Is RHEA LST Safe?

|Liquid Staking
B-

Risk Grade: B- (28/100)

RHEA LST is rated as moderate risk — some novel mechanisms, generally well-understood.

Moderate risk — standard liquid staking model with beneficial DEX and lending integration, but smaller scale and merger-related integration risk warrant attention.

RHEA LST is a liquid staking product on the NEAR blockchain from Rhea Finance, which was formed by merging Ref Finance (NEAR's largest DEX) and Burrow Finance (NEAR lending protocol). Users stake NEAR and receive rNEAR, a yield-bearing token that can also be used as collateral in Rhea's integrated lending markets. With $12M TVL, it's a smaller but vertically integrated competitor in the NEAR liquid staking space.

TVL

$16M

Mechanisms

6

Interactions

5

Value Grade

C-

Key Risks for RHEA LST Users

1.

rNEAR has lower secondary market liquidity compared to dominant NEAR LSTs like LiNEAR and Stader, meaning you may face slippage when trying to sell large amounts quickly

2.

The ability to use rNEAR as collateral for borrowing enables leveraged staking — if NEAR price drops sharply, leveraged positions can be liquidated in a cascade

3.

Rhea Finance was formed from a merger of two separate protocols, and the integration of different codebases could introduce unexpected bugs at the interface layer

Top Risk Factors

  • RHEA Finance is the result of a merger between Ref Finance (DEX) and Burrow Finance (lending) — integration complexity from combining two codebases introduces potential for new bugs at the interface layer
  • As a smaller NEAR liquid staking provider ($12M vs Stader's $321M and LiNEAR's $29M), rNEAR has limited secondary market liquidity and DeFi composability compared to dominant NEAR LSTs
  • Epoch-based staking means NEAR is not immediately staked upon deposit, and rewards only begin at the next epoch boundary, creating yield gaps for depositors

Risk Score Breakdown

RHEA LST's highest risk area is Vitality Risk (6/10). Here's how each dimension contributes to the overall 28/100 score:

Mechanism Novelty0/15
Interaction Severity3/20
Oracle Surface2/10
Documentation Gaps4/10
Track Record7/15
Scale Exposure3/10
Regulatory Risk3/10
Vitality Risk6/10

Read the Full RHEA LST Risk Report

This protocol has 2 collapse scenarios. 1 high-severity interaction risks identified. See the full mechanism classification, interaction matrix, and deep-dive recommendations.

View Full Report →

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Ratings use Hindenrank's eight-dimension risk rubric. Lower score = lower risk. Grades range from A (safest) to F (riskiest). This is not financial advice.