Lido V3 & Kiln: Expanding Institutional Ethereum Staking with stVaults
Product Overview
Kiln is the institutional layer for on-chain assets, providing staking and yield infrastructure to custodians, exchanges, wallets, asset managers, and platforms offering ETH staking at scale. As an approved Lido V3 node operator, Kiln runs validators that back stVaults, enabling institutional ETH stakers and existing stETH holders to access liquidity through stETH while benefiting from Kiln’s high-performing infrastructure.
Kiln’s approach is designed for institutions that require scalable staking with strong performance guarantees, operational simplicity, and compliance-ready transparency.
Initial Approach & Limitations
Institutional ETH staking has historically required a compromise between liquidity and performance optimization.
Direct staking offers operator selection and potentially stronger validator outcomes, but leaves capital illiquid. Traditional liquid staking provides liquidity, but removes operator choice and averages validator performance across a broad pool. This compromise has limited institutional flexibility. For many platforms and asset managers, the inability to combine liquidity with performance-driven operator selection has constrained the development of staking-native yield strategies that remain rooted in Ethereum fundamentals rather than DeFi risk.
stVaults introduce a new architecture where institutions can retain liquidity and composability without giving up control over validator selection and attribution.
Why Lido V3 & stVaults
Operator choice with liquidity
stVaults allow ETH to remain staked on Kiln-operated validators while enabling optional stETH minting, removing the traditional trade-off between liquidity and operator selection.
Performance-driven institutional staking
By combining stETH liquidity with Kiln’s consistently above-average validator performance, stVaults enable better risk-adjusted staking outcomes than pooled liquid staking models.
Isolation, transparency & compliance alignment
Vault-level isolation and on-chain attribution provide the reporting clarity and operational control institutional clients require, supporting stronger compliance and auditability.
Integration & Security Approach
Kiln participates in Lido V3 as an approved node operator, operating enterprise-grade validators that directly back stVault deployments.
ETH associated with these vaults is staked through Kiln’s institutional validator infrastructure. stETH minting is optional, while all validator monitoring, performance management, and operational overhead are handled by Kiln.
The setup benefits from:
- Vault-level asset isolation with transparent, on-chain attribution
- Kiln’s SOC 2 Type II–compliant validator infrastructure
- Lido V3’s audited stVault smart contract framework
This combination ensures institutions can access liquid staking functionality with strong guarantees around security, uptime, and performance differentiation.
Expected Outcome
stVaults allow Kiln to make high-performing institutional staking broadly accessible without compromising simplicity or trust. By pairing stETH liquidity with Kiln-operated validators, platforms and asset managers can offer meaningfully improved ETH staking outcomes compared to pooled models, while keeping yield generation anchored to staking fundamentals.
This is especially relevant for wallets, fintechs, and institutional platforms that rely on Kiln as a trusted infrastructure provider. stVaults enable these partners to distribute liquid, performance-driven staking products backed by Kiln’s validator operations without introducing additional DeFi or lending risk.
Lido V3 stVaults unlock a new standard for institutional staking: liquid, composable, operator-selectable, and transparently attributable on-chain.