Benqi is Avalanche's leading DeFi platform: stake AVAX for sAVAX (the dominant Avalanche LST), borrow on Compound-style Markets, or bootstrap an Avalanche validator with Ignite.
Stake AVAX into BENQI and receive sAVAX — a non-rebasing token whose AVAX exchange rate climbs as validator rewards accrue (~6.2% base). At this step there is no borrow: just liquid staking. Drag the deposit to size your seed position.
The AVAX you stake first — the seed the loop multiplies.
Each fold borrows 70% of the prior collateral, restakes it, and feeds it back. More folds = higher leverage and tighter buffer.
A drop marks the sAVAX collateral down against the AVAX debt — the realistic liquidation driver for a looped LST position.
Live signals detected by Sentinel monitors across all five risk classes.
See each alert's affected component, root-cause analysis, and recommended action. Pro members get the full risk breakdown for every protocol.
Staking AVAX directly locks capital for the entire validator term and requires running infrastructure; Avalanche DeFi lacks a single venue for liquid staking, lending, and validator bootstrap.
Benqi pools AVAX into a validator-delegated MPC signer set and issues sAVAX — a non-rebasing LST usable as DeFi collateral — alongside Compound-style lending markets and the Ignite validator bootstrap product.
Dominant Avalanche LST by TVL with deepest sAVAX/WAVAX DEX liquidity, integrated as Aave v3 collateral; 4+ years of continuous operation on Avalanche with no major protocol exploits; only DeFi protocol on Avalanche offering validator bootstrap (Ignite).
Benqi is a Liquid Staking protocol operating on Avalanche. Benqi is Avalanche's leading DeFi platform: stake AVAX for sAVAX (the dominant Avalanche LST), borrow on Compound-style Markets, or bootstrap an Avalanche validator with Ignite.
DeFi Sentinel rates Benqi AA with a safety score of 81/100, indicating very low risk. The score reflects five risk dimensions: smart contract & technical risk, economic design & market risk, governance & centralization, sustainability & competitive position, and reputation & social trust. Benqi has 7 audits on record. As with all DeFi protocols, residual risk remains and users should review the full risk breakdown before depositing.
Benqi has a DeFi Sentinel safety score of 81/100 (rating AA), last updated May 21, 2026. The score is computed across smart contract & technical risk (30%), economic design & market risk (25%), governance & centralization (20%), sustainability & competitive position (15%), and reputation & social trust (10%).
Benqi is deployed on Avalanche.
Yes. Benqi has 7 audit reports on record from firms including Halborn, Halborn, Certora. Audit reports and dates are linked under the Resources tab on this page.
