-led-by-bullish-capital/"},{"date":"2024-03","event":"ETHFI airdrop begins; token falls over 25%","source":"Blockworks","source_url":"https://www.blockworks.com/news/etherfi-airdrops-210m-token"},{"date":"2025-05","event":"Cork Protocol exploit affects a wstETH:weETH vault; no ether.fi contract flaw reported","source":"CertiK","source_url":"https://www.certik.com/blog/cork-protocol-incident-analysis"},{"date":"2026-07","event":"Security upgrade (RoleRegistry, blacklister, auto-expiring pauses) executed onchain, per ether.fi docs","source":"ether.fi docs: MultiSigs and Controls","source_url":"https://etherfi.gitbook.io/etherfi/security/security-and-risks/multisigs-and-controls.md"}]},"v":1}