Lido V3 & Northstake: Simplifying Institutional Ethereum Staking with stVaults
Product Overview
Northstake simplifies the orchestration and management of Ethereum staking for institutional clients. Through its Staking Vault Manager (SVM) and Lido V3 stVaults, Northstake enables institutions to stake ETH natively across multiple vaults and node operators, while retaining access to stETH liquidity.
The platform acts as a single point of access for node operator orchestration, staking operations, reward and transaction data, and liquidity management. Institutions can manage staking at scale via Northstake’s UI, API, or SDK, while maintaining asset segregation, operational control, and auditability.
Initial Approach & Limitations
Institutional staking comes with strict regulatory, operational, and compliance requirements. Many institutions require clear asset segregation, transparent validator operations, robust reporting, and compatibility with internal custody and governance frameworks.
Traditional staking setups often forced trade-offs between operational control and liquidity. While liquid staking tokens such as stETH provide deep DeFi integration, institutions still face challenges in maintaining compliant staking operations, managing multiple node operators, and accessing liquidity without introducing operational complexity.
Northstake identified this gap and set out to build a platform that enables institutions to operate dedicated staking infrastructure while retaining access to stETH-based liquidity and Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem.
Why V3 and stVaults?
Lido V3 stVaults provide the foundational infrastructure required to meet institutional requirements at scale:
- Unparalleled liquidity: By enabling the minting of stETH against assets held in staking vaults, stVaults allow institutions to maintain optional liquidity alongside staked ETH.
- DeFi ecosystem adoption: Broad support for stETH and wstETH across the DeFi ecosystem allows institutions to deploy liquidity efficiently while continuing to earn staking rewards.
- Security of the Lido protocol: Lido’s battle-tested, audited infrastructure and decentralised validator set provide an institutional-grade security foundation. stVaults extend this security model by enabling customised vault-level controls.
Integration & Security Approach
Northstake has created a set of standardised APIs to manage stVaults across their entire life cycle. This allows institutions to easily manage multiple vaults across different node operators and strategies from a single, unified interface.
The Northstake staking platform is fully integrated with node operators, custodians, and liquidity providers, creating an end-to-end system that simplifies operational complexity and ensures compliance at every level. By integrating stVaults, Northstake’s platform leverages Lido’s security approach.
Expected Outcome
Through the integration of Lido V3 stVaults, Northstake enables institutional stakers to meet regulatory and operational requirements without sacrificing liquidity or capital efficiency. Institutions gain the ability to operate compliant, segregated staking setups while maintaining access to stETH liquidity and Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem.
Institutions face real challenges when integrating blockchain-native staking primitives into regulated workflows — from compliance requirements to technology stack compatibility. Northstake’s Staking Vault Manager bridges that gap, offering secure, scalable, and auditable connectivity to Lido’s stVault infrastructure. This marks a significant step toward enterprise-ready liquid staking.