IOTA Cuts Through DeFi Hype With Swirl—First Liquid Staking Protocol on Its Network
Move over, Ethereum—IOTA’s Swirl lets users stake and trade simultaneously, no lock-ups required. The ’feeless’ blockchain just made DeFi liquidity headaches vanish.
How it works: Stake IOTA tokens, get liquid staking derivatives (LSDs) in return. Trade them instantly while earning rewards—because apparently, your crypto should multitask harder than a Wall Street intern.
The catch? Swirl enters a crowded LSD market dominated by giants like Lido. But with IOTA’s DAG architecture bypassing gas fees, it might just stake its claim.
With stIOTA, you get the best of both worlds: help secure the network while keeping your tokens active in @iota’s DeFi landscape. No lockups. No unstaking periods.
Powered by audited Move smart… pic.twitter.com/mvqQsbmxVH — Swirl (@swirlstake) May 7, 2025
Additionally, the system’s decentralization will expand over time as well. In the meantime, the team claims, certain components are controlled via MultiSignature Wallets. These include validator management and backend operations.
Moreover,, the enterprise services division of Web3 developer hub, has co-engineered Swirl. It will continue assisting in validator node operations.
Asphere has supported blockchain initiatives for major enterprises, including,, and. “Its globally distributed validator network will contribute to a seamless and resilient staking experience for Swirl’s users,” the announcement states.
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The announcement explains that the Swirl protocol does away with users’ tokens being practically unusable while locked. While staking, users receive stIOTA tokens for their IOTA tokens. They can redeem stIOTA for the staked IOTA or a reward, trade it on secondary markets, or use it as collateral in other DeFi protocols.
This way, the team argues, users “benefit from staking without sacrificing liquidity.” They highlighted some of the benefits of this liquidity, such as immediate access to liquid assets. Furthermore, users can leverage yield farming, arbitrage trading, and lending to maximize ROI.
Staking provides automatic daily rewards with an annual percentage yield (APY) of up to 10%–15%.
A warm welcome to @swirlstake! With the new stIOTA, you can help secure the network all while keeping your tokens active in th IOTA DeFi landscape. No lockups or unstaking periods. Check them out now
https://t.co/OgxZeYDZwN
Furthermore, users can utilize stIOTA in the IOTA DeFi ecosystem, including on decentralized exchanges (DEXs). Strategies such as trading, liquidity mining, and automated yield farming can help users maximize earnings, the team claims.
Also, users can unstake stIOTA at any time via the instant unstake feature. As soon as they burn their stIOTA, they receive IOTA back.
Meanwhile, the integration of the new liquid staking protocol follows IOTA’s upgrade to a Move-based object ledger. Iota announced this upgrade to the much-anticipatedon 5 May, officially migrating from thenetwork to the new IOTA network. According to the team, IOTA Rebased was the chain’s “largest, most complex, and most important upgrade to date.”
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