weETH is the wrapped form of eETH, ether.fi’s liquid restaking token: one weETH was worth 1.1055 eETH by its contract rate at block 26,166,006 on October 11, 2026 (Ethereum RPC). WETH is ETH wrapped 1:1 by the WETH9 contract and is worth exactly one ETH at any time. The rule that separates them: weETH is a claim on staked ETH that grows, WETH is ETH in an ERC-20 wrapper that does not.
- Two different promises: WETH9 redeems 1 WETH for exactly 1 ETH; weETH's getRate() returned 1.1055 eETH per weETH on October 11, 2026, and that rate only goes up as rewards accrue.
- Almost all eETH is wrapped: 1,999,211 weETH at a rate of 1.1055 hold about 2,210,100 eETH, 96.8% of the 2,282,501 eETH in existence on October 11, 2026 (Ethereum RPC).
- Bigger than WETH by value: CoinGecko put weETH's market capitalization at $5.54B and WETH's on Ethereum at $5.45B on October 11, 2026.
- Market tracks the rate: weETH traded at 1.10501 ETH that day, 0.04% below its contract rate; WETH traded at 0.99978 ETH.
What weETH Is
weETH is an ERC-20 token that wraps eETH, the token ether.fi issues when you stake ETH through its protocol. eETH represents ETH staked through ether.fi validators and restaked, and its balance changes as rewards are added; weETH holds a fixed balance whose value in eETH rises instead, the same design wstETH uses for Lido’s stETH (wstETH vs WETH).
The contracts describe themselves on-chain. On Ethereum mainnet weETH at 0xCd5fE23C85820F7B72D0926FC9b05b43E359b7ee returns the name Wrapped eETH and the symbol weETH; eETH at 0x35fA164735182de50811E8e2E824cFb9B6118ac2 returns ether.fi ETH and eETH. Both use 18 decimals.
The fixed balance is why DeFi protocols list weETH rather than eETH: a token whose balance changes on its own breaks pools and lending markets that expect balances to move only by transfers. WETH solves a different problem, giving native ETH an ERC-20 interface (what WETH is).
weETH vs WETH Side by Side
The table compares the two tokens on the parameters that decide which one you hold. Figures are from October 11, 2026.
| Parameter | weETH | WETH |
|---|---|---|
| Issuer | ether.fi | WETH9 contract (Ethereum, since December 2017) |
| What one token represents | A growing amount of eETH (1.1055 on Oct 11, 2026) | Exactly 1 ETH |
| Earns rewards | Yes, staking and restaking rewards raise the rate | No |
| Balance changes on its own | No (the rate changes) | No |
| Unwraps into | eETH | ETH, via withdraw() |
| Market price | 1.10501 ETH | 0.99978 ETH |
| Supply on Ethereum | 1,999,211 weETH | 2,173,369 WETH |
| Market capitalization (CoinGecko) | $5.54B | $5.45B |
Data source: contract calls on Ethereum mainnet (getRate(), totalSupply()) and CoinGecko, October 11, 2026. WETH supply from the WETH contract address table.
The market price of weETH sits close to its contract rate because arbitrage between DEX pools and ether.fi redemptions keeps them together; the 0.04% gap on October 11, 2026 is that spread. WETH stays at 1 ETH because anyone can wrap or unwrap at par.
How the weETH Rate Works
The weETH rate is the amount of eETH one weETH can be exchanged for, and the contract returns it through getRate(). When ether.fi validators earn staking and restaking rewards, the eETH pool grows while the number of weETH stays the same, so each weETH maps to more eETH.
Say you wrapped 10 eETH when the rate was 1.0 and received 10 weETH. With the rate at 1.1055, the same 10 weETH unwrap into 11.055 eETH. A WETH balance never changes this way: 10 WETH stays 10 WETH and unwraps into 10 ETH (how to unwrap WETH).
weETH to ETH vs WETH to ETH
Turning WETH into ETH is one transaction to WETH9, with no price and no slippage. Turning weETH into ETH takes either two steps through ether.fi, unwrapping weETH to eETH and redeeming eETH for ETH, or one swap on a DEX at the pool price.
- WETH to ETH: withdraw() on the WETH9 contract of the same network; you receive exactly the amount burned.
- weETH to ETH on a DEX: a swap through a weETH/WETH or weETH/ETH pool; the result depends on the pool price and fee.
- weETH to ETH through ether.fi: unwrap to eETH, then redeem; the protocol pays out at its rate, subject to its withdrawal process.
What weETH Cannot Do That WETH Can
- Pay a 1:1 ETH claim: weETH is not redeemable for a fixed 1 ETH; its value in ETH depends on the rate and the market.
- Unwrap in one call to ETH: weETH unwraps to eETH, not to ETH.
- Act as a neutral quote asset: pools pair tokens against WETH because its value is exactly ETH; a weETH pair carries the extra price movement of the restaking token.
- Avoid protocol risk: weETH adds the ether.fi contracts, the validators and the restaking layer to the risk WETH carries, which is the WETH9 contract alone.
When to Hold weETH and When WETH
Hold WETH when an app needs ETH in ERC-20 form: a swap, a lending deposit priced in ETH or an NFT bid. Hold weETH when you want staking and restaking rewards on the ETH itself and accept the extra layers and the exit through ether.fi or a DEX. Other reward-bearing neighbours of WETH compare the same way: stETH vs WETH, cbETH vs WETH and WETH vs liquid staking tokens; every token in this comparison is defined in the WETH glossary.