What is Stader?

Stader is a non-custodial, multi-chain liquid staking platform. It is described as providing access to staking and DeFi opportunities across Proof-of-Stake networks including Ethereum, Polygon, BNB Chain, and Hedera. The platform’s SD token is also presented in connection with ETH staking via a derivative described as ETHx.

SD is Stader’s governance token, issued as an ERC-20 token with a maximum supply of 120 million. Its described utilities include an SD Utility Pool that rewards SD holders for delegating to the pool liquidity mining, liquidity provision incentives via DEXs where incentives may depend on governance election, and a node operator bond requirement in which permissionless node operators working with ETHx need to bond a minimum value of 0.4 ETH worth of SD per validator. SD holders can vote on protocol upgrades and related policies, including rewards policies, validator selection criteria, and protocol expansion.