Puffer Stake

Puffer is a liquid restaking protocol on Ethereum, and its pufETH token represents restaked ETH. TVL was $45.3M at the 2026-08-14 survey, below the size floor, so size alone supports rejection and we will not open an individual review until it clears that floor. One practice advising 100 households moves $1M to $8M into a venue based on the same research. At this size, that book could overwhelm exits, whatever the protocol’s quality.

Review triggers: events that reopen the verdict
• TVL sustained above the retired TVL threshold for 30 days

Watched nightly: a warning on its venues or files, or a cited document that changes, reopens the memo. The first confirmation is due 2026-11-15.

The research file

Mechanism applicability

Puffer’s official materials describe a native liquid restaking protocol integrated with EigenLayer. A user deposits ETH and receives pufETH. Its return combines Ethereum proof-of-stake rewards with Puffer and EigenLayer restaking rewards, while the token remains usable in DeFi. This places Puffer in the liquid restaking class, with risks tied to validators, restaking, and token liquidity. It does not verify node-operator selection, restaking allocations, slashing exposure, contract roles, or reward accounting.

Current observation and scope

The DefiLlama protocol API read on 2026-08-15 showed about $45.4M of tracked Puffer Stake TVL on Ethereum, below the shared v1 dossier’s size floor. Puffer’s live staking application still offers ETH-to-pufETH liquid restaking, so the product identity remains current. We will not open the individual review until it clears the floor. That review must cover deployed-contract correspondence, governance and pausing authority, audits, incidents, validator concentration, and EigenLayer service exposure.

Exit applicability

The live protocol makes pufETH a transferable liquid restaking claim, so holders can exit through a protocol withdrawal or a secondary pufETH market. Both paths ultimately depend on liquid ETH, validator and EigenLayer withdrawal timing, and available token liquidity. A liquid token does not ensure a low-slippage exit. At the current tracked size, an advised sleeve-sized allocation could be material to the token’s available liquidity or withdrawal flow.

Why the class rule decides

The shared v1 below-materiality dossier decides this case before Puffer warrants an individual restaking review. Reopen it only after a reproducible survey shows Puffer Stake TVL at or above the size floor continuously for 30 days. Then verify governance and upgrade controls, validator and AVS allocations, slashing and insurance design, audit remediation and incidents, reward accounting, and observed native and secondary exits under stress. Clearing the floor would start diligence, not mean approval.

Research status

This is a capacity-unproven record for Puffer Stake, not a quality rejection or approval. Reported TVL says how big the venue is, not what the client owns, who can change the rules, or how a position exits at a proposed size. The individual review opens when the protocol clears the size floor.

Sources

The claims above trace to these. Where a number could not be independently verified, the thesis says so.

• Puffer Finance Docs — liquid-restaking protocol overview · primary · accessed 2026-08-15
  Supports: native liquid restaking, EigenLayer integration, Ethereum infrastructure, product identity
• Puffer Finance — liquid-restaking product · primary · accessed 2026-08-15
  Supports: ETH staking, pufETH receipt, Ethereum rewards, restaking rewards
• DefiLlama — Puffer Stake survey record · secondary · accessed 2026-08-15
  Supports: current TVL, Ethereum, liquid-restaking category

Inherited controls

The research above describes the protocol layer. Every position also inherits the asset it holds and the chain it settles on. The layer with the most administrative power sets the position’s effective control; that describes control, not quality or suitability.