Every financial system eventually produces a benchmark rate. A number that anchors other numbers. A floor from which spreads are calculated, risks are priced, and comparisons are made. In traditional finance that role belongs to government bond yields — the risk-free rate against which everything else is measured. In the Ethereum ecosystem, staking yield is quietly assuming the same function.

The mechanics are straightforward. Validators who lock ETH to secure the network earn rewards denominated in ETH. The annualized return on this activity — currently in the range of three to four percent depending on network conditions — is transparent, on-chain, and available to anyone with 32 ETH and the willingness to run a node, or to anyone who delegates through a liquid staking protocol. There is no intermediary setting the rate. The protocol sets it algorithmically based on total ETH staked.