ether.fi

History

ether.fi was founded in 2022 by Mike Silagadze and Rok Kopp in George Town, Cayman Islands, as a non-custodial Ethereum staking protocol: stakers retain validator keys while delegating node operation. It grew into one of the largest liquid restaking venues, issuing the rebasing eETH token and wrapped weETH for DeFi. The ETHFI governance token launched in March 2024 (including a Binance Launchpool listing).

Cash, the spend product, was introduced as the third piece of a Stake / Liquid / Cash stack: a mobile wallet plus Visa card that borrows or swaps into stablecoins against ether.fi collateral, with card issuing through partners such as Rain. In April 2025 CoinDesk reported a broader pivot toward everyday banking-style features and a U.S. Cash-card rollout in selected states.2 An August 2026 "Summer" release added tokenized stocks and metals (not available in the United States), an integrated Aave borrowing market on Optimism, wider fiat on/off-ramps, and a redesigned consumer app. The company then described itself as having more than half a million members and a roughly $2 billion annual transaction run-rate.3

Founders

Mike Silagadze is founder and chief executive officer of ether.fi. A Canadian serial entrepreneur, he previously founded and scaled Top Hat, an education-technology company, and ran crypto trading firm Gadze Finance before launching ether.fi in 2022 to keep stakers in control of their keys. He has framed the Cash card and app as a way to replace a traditional bank account for users who already hold onchain assets.

Rok Kopp is co-founder (often described as chief growth officer). Together they built ether.fi from delegated Ethereum staking into a self-custody spend-and-yield product competing with other crypto-native neobanks such as Avici and Torque.

Self-custody neobank model

ether.fi markets a non-custodial stack: protocol vaults and smart-contract accounts rather than a deposit-taking charter. Users can hold yield-bearing tokens, borrow against a portfolio (including via Aave) and spend on a Visa card without selling collateral. Card issuing, fiat rails and some insurance-style "account balance protection" (described as not yet live on the marketing site) use regulated partners. ether.fi states it is not a bank, does not accept deposits and does not offer FDIC insurance; users hold assets in self-custody.

Products

• Stake / weETH / eETH - liquid staking (and historically restaking) tokens used across DeFi.
• Liquid - automated DeFi strategy vaults.
• ether.fi Cash - mobile app plus partner-issued Visa card; spend can borrow USDC against collateral or swap assets, with advertised cashback (3% on Core/Luxe/Pinnacle tiers, higher on invite-only VIP) and membership perks such as lounge access.
• ETHFI - governance token.
• Trading and rails - crypto, and in some markets tokenized stocks/metals; fiat on/off-ramps including named accounts and methods such as Cash App, Apple Pay and Interac.

External links

• ether.fi official website
• X (@ether_fi)