Puffer (pufETH) Review
Permissionless operators at a 2 ETH bond
of 10
Puffer runs a permissionless operator model requiring only a 2 ETH bond, publishes a two-route withdrawal — instant with a 1% fee or standard with none — and licenses pufETH under GPL-3.0. It does not, however, state its commission on staking rewards.
No money changes hands. This is a non-commercial project: no advertising, no sponsored placements, and no affiliate or referral links. Links to the services below earn us nothing. Every overall score is the plain average of the criteria shown on the page, so you can check the arithmetic yourself — see our rating methodology and how the site is funded.
Commission
Stated to exist; percentage not published
Receipt token
pufETH, value-accruing
Withdrawal
Instant to WETH, 1% fee; or standard, no fee, ~14 days
Operators
Permissionless, 2 ETH bond plus validator tickets
Licence
GPL-3.0
Scores
Each criterion carries equal weight. The overall score is the average of these 5 scores — (3.0 + 8.0 + 9.0 + 10.0 + 3.0) ÷ 5 = 6.6.
Pros
- Permissionless operators: anyone can run a node with a 2 ETH bond plus validator tickets
- pufETH is value-accruing, starting 1:1 and expected to appreciate
- Two withdrawal routes published: instant to WETH with a 1% fee, or standard with no fee over about 14 days
- GPL-3.0 on the pufETH repository
Cons
- The documentation states the protocol takes a fee but does not publish the percentage
- No dedicated audits page was found and no auditing firm is named for pufETH
- The named audit that exists covers the governance token, not the LST
The most open operator model here
Puffer states plainly that anyone can become a node operator because the protocol is permissionless, requiring a 2 ETH bond plus validator tickets rather than the 32 ETH a solo validator needs or the curated approval most competitors use. On operator decentralisation it scores at the top of the category.
Withdrawal, clearly priced
Two routes are documented: an instant one-step withdrawal to WETH with a 1% fee, or a standard two-step withdrawal with no fee over about 14 days. A holder can choose speed or cost knowing the price of each.
The commission is the gap
The documentation states the protocol takes a fee to support its growth but does not publish the percentage — the single most important number for a staking product, and the reason the commission score is low. No pufETH-specific audit is named either; the one audit that exists covers the governance token. Both gaps are stated in the review rather than filled from assumption.
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%
Frax Ether (sfrxETH)
Insurance-fund carve-out, one repo unlicensed
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.Puffer — rewards and fee documentation — checked
- 2.Puffer — withdrawals — checked
- 3.Puffer — operator requirements — checked
- 4.Puffer — pufETH LICENSE (GPL-3.0) — checked
Frequently asked questions
What commission does Puffer charge?
The documentation states the protocol takes a fee but does not publish the percentage on the pages we checked on 24 July 2026.
How do I withdraw from pufETH?
Two routes: an instant withdrawal to WETH with a 1% fee, or a standard withdrawal with no fee over about 14 days.
Nothing here is financial advice. Editorial policy · How we score · How we're funded.