As top cryptocurrencies look to break above key levels amid fresh market optimism, ether.fi, the liquid staking protocol on Ethereum, saw its native token soar more than 21% to hit two-week highs.
The price of ether.fi (ETHFI) outpaced most top altcoins, including Ethereum (ETH) that surged over 5% amid adoption news as SharpLink Gaming announced plans to buy $425 million of Ethereum.
ETHFI also outpaced Bitcoin (BTC), with the decentralized staking protocol’s 21% spike to above $1.51 outshining Bitcoin’s modest 0.7% gain as BTC hovered near $110,000. Notably, the $2.5 billion fundraising announcement from Trump Media to acquire Bitcoin had yet to trigger a significant price move.
While ether.fi remains well below its all-time high of $8.57 reached in March 2024, the latest rally reflects strong bullish momentum. The token has rebounded sharply from its April 7, 2025 low of $0.40, marking a 263% gain in just over a month.
In addition to improved sentiment around Ethereum, driven by the SharpLink ETH treasury strategy, ETHFI has benefited from protocol-driven buyback initiatives. On May 24, 2025, the ether.fi Foundation announced that a total of 105 ETH worth about $267k had been used to buy back 206k ETHFI.
Since initiating the program, the non-custodial ETH staking platform has used withdrawal fees to fund regular token buybacks. In addition to weekly repurchases, the project also conducts monthly buybacks and redistributes repurchased ETHFI tokens to stakers.
The protocol’s revenue comes from staking and restaking rewards as well as fees on liquid vaults. In April, platform revenue hit $2.4 million, with ether.fi Foundation noting that a portion of this would be used to buy back the native token.
Per DeFiLlama, the platform’s annualized fees and annualized revenue stands at $179 million and $24 million respectively.
Ether.fi native token’s price has climbed amid these initiatives, with the total value locked on the protocol rebounding in recent weeks to hit $6.7 billion.
