Treehouse is proud to introduce the Treehouse Ethereum Staking Rate (TESR) Spot Rate, a new daily benchmark that provides transparency and consistency to Ethereum staking yields. As the first implementation of the Decentralized Offered Rates (DOR) framework, TESR serves as a much-needed reference point for the Ethereum ecosystem, aligning it with the standards of traditional finance.

The Challenge: Fragmented Yield Signals in DeFi

Today, Ethereum staking yields are fragmented and inconsistent. Rates differ widely across Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs), centralized exchanges (CEXes), validator pools, and staking services. These discrepancies arise from variations in validator performance, service fees, compounding assumptions, and reporting methodologies.

Without a standardized benchmark, it becomes difficult for market participants—both retail and institutional—to confidently assess staking opportunities or comparing rates across platforms. This fragmentation has also limited the development of more advanced financial products anchored in staking returns.

TESR solves this by delivering a consensus-derived benchmark that provides a unified view of Ethereum’s staking yield. This enables apples-to-apples comparisons across protocols and establishes a common standard for pricing, product development, and risk management.

What is TESR?

The Treehouse Ethereum Staking Rate (TESR) is a consensus-derived yield curve that represents Ethereum’s risk-free staking rate across various durations. It is designed to function like benchmarks in traditional finance—such as LIBOR or SOFR—by providing a reference point for yield-based financial activity and fixed income markets.

As one of the datasets in TESR, the TESR 1-Day Spot Rate is an annualized metric that measures the average yield accrued by validators within the Ethereum network by sampling all finalized blocks over a one-day observation period.

By offering a transparent and standardized benchmark, TESR helps bring structure and maturity to Ethereum’s emerging fixed income layer.

TESR Methodology: How the Spot Rate Is Calculated

The TESR Spot Rate is updated daily using the following methodology:

  • Observation Period: TESR measures validator earnings over a 24-hour window, from 00:00 UTC on the previous calendar day to 00:00 UTC on the current calendar day.
  • Calculation: It annualizes the total ETH earned by validators relative to the average effective staking balance during that period.
  • Publication: The TESR Spot Rate is published daily at 01:00 UTC, offering users and developers timely access to up-to-date yield information.

This approach ensures that the TESR reflects actual network performance and can serve as a reliable benchmark for both on-chain and off-chain applications.

TESR Use Cases: Unlocking Ethereum’s Fixed Income Layer

TESR provides a foundational rate that can be integrated into a wide range of financial applications.

1. Onchain Lending & Borrowing

DeFi lending platforms often misprice borrowing and lending rates due to the lack of a reliable benchmark for reference. TESR enables protocols to develop real-time, dynamic interest rate models, improving the accuracy and fairness of lending markets.

2. Off-Chain Lending & Borrowing

TESR also serves institutional participants involved in over-the-counter (OTC) ETH lending. 

By providing a standardized benchmark, TESR enhances pricing transparency and market efficiency, helping bridge the gap between DeFi and TradFi.

3. Fixed Income Products

TESR also serves as the foundation for yield-based products, including:

  • Staking Rate Swaps
  • ETH yield forwards
  • Fixed-term staking products

These instruments rely on consistent reference rates to manage risk and deliver predictable returns.

4. Yield Predictability & Risk Management

TESR helps protocols and institutions anchor their financial products to a reliable staking benchmark, improving both yield predictability and risk transparency. This makes it easier to design structured products and hedging strategies tied to Ethereum’s staking yield.

TESR and the DOR Framework: Decentralization in Action

TESR is the first live implementation of the Decentralized Offered Rates (DOR) framework, powered by Treehouse Protocol.

What is DOR?

DOR is a decentralized consensus mechanism for producing reference rates. It is designed to ensure transparency, data integrity, and resistance to manipulation by distributing rate-setting responsibilities across a network of stakeholders:

  • Operators: Initiators and administrators of each DOR feed.
  • Panelists: Experts who submit daily staking yield forecasts based on data, research, and market insights.
  • Referencers: DeFi protocols and institutions integrating DOR rates into their products.
  • Delegators: Users who assign tAssets to panelists and share in protocol rewards.
  • End Users: Consumers interacting with DOR-powered products.

Each day, Treehouse Protocol consolidates the spot TESR submissions from the panelists to retrieve median data before publishing the spot TESR rate.

Learn more about DOR on the Treehouse website and docs.

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A New Era for Ethereum’s Fixed Income Market

With the TESR spot rate now live, Ethereum finally has a transparent, standardized reference for staking yields. This milestone lays the groundwork for more mature capital markets, enabling sustainable lending, borrowing, and structured product development across DeFi and institutional ecosystems.

But this is just the beginning. The Treehouse Protocol will soon expand the DOR framework to include forward rates, enabling even more robust fixed income strategies and derivatives for the Ethereum ecosystem.

Explore TESR 1-day Spot Rate and learn how it can support your protocol or portfolio here.

Interested in becoming a Referencer?

Protocols and individuals interested in referencing TESR can do so via on-chain smart contracts or Treehouse’s API.

What’s in the TESR Dataset?

TESR includes four critical datasets designed to serve a variety of DeFi and institutional needs:

1. 1-Day Spot Rate
The daily annualized staking yield based on one complete observation period. This is TESR’s headline figure and the real-time benchmark for Ethereum staking returns. You may get the published rates directly from our smart contract here.

2. Epoch Rate
Captures staking yield at a granular level, providing updates on a per-epoch basis (~6.4 minutes) to reflect high-frequency yield fluctuations.

3. Historical Daily Rates
A historical dataset enabling backtesting and long-term yield trend analysis for Ethereum stakers, developers, and researchers.

4. Forward Rate (Coming Soon)
A forward-looking rate, combining expert panelist forecasts and market data to project staking yields over future time horizons. This supports fixed-term staking products and staking rate derivatives.

To learn more about referencing TESR or querying our rate oracle, contact us here!

About Treehouse

Treehouse, a digital assets infrastructure firm and the decentralized arm of the parent company Treehouse Labs, is at the forefront of revolutionizing the decentralized fixed income market. The Treehouse Protocol introduces innovative fixed income products and primitives, starting with tETH, a liquid staking token. tETH, Treehouse’s first tAsset, empowers its users to participate in the convergence of on-chain Ethereum interest rates while retaining the flexibility to engage in DeFi activities. 

Treehouse Protocol is also pioneering the Decentralized Offered Rates (DOR) consensus mechanism for benchmark rate setting, enabling a range of fixed income products and primitives into digital assets. Treehouse is dedicated to creating safer and more predictable return alternatives for both individual investors and institutions.