💧Lido v3 - Kiln stVaults
What are Kiln stVaults?
Kiln stVaults are isolated Ethereum staking vaults built on Lido V3, where Kiln operates the validators and you retain full administrative control. Your ETH is staked on Kiln's infrastructure, and the stVault gives you the option — not the obligation — to mint stETH against that staked position.
This bridges two worlds that were previously incompatible:
The control of direct staking: you choose your node operator, your validators are isolated (no commingling), and your vault parameters are transparent and auditable.
The liquidity of liquid staking: you can mint stETH backed by your Kiln validators and use it freely across DeFi and CeFi — lending, trading, restaking, or simply holding.
If you never mint stETH, your vault functions like a standard delegated staking setup with Kiln. If you do mint, you unlock capital efficiency without interrupting validator operations.
What you can do
Stake ETH on Kiln validators
Deposit ETH into your stVault. Kiln handles validator provisioning, key management, and operations. Your ETH earns consensus and execution layer rewards on Kiln's infrastructure, which has consistently delivered approximately 12% higher performance than the Lido pool average over the past 12 months.
Mint stETH (optional, on demand)
At any time, you can mint stETH against the ETH staked in your vault, up to the capacity defined by your tier's reserve ratio. The stETH is fungible — it's the same stETH used across the entire Ethereum DeFi ecosystem.
You choose when to mint, how much to mint, and when to repay. The liquidity fee only applies while stETH is outstanding.
Use stETH across DeFi and CeFi
Once minted, your stETH integrates with:
Lending protocols — Aave, Compound, Morpho
Exchanges — trading and hedging strategies
Restaking — EigenLayer, Symbiotic, and similar protocols
Lido Earn vaults — additional yield strategies within the Lido ecosystem
Withdraw at any time
You can withdraw any unlocked ETH from your vault balance. If your ETH is deployed on validators, you request a validator exit; once the exit completes on the Ethereum network, the ETH returns to your vault and becomes withdrawable. If stETH has been minted, the corresponding collateral remains locked until the stETH liability is repaid.
Migrate existing Kiln validators
If you already stake with Kiln, you can migrate existing validators into an stVault via Ethereum's validator consolidation mechanism (EIP-7251). This lets you unlock stETH liquidity on positions that are already earning rewards — without unstaking and restaking.
How the setup works
Kiln stVaults are created through a joint setup between Kiln (Node Operator) and you (Vault Owner).
Step 1 — Customer initiates the vault. Customer creates the stVault via the VaultFactory contract, setting Kiln as the Node Operator. The vault is deployed with a Dashboard contract for role-based access control.
Step 2 — You confirm and connect. You fund the vault with the 1 ETH connect deposit, confirm vault ownership, and connect the vault to VaultHub. This activates stETH minting capabilities and links the vault to the Lido protocol.
Step 3 — Tier selection. Together with Kiln, you select a tier (1 through 5) based on your stETH minting needs. Kiln initiate the tier selection and you must confirm the tier — neither party can change it unilaterally. See the Tier section below for details.
Step 4 — Validator deployment. Kiln deposits ETH from the vault to validators using the PredepositGuarantee contract under the STRICT policy. Every deposit goes through the full predeposit-and-prove flow with on-chain BLS signature verification.
Step 5 — Operational. Your vault is live. You manage it through the Lido stVaults Web UI or CLI. You can fund, withdraw, mint stETH, repay stETH, and monitor health — all from your own wallet.
Custody options
Your Vault Owner wallet — the address that controls all administrative permissions on the stVault — can be:
Self-custody — your own wallet, ideally a Gnosis Safe multisig for security
Fireblocks — Lido V3 stVaults are supported by Fireblocks as a qualified custodian, enabling institutional-grade key management and policy controls
In both cases, you retain full administrative control. Kiln never has access to your Vault Owner keys.
Management tools
Lido stVaults Web UI
Primary interface for day-to-day vault management: fund, withdraw, mint/repay stETH, monitor health factor, view rewards, and trigger validator exits. Available on mainnet at stvaults.lido.fi.
Lido stVaults CLI
Command-line interface for programmatic and automated vault operations. Useful for integrators building stVaults into their own products or workflows. Documentation at lidofinance.github.io/lido-staking-vault-cli.
Custom API integration
For platforms and exchanges integrating stVault operations into their own systems — vault interactions are standard smart contract calls on the Dashboard and VaultHub contracts.
Kiln provides dedicated support throughout onboarding and ongoing operations. For detailed health monitoring and emergency procedures, refer to Lido's Health Monitoring Guide and Health Emergency Guide.
Tier selection
As a stVault Professional Trusted Operator, Kiln gives you access to the most favorable reserve ratios and stETH minting limits. You select a tier based on how much stETH you want to mint relative to your staked ETH:
Tier 1
2.50%
48,750 stETH
Maximum liquidity — mint nearly all your staked ETH as stETH
Tier 2
3.00%
48,500 stETH
High liquidity with a slightly larger safety buffer
Tier 3
4.00%
192,000 stETH
Balanced approach, suited for larger positions
Tier 4
6.50%
280,500 stETH
Conservative minting with large capacity
Tier 5
10.00%
360,000 stETH
Most conservative, largest capacity pool
What the reserve ratio means: if you select Tier 1 (2.50% reserve), you can mint up to 97.5 stETH for every 100 ETH staked. The remaining 2.5 ETH stays as collateral buffer. A lower reserve ratio means more capital efficiency but less margin before forced rebalancing would trigger in a slashing event.
