Superbridge Bridged wstETH (Optimism)Price

(WSTETH)

`stETH` is a "rebasing" token whose balance changes daily in your wallet to reflect staking rewards. In contrast, `wstETH` is a "wrapped" version that is non-rebasing; instead of your balance increasing, the token's underlying value grows relative to ETH as staking rewards accrue. This design makes `wstETH` more compatible with most Layer-2 bridges and decentralized finance protocols, which generally struggle to handle tokens with fluctuating balances. Therefore, `wstETH` is preferred for cross-chain transfers and DeFi integrations.

Bridging `wstETH` from the Ethereum Mainnet to Optimism through the Superbridge interface is generally a quick process. Once your initial Ethereum transaction is confirmed on the mainnet, the deposit to Optimism usually finalizes within minutes. Users can typically expect their funds to appear on Optimism in about 1 to 10 minutes, making it a relatively fast way to access the Layer-2 network.

The 7-day waiting period, often referred to as a "challenge period," is a fundamental security feature of Optimistic Rollups like Optimism. This delay allows the network sufficient time for any potential fraudulent transactions to be identified and challenged by verifiers. After this period, the withdrawal transaction can be safely finalized on the Ethereum Mainnet, ensuring the integrity and security of the funds being transferred back to the primary chain.

Yes, you absolutely can. Since `wstETH` is a non-rebasing token, its value inherently increases over time as staking rewards accumulate within the Lido protocol. This growth in value continues regardless of which chain your `wstETH` resides on. You don't need to take any additional steps or "claim" these rewards; they are automatically reflected in the token's exchange rate when you decide to eventually unwrap it back to `stETH` or `ETH`.

On Optimism, `wstETH` offers several utility and yield-generating opportunities within the decentralized finance ecosystem. Users frequently engage in activities such as providing liquidity on decentralized exchanges, including Velodrome, Uniswap V3, or Beethoven X, to earn trading fees. It can also be used as collateral on lending platforms like Aave or TheStandard to borrow stablecoins. Additionally, some users participate in various yield farming initiatives that incentivize `wstETH` pools, often with governance tokens from the respective protocols.

Bridging rebasing `stETH` instead of `wstETH` to Optimism, especially through bridges not explicitly designed for it, can lead to a significant problem. The daily staking rewards associated with `stETH` may become "stuck" within the bridge contract and never successfully reach your Optimism wallet. Lido strongly advises users to always wrap their `stETH` into `wstETH` before initiating any cross-chain transfer to ensure that all staking rewards are properly preserved and accessible on the destination Layer-2 network.