Restaking
Puffer Finance
Cayman Islandspuffer.fi ↗PUFFER market data →
Also known as Puffer, pufETH, PUFFER, vlPUFFER, Puffer UniFi, Puffer Foundation, Validator Tickets
puffer finance
Puffer Finance is a native liquid restaking protocol on EigenLayer, run by the Cayman Islands-based Puffer Foundation and live on Ethereum mainnet since 31 January 2024. Stakers deposit ETH for pufETH; node operators run 32 ETH validators with a 2 ETH bond and pre-paid Validator Tickets. It held about $32 million on 27 September 2026, down from $1.84 billion in June 2024.
Our read
Puffer's operator design is one of the more thoughtful in restaking: small bonds, prepaid tickets, and a self-imposed cap on its share of Ethereum validators. The market has not rewarded it, and with about $32 million left the protocol is now small enough that exit liquidity, not design, is the practical risk. Use the free two-step withdrawal if you can wait about two weeks; the instant route costs 1%.
Key facts
- Withdrawal cost
- Instant: 1% fee to treasury. Standard two-step: free, about 14 days, minimum 0.01 pufETH
- Sep 2026 · Puffer Docs ↗
- PUFFER supply
- 1 billion max; 26% investors and 20% early contributors, both on a 1-year cliff
- Sep 2026 · Puffer Docs ↗
How Puffer Finance works
Puffer splits the job of staking between two groups. Stakers deposit any amount of ETH and receive pufETH. Node operators (Puffer calls them NoOps) run the validators: each locks a 2 ETH bond in pufETH plus at least 28 Validator Tickets, and in return operates a 32 ETH validator and keeps 100% of its consensus and execution rewards while the tickets last (requirements).
A Validator Ticket is an ERC-20 that buys one day of running a staker-funded validator. The ETH paid for tickets goes to pufETH holders up front, which is how stakers get paid even though operators keep the validator rewards (Validator Tickets). A slashed operator loses the whole bond. Puffer also supports anti-slashing signing hardware, and its "burst threshold" caps the protocol at 22% of Ethereum's validator set.
PUFFER, the governance token, votes on protocol fees, deposit limits and bond requirements, picks the guardians and restaking operators, and chooses which AVSs Puffer supports; the same token governs the UniFi rollup and its AVS. Of the 1 billion supply, 40% is reserved for ecosystem and community, 13% went to two airdrop seasons, 26% to investors and 20% to early contributors and advisors, the last two on a one-year cliff (token docs). Locking PUFFER gives vlPUFFER, which carries the vote.
pufETH: rewards and how to get out
pufETH is a non-rebasing token: its exchange rate against ETH rises as ticket sales and restaking rewards accumulate. Exit has two doors (withdraw docs):
| Route | Cost | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-step (instant) | 1% of amount | One transaction | Paid from a liquidity vault; fee goes to treasury |
| 2-step (standard) | Free | About 14 days | Minimum 0.01 pufETH; may require exiting validators through EigenLayer |
A pufETH price below its redemption value on a DEX is only a problem if you need to leave within the day. With the vault thin, a large instant withdrawal is the scenario to worry about, not the token's backing.
Puffer Finance TVL: from $1.8 billion to $32 million
Puffer peaked at about $1.84 billion on 6 June 2024, during the EigenLayer points season, and stood at about $32 million on 27 September 2026 (DefiLlama). That is a fall of roughly 98%. The design did not change; the deposits that came for airdrop points left once the points were paid.
Puffer Finance news: UniFi and the 2026 status
Puffer has spread beyond restaking into UniFi, a based rollup it describes as offering instant L1 withdrawals, Puffer Preconf for fast confirmations, and an institutional staking product. In September 2026 the homepage carried a banner: "We're preparing for a new UniFi Vault. If you currently have assets in the existing vault, please withdraw them" (puffer.fi). If you hold anything in the old UniFi vault, act on that notice.
Incident log
Nothing on file. We searched for hacks, exploits, withdrawal halts, data breaches and enforcement actions involving Puffer Finance and found none as of 27 Sep 2026.
In our ratings
This page is the record. The scores sit on the review cards, next to the evidence and the weights they came from.
Compare Puffer Finance with
ether.fiRestaking · Cayman Islandsether.fi is a Cayman-registered Ethereum staking protocol behind eETH and weETH that now also runs the Cash card, its main revenue source in 2026.
RenzoRestakingRenzo is a liquid restaking protocol best known for ezETH, which fell as much as 78% on some venues in April 2024 while redemptions were still closed.
Rocket PoolLiquid staking · 2016 · AustraliaRocket Pool is an Ethereum liquid staking protocol built in Australia: stake ETH for rETH, or run a validator yourself with a 4 ETH bond since Saturn 1.
LidoLiquid staking · 2020 · Cayman IslandsLido is Ethereum's largest liquid staking protocol: deposit ETH, get stETH. About 9.8M stETH is outstanding; LDO holders govern with a stETH-holder veto.
Frequently asked questions
Who operates Puffer Finance?+
The Puffer Foundation, a Cayman Islands foundation company, under terms governed by Cayman law.
Who invested in Puffer?+
Puffer's token docs allocate 26% of PUFFER to investors, vesting over three years after a one-year cliff; the docs do not list the investors by name.
How long does a pufETH withdrawal take?+
Instantly for a 1% fee, or about 14 days for free through the two-step queue.
How much ETH do I need to run a Puffer validator?+
A 2 ETH bond plus at least 28 Validator Tickets; the rest of the 32 ETH comes from stakers.
Has Puffer been hacked?+
We found no exploit or loss of user funds on record as of 27 September 2026.
What changed
- Profile published.
Compiled by
Blockchain Security Researcher · September 27, 2026
We have no commercial relationship with Puffer Finance and earn nothing from any link on this page. Every fact above carries the date it was true and a link to where it comes from; if one is out of date, the contact page reaches the editor who keeps this file.