Tier changes require dual confirmation from both you and Kiln. Neither party can change the tier unilaterally.
If you do not plan to mint stETH, tier selection primarily affects fee economics. The reserve ratio and health factor mechanics only become active when stETH is minted.
Fee structure
Two Lido-level fees apply, in addition to the node operator fee agreed with Kiln:
Lido Infrastructure Fee — 1%
Charged on staking rewards generated by the vault (calculated on Lido Core APR, not on total staked balance). This applies whether or not you mint stETH.
Example: 10,000 ETH staked × 2.76% Lido Core APR = 276 ETH in rewards → 1% fee = 2.76 ETH/year
Lido Liquidity Fee — 6.5%
Charged only when stETH is minted, and only on the rewards corresponding to the minted stETH amount. If no stETH is minted, this fee is zero.
Example: 9,000 stETH minted × 2.76% Lido Core APR = 248.4 ETH in rewards → 6.5% fee = 16.15 ETH/year
Kiln Node Operator Fee
Negotiated per partner based on your staking volume and service requirements. Contact Kiln for details.
Net economics at a glance
Gross APR
2.83%
2.76%
2.83%
2.83%
Lido Infra Fee
—
5% of rewards
1% of rewards
1% of rewards
Lido Liquidity Fee
—
—
—
6.5% of minted stETH rewards
Illustrative Net APR
Up to 2.83%
~2.48%
~2.80%
~2.64%
Even after Lido fees, staking with Kiln via stVaults can be up to 12% more profitable than the public Lido pool, while maintaining full stETH liquidity.
Kiln has built a custom calculator to help you compare scenarios. Contact Kiln to get access.
Roles and permissions
Understanding who can do what is critical for institutional stakers. Here's the clear separation:
You (Vault Owner / Admin)
You hold the DEFAULT_ADMIN_ROLE on the Dashboard contract. You control:
Funding — deposit ETH into the vault
Withdrawing — withdraw unlocked ETH from the vault
Minting stETH — mint stETH up to your minting capacity
Repaying stETH — burn stETH to reduce liability and unlock collateral
Rebalancing — voluntarily rebalance to restore health
Validator exit requests — ask Kiln to exit validators
Triggerable withdrawals — force-withdraw ETH from validators (EIP-7002)
Pausing/resuming deposits — halt new validator deposits if needed
Role delegation — grant specific sub-roles (fund, mint, withdraw, etc.) to other addresses
Vault disconnection — disconnect from Lido (after repaying all stETH and settling fees)
Kiln (Node Operator)
Kiln holds the Node Operator role, which is set at vault creation and cannot be changed. Kiln's permissions are limited to:
Depositing ETH to validators — via PredepositGuarantee (STRICT policy)
Exiting validators — via EIP-7002 triggerable withdrawals
Node Operator Manager functions — setting fee recipient, proposing fee changes (which require your confirmation)
Kiln cannot: mint stETH, withdraw ETH, change tier unilaterally, change roles, or access your admin permissions.
What requires both parties
Some actions require dual confirmation from both you and Kiln:
Changing the Node Operator fee
Changing the vault tier
Changing the confirmation expiry parameter
This dual-confirmation mechanism prevents either party from making unilateral administrative changes.
What happens with and without stETH minting
Your ETH
Staked on Kiln validators, earns rewards
Same — staked on Kiln validators, earns rewards
Liquidity
None until you exit validators
stETH is liquid and usable across DeFi/CeFi
Lido fees
Infrastructure fee only (1%)
Infrastructure fee (1%) + Liquidity fee (6.5% on minted portion)
Health factor
Not applicable
Must be monitored — drops if validators underperform or are slashed
Forced rebalancing
Not applicable
Can trigger if health factor drops below threshold
Collateral lock
1 ETH connect deposit only
ETH locked proportional to stETH minted + reserve ratio
Complexity
Simple — similar to direct staking
Active management recommended — monitor utilization and health
Who is this for?
Kiln stVaults are designed for institutional and professional stakers:
Exchanges and platforms — improve staking product performance and withdrawal liquidity without giving up validator control
Custodians — integrate staking with smoother entry/exit capabilities for end clients
Asset managers — blend staking yield with capital efficiency using stETH in structured strategies
Funds and market makers — optimize balance sheet liquidity while earning staking rewards
Treasuries — earn yield on ETH holdings with optional liquidity access
Direct staking with Kiln remains fully supported. stVaults add the option of liquidity and composability — they don't replace your existing relationship.
Coming soon: Multiplied ETH Staking (Q2 2026)
Kiln is building a Multiplied ETH Staking strategy on top of Lido V3, managed by selected asset-management partners. Deposit ETH and benefit from increased exposure to ETH staking rewards automatically — no manual vault management required.
Available through Kiln OmniVault for integrators and directly in the Kiln Dashboard. Contact Kiln for early access.
Risk considerations
Staking through an stVault introduces smart contract, governance, slashing, oracle, and liquidity risks. We've documented every scenario in detail — including when your capital is at risk, when it isn't, and what mitigations exist.
→ Read the full Smart Contract & Protocol Risk Disclosure
Get started
Contact Kiln to discuss your staking requirements and agree on terms
Choose your custody setup — self-custody (Gnosis Safe) or Fireblocks
Joint vault creation — Kiln initiates, you confirm and connect
Select your tier — based on your stETH minting needs
Go live — fund, stake, and optionally mint stETH
For questions or to schedule a walkthrough, reach out to the Kiln team.
Further resources
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