Boost
StakeWise Boost is a one-click yield amplification strategy: it uses your osETH as collateral on Aave to borrow additional ETH, which is then staked to amplify your rewards.
Boost Your Rewards
To start using Boost right away, see this guide.
How Boost Works
Boost combines your original osETH with ETH borrowed from Aave into a single staking position:
- You deposit osETH into Boost via the Vault or Stake page.
- Boost uses your osETH as collateral on Aave to borrow additional ETH.
- The borrowed ETH is staked in the Vault on your behalf.
- Steps 2–3 repeat in a loop, amplifying your rewards.
The amount of amplification depends on the Vault's osETH LTV — how much osETH you can mint per unit staked (distinct from Aave's borrow LTV in Safety):
- 6x looping in Vaults with 90% osETH LTV
- 14x looping in Vaults with 100% osETH LTV
This can amplify staking rewards up to 3x compared to normal staking. Over the mid-term (a 6+ month holding period), Boost historically generates ~1–3 percentage points above the base staking rate, depending on the spread between staking rewards and Aave borrow rates, for a total APY of approximately 4–6%.
Staking rewards are earned on the entire amount, so even after Aave interest and operator fees, net rewards beat staking your original deposit alone. StakeWise charges no additional fee for using Boost.
Safety
The biggest risks of any looped position are collateral depeg and LTV (Loan-to-Value) drift toward liquidation. In Boost, both are mitigated by design.
No Depeg Liquidations
A depeg occurs when an asset loses its intended value and trades at a different price.
Boost eliminates depeg-related liquidation risks because Aave uses StakeWise's native price feed for osETH instead of volatile secondary-market prices. Your collateral is always valued at what osETH can be redeemed for.
LTV Has a Built-In Buffer
If borrow costs rise above staking rewards, the loan can grow faster than the collateral and push LTV toward liquidation. Boost is structured so that this drift is slow and bounded.
LTV on Aave is the ratio of your borrow to your collateral. Three numbers bound your position:
- Max LTV — 93%: the highest you can borrow against your osETH collateral when opening a loan.
- Liquidation Threshold — 95%: the point at which a position becomes undercollateralized.
- Current LTV: where your position sits right now, drifting slowly with the spread between staking APY and Aave's borrow APY.
In normal markets the LTV actually decreases over time. Staking rewards outpace borrow costs, so your collateral grows faster than your debt — continuously de-risking the position. Historical data ↗ shows LTV rises on roughly 1 day in 9, and even under a sustained negative spread (borrow APY exceeding staking APY by ~2%) liquidation would take over a year from the 93% starting point.
Automatic Unboost
As a final safeguard, when any boosted position reaches 94.5% LTV, anyone in the community can trigger an unboosting transaction on your behalf. The StakeWise core team actively monitors all boosted positions and triggers these protective exits when necessary. Funds always remain under your control.
Boost does not rely on the secondary market for repaying debt, so your profit is not affected by slippage during exits.
From a smart contract security perspective, your exposure is limited to the node operators of your chosen Vault and the smart contracts of StakeWise and Aave, both of which are regularly audited.
Market Conditions
Two market-driven conditions can affect your Boost position:
Borrow APY Exceeds Staking APY
Boost APY depends on the spread between your Vault's staking APY and Aave's variable WETH borrow APY — it's positive when borrow APY is below staking APY, and negative when it exceeds it.
You can monitor the current WETH variable borrow APY in the Borrow Info section of the WETH reserve on Aave ↗.
Negative APY Alert
If you see a negative APY on your Boost position, it means the WETH borrow APY on Aave currently exceeds your Vault's staking APY. If the APY remains negative for more than 7 consecutive days, consider exiting Boost manually. Stay connected with the StakeWise Discord ↗ community for real-time updates on market conditions.
osETH Supply Cap Reached
Boost deposits osETH as collateral on Aave, which enforces a maximum supply cap. When total supplied osETH reaches this cap, no additional osETH can be deposited, making it impossible to open new boosted positions. Existing boosted positions are not affected, but new boosts cannot be initiated until supply drops below the cap.
You can monitor the current supply level in the Supply Info section of the osETH reserve on Aave ↗.
Further Reading