Cork — the tokenized risk protocol — is live in public beta on the Ethereum mainnet. Etherfi is one of Cork’s key launch partners, introducing the wstETH:weETH risk market. The market lets users hedge, trade, and earn against the risk that eETH loses its correlation to stETH.

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Start with wstETH:weETH on Cork.

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About Cork

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Cork introduces a novel primitive to DeFi known as Depeg Swaps, which represents the risk associated with the peg stability of assets such as stablecoins like USDT and liquid staking tokens like stETH. Cork’s Depeg Swaps represent tokenized risk. Depeg Swaps can be traded against to protect positions or capture upside whether depeg happens or not. Cork was built to bring more opportunity to existing crypto markets, while also providing more financial instruments in preparation for the influx of real-world assets and institutional capital into crypto.

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Etherfi x Cork

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Etherfi is an Ethereum liquid restaking protocol, letting users deposit ETH to earn restaking rewards, and receive back the eETH liquid restaking token (LRT). Etherfi is further integrated with Eigenlayer to enable native restaking for users, earning them additional yield. eETH is usable across various DeFi protocols, with an onchain market cap of over $6b (Etherscan, February 2025).

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stETH — a liquid staking token correlated to the price of ETH — has a pegged value to eETH proportional to the market price of ETH and the yield generation from staking ETH. Etherfi’s continued trust, adoption, and value as a liquid staking & staking protocol hinges on the capacity of eETH to retain its intended peg, especially to the ecosystem’s leading ETH LST (Lido’s stETH). However, depeg events (both big and small) have been inevitable in crypto’s past for every single kind of pegged asset.

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Etherfi’s partnership with Cork to launch the wstETH:weETH risk market is an evolution in the stability and opportunity of the Etherfi ecosystem. The market will allow people to protect their eETH positions against a potential depeg risk (hedge), trade on the chance that eETH does lose its peg, and earn by providing liquidity to the wstETH:weETH vault. This market dynamic gives a price to the risk that 1 wstETH is not instantly convertible to 1 weETH.

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The result? More insight into the health of the stETH:eETH market, and more opportunities for asset holders. The ability for people to protect their valuable eETH positions against a risk that is inherent to crypto. More financial instruments associated with the Etherfi ecosystem. And, overall, a liquid staking ecosystem defined by more stability, more opportunity, and more transparency. 

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Starting with Cork x Etherfi

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The Etherfi wstETH:weETH market on Cork gives users opportunities to protect their portfolios and earn based on the risk that eETH loses its peg to stETH. There are three main ways for users to get involved with the wstETH:weETH risk market on Cork.

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1. Hedge: Users who want to protect their eETH holdings against the risk of a depeg event can buy weETH Depeg Swaps. To do so, users can purchase tokens directly from the Cork app, or purchase Depeg Swaps from a DEX. In the event of a depeg, weETH Depeg Swaps can be deposited back into Cork’s Peg Stability Module to redeem wstETH at its intended ratio.
2. Trade: Users who want to trade the likelihood that eETH loses its peg to stETH can buy weETH Depeg Swaps or Cover Tokens that behave similarly to prediction markets. To do so, users can purchase tokens directly from the Cork app, or purchase these assets from a DEX. In the event of a depeg, weETH Cover Token holders will be distributed all remaining assets in the wstETH:weETH Peg Stability Module.
3. Earn: Users who want to earn can provide liquidity to the wstETH:weETH vault. Providing liquidity to the vaults earns rewards through trading fees, risk premiums, and protocol fees.

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For a deeper understanding of how to start with Cork, see the Cork documentation. To dive right in and get started with Cork x Etherfi, head to the Cork application.

Want to partner with us to open a new Cork market pair? Connect with us here.