Frax Ether (sfrxETH) Review
Insurance-fund carve-out, one repo unlicensed
of 10
Frax retains 10% of income — 8% protocol fee and 2% to an insurance fund, with sfrxETH holders keeping 90%. It states withdrawals are available at any time and size, but the sfrxETH vault is AGPL-3.0 while the frxETH repository carries no licence, and operator and audit detail are not published.
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Fee
10% retained: 8% protocol, 2% insurance fund; 90% to holders
Receipt token
sfrxETH, yield-accruing
Withdrawals
At any time and size; period and fee not stated
sfrxETH vault licence
AGPL-3.0
frxETH repo licence
No LICENSE file
Scores
Each criterion carries equal weight. The overall score is the average of these 5 scores — (9.0 + 4.0 + 2.0 + 5.0 + 2.0) ÷ 5 = 4.4.
Pros
- Fee published with its split: 10% retained, 8% protocol and 2% insurance fund, 90% to holders
- A dedicated 2% insurance-fund carve-out, which few peers document
- The sfrxETH ERC-4626 vault is AGPL-3.0, a strong copyleft licence
- States withdrawals are available at any time and of any size
Cons
- The frxETH-public repository has no LICENSE file
- Unbonding period, instant-exit route and any exit fee are not stated
- The operator set is not described
- No audits are named on the overview page
The clearest fee split, with an insurance carve-out
Frax retains 10% of income and publishes exactly where it goes: 8% as a protocol fee and 2% into an insurance fund, with sfrxETH holders keeping 90%. A dedicated insurance-fund allocation, stated as a percentage, is something few protocols in this category document, and it lifts the commission score to the top.
A split licence position
The sfrxETH ERC-4626 vault carries AGPL-3.0, a strong copyleft licence. But the frxETH-public repository has no LICENSE file on either branch checked — so part of the system is openly licensed and part reserves all rights by default. We score both facts rather than the more flattering one.
What is not documented
The overview states withdrawals are available at any time and of any size, but does not give an unbonding period, an instant-exit route or an exit fee. The operator set is not described, and no audits are named. Those gaps sit behind the lower scores on exit, decentralisation and audits.
How it compares
Swell (swETH)
Named operators, docs behind a challenge
Liquid Collective (LsETH)
Institutional model with a slashing-coverage treasury
Bedrock (uniETH)
Fee split published, licence unverified
Ankr (ankrETH)
Instant exit at a stated 0.5%
Puffer (pufETH)
Permissionless operators at a 2 ETH bond
Mantle (mETH)
No-fee redemption and named operators
Stader (ETHx)
GPL-3.0, permissionless pool, named auditors
Origin Ether (OETH)
MIT-licensed with four named auditors
Jito (JitoSOL)
Value-accruing SOL staking with published exit fee
Sources
Scored from published primary sources rather than hands-on use. Every figure above comes from one of the pages below, on the date shown. Manufacturers change prices and specifications without notice — if something here no longer matches the source, tell us and we will correct it.
- 1.Frax — Frax Ether overview (fee split, withdrawals) — checked
- 2.Frax — staked-frax-erc4626 LICENSE (AGPL-3.0) — checked
Frequently asked questions
What does Frax Ether charge?
Frax retains 10% of income: an 8% protocol fee and 2% to an insurance fund, with sfrxETH holders keeping 90%.
Is Frax Ether open source?
Partly. The sfrxETH ERC-4626 vault is AGPL-3.0, but the frxETH-public repository has no LICENSE file, meaning that code reserves all rights by default.
Nothing here is financial advice. Editorial policy · How we score · How we're funded.