Mellow is one of the restaking protocols that has kept a points program running long after the initial restaking rush. It launched in June 2024 as the flagship liquid restaking layer for Symbiotic, added Lido-branded strategy vaults in late 2025, and still has no token at the time of writing. Depositors therefore collect Mellow Points, plus partner points or tokens passed through from other protocols, on top of a vault’s base yield. This guide covers how that stack works, what it costs in risk, and how to keep track of positions across several curated vaults.
What Mellow is
Mellow is vault infrastructure, not a single staking token. Independent risk managers called curators deploy vaults on Mellow’s contracts, choose which restaking networks and operators the capital goes to, and set parameters such as limits and fees. Each vault issues its own liquid token, so your position is a transferable ERC-20 whose value tracks the vault’s underlying assets plus accrued rewards. The project was formed by cyber.fund and backed by Arrington Capital, ParaFi and Robot Ventures.
At the Symbiotic launch, Lido and Mellow opened restaking vaults for stETH holders with curators including Steakhouse Financial (steakLRT), Re7 Labs (Re7LRT), MEV Capital and P2P (which publishes a guide to its rstETH vault). Since then the lineup has broadened to other base assets and other restaking layers, including EigenLayer.
Official resources: mellow.finance, the Mellow documentation, and the X account @mellowprotocol. The Lido stRATEGY vault is also reachable through Lido’s Earn page.
The three product lines
Restaking vaults
The original product. Mellow’s docs list restaking vaults accepting (w)stETH, (W)ETH, wBTC, tBTC, ENA and sUSDe. Capital is delegated through Symbiotic or another restaking layer to operators securing external networks, which pay rewards for that security.
Decentralized Validator Vault (DVV)
A vault built with Lido that funds Lido validators run on distributed validator technology from Obol and SSV. On top of Mellow Points, participants receive Obol and SSV incentives. The DVV has strict eligibility conditions: hold the position for at least three days through the snapshot, do not unstake stETH or wstETH after launch, and do not sell stETH on DEXs or CEXs, since that reduces eligible capital.
Core Vaults and the stRATEGY vault
In November 2025 Mellow launched Core Vaults, an architecture for curators and institutions to build structured on-chain strategies with per-vault limits, asset whitelists, optional KYC/AML modules, custodial settlement via Copper ClearLoop and Binance Ceffu, and signature queues for one-transaction deposits and withdrawals. The first deployment is Lido’s stRATEGY vault: deposit ETH, WETH or wstETH, receive strETH, and the vault allocates across venues such as Aave, Ethena and Uniswap. Reports noted it paused new deposits at points when capacity was reached, so availability varies.
How Mellow Points accrue
The formula is simple and published. For restaking vaults, if your LRT is worth N US dollars, you earn 0.00025 × N Mellow Points per hour, updated hourly. A $10,000 position therefore earns about 2.5 points an hour, or roughly 60 a day.
The stRATEGY vault ran a boost: from 1 October to 29 October 2025 it paid 0.00075 points per dollar per hour, three times the standard rate. That boost has ended and the vault now accrues at the standard 0.00025 rate. Mellow’s docs note that leaving accrued vault tokens unclaimed does not affect point accrual.
Partner points come on top. Mellow says it redistributes all partner points pro rata without taking a cut: Symbiotic points from its vaults, Obol and SSV tokens for the DVV, and in some vaults Ethena-related points. Several of these partner programs have their own rules and timelines, so their value depends on each partner, not on Mellow.
Points accrue to the address holding the LRT. If you move the token to another wallet, deposit it in a lending market or put it into a DEX pool, the holding address changes, and points may follow the token to a contract rather than to you unless that integration is supported.
Token status
Mellow has not announced a token, a points-to-token ratio or a snapshot at the time of writing. Commentators point to other liquid restaking protocols (Ether.fi, Renzo, Swell) that converted points into tokens, but that is precedent, not a Mellow commitment. Treat Mellow Points as an unpriced, non-transferable score that the project may or may not convert in future.
How to participate and track positions
- Start from mellow.finance (or Lido’s Earn page for stRATEGY) and open the app from there.
- Pick the vault on its parameters, not its points. Each vault page shows the curator, base asset, underlying restaking network, operators and fee. If you cannot name each protocol in the chain, wait.
- Make a small test deposit first. Deposits run on Ethereum mainnet, so gas matters for small positions.
- Record the LRT ticker and contract. With several curators, wallets fill with similar-looking tokens (steakLRT, Re7LRT, rstETH, strETH). Note which vault each one belongs to.
- Keep the LRT in the depositing wallet if you care about points, unless Mellow’s docs confirm an integration passes points through.
- Check your points in the app rather than via third-party dashboards; partner points may appear on the partner’s own site.
- Know the exit route before you need it: protocol redemption through the withdrawal queue, or selling the LRT on a DEX at the current market price.
Risks specific to curated restaking vaults
- Slashing. Restaked capital secures external networks. If an operator misbehaves or a network’s slashing conditions trigger, vault assets can be cut.
- Curator risk. Curators can change allocations within the vault’s limits without asking depositors. You are trusting their judgement as much as the code.
- Stacked smart-contract risk. A position may sit on Mellow, Symbiotic or EigenLayer, Lido, and in stRATEGY’s case Aave, Ethena and Uniswap. A bug at any layer can reach your funds.
- Exit queues. Withdrawals inherit delays from the restaking layer and Ethereum’s validator exit queue, and these stack. In a rush, waiting times lengthen.
- Depeg. Vault tokens can trade below their underlying value on DEXs during stress, so a fast exit may cost a discount.
- DVV conditions. Selling or unstaking stETH elsewhere can reduce your eligible DVV rewards, which catches people who manage stETH across wallets.
- Points uncertainty. The extra yield from points has no confirmed value. Do not accept materially higher risk solely for points.
Recognising fake Mellow pages
- The official site is mellow.finance and the docs are docs.mellow.finance. Sites such as “mellowfinance.net” or “mellow-protocol” with different TLDs are not official, even if they describe the product accurately.
- There is no Mellow token claim. Any “MEL airdrop” or “Mellow points conversion” page is fake until announced on @mellowprotocol and the official site.
- Points accrue automatically; no legitimate page asks you to sign a message or approve a token to “activate” points.
- Compare vault token contracts with those shown in the official app before buying an LRT on a DEX; lookalike tokens are a known trick.
FAQ
Does Mellow have a token?
Not at the time of writing. Mellow runs a points program with no announced conversion.
How many points does $1,000 earn?
About 0.25 points per hour at the standard rate, or roughly 6 per day.
Do I still earn Symbiotic points through Mellow?
Mellow states it passes partner points through pro rata without a cut. Check the specific vault page to see which partners apply.
Can I lose money in a Mellow vault?
Yes, through slashing, smart-contract failure, curator decisions or selling the LRT below its value during a depeg.
Verdict
Mellow is a mature restaking platform with clear, published points maths and a growing set of curated and institutional vaults. The points are a bonus with no confirmed value, so the real decision is whether a given curator’s strategy and its stacked risks suit you. Keep LRTs in the wallet that deposited them, track each vault separately and use only the official domains. Restaking can lose principal; size positions with that in mind.
