Research summary
The research assessment is adverse. ezETH is a non-rebasing claim on Renzo's pooled ETH and stETH, restaked through EigenLayer across operators the team selects. Every control that matters sits with role holders, not with the token holder: the contracts are upgradeable behind a multisig whose threshold the documentation never states, no timelock is described, an oracle admin can repoint any collateral price feed, a pauser role can halt deposits and withdrawals, and a minter-burner role can burn ezETH from any holder's address with no allowance, a power the public repository shows and the user documentation never mentions. The protocol has one realized stress event on record: on 2024-04-24 ezETH traded to $688 on Uniswap against an ETH price above $3,100, leveraged holders were liquidated on Gearbox and Morpho, and no protocol withdrawal existed to hold the price to backing. Renzo revised its airdrop terms and never published a post-mortem. Deposits have since fallen from a self-reported $3.5B peak to about $113M. Direct ETH, Lido stETH or Rocket Pool rETH give a client the staking exposure without an administratively selected AVS loss surface, an unstated slashing waterfall, or a confiscation-capable role. The allocation is zero.
Observable review triggers
- The multisig threshold, signers and an enforced timelock are published and reconcile to the deployed contracts for 12 consecutive months
- A written slashing waterfall documents how validator and AVS losses distribute across holders and what funded capital absorbs them first
- The burn-from-any-holder minter-burner power is removed or disclosed in user-facing documentation with a stated control
- A post-mortem of the 2024-04-24 depeg publishes the price path, liquidations and the protocol's structural fix
- Net restaking rewards exceed the approved plain-staking alternative by a written margin for 12 consecutive months, with a verifiable active bug bounty and proposed-size exits passing written time and slippage limits
Facts on file
- Verdict
- Rejected
- Type
- ETH staking
- Chains examined
- Ethereum
- Reviewed
- Last confirmed