TL;DR. Tonstakers leads on TVL and DeFi integrations — the choice for active DeFi users. Whales Pool is the oldest and simplest classic nominator, no LST token and no extra smart-contract risk on top of the base layer. bemo is the middle ground with compliance focus and audit-grade reporting, useful for diversifying stake across protocols. Net APY for all three sits in the 3.5–4.2% range as of May 2026 — the choice comes down to UX, risk profile, and tax exposure rather than yield.
Evaluation criteria
The parameters that actually differentiate the pools:
- Net APR/APY — what reaches you after protocol fee and validator cut.
- Lock period — how long TON is locked; can you exit earlier.
- Liquid staking token (LST) — is there a receipt token and where is it accepted.
- Withdrawal speed — instant / buffered / via epoch.
- TVL — pool size; affects concentration risk and slippage.
- Audit history — who audited, when, public reports available.
- Slashing exposure — how shielded is the stake from validator penalties.
- Minimum stake — entry threshold.
- Tax footprint — how easy or messy reporting is.
Baseline table
| Parameter | Tonstakers | Whales Pool | bemo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Liquid staking | Nominator pool | Liquid staking |
| TVL (May 2026) | ~$209M | ~$40M (2 pools combined) | ~$4M |
| LST token | tsTON | none | stTON |
| Minimum | 1 TON | 50 TON (No.1), 1 TON (No.2) | 1 TON |
| Net APY | ~4–5% | ~3.5–4.2% | ~4–5% |
| Protocol fee | ~10% of rewards | ~10% of rewards | ~10% of rewards |
| Fast exit | DEX instant (–0.1–0.5%) | None, only epoch queue | Instant via buffer |
| Pool exit | 24–36 h | 18–36 h | 24–36 h |
| Audit | CertiK + Spearbit | TON Whales team, no public smart-contract audit | CertiK |
| Open source | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| DeFi integrations | Maximum | Minimal (no LST) | Medium |
Tonstakers: TVL leader and integration king
Tonstakers is the largest liquid staking pool on TON — ~$209M TVL on DeFiLlama (May 2026). The team historically overlaps with TON Whales — Tonstakers is the evolution from classic nominator to liquid staking.
What makes Tonstakers strong:
- Deep ecosystem integration. tsTON is accepted on STON.fi (direct tsTON-TON pair), DeDust (stable pool at 0.04% fee), EVAA Protocol (as collateral for lending), DAOlama (some strategies).
- Exit via DEX is instant, typical discount 0.1–0.5%.
- CertiK + Spearbit audits, public reports.
- API is standardised. Tonkeeper and MyTonWallet can stake into Tonstakers directly from the wallet UI.
Downsides:
- TVL concentration in one protocol — biggest single-point-of-failure among TON LSTs.
- tsTON has rebase logic, which creates accounting headaches in tax jurisdictions where every rebase is a taxable event.
- Critics point out Tonstakers controls a significant share of TON staking, reducing network decentralisation.
Open Tonstakers
The largest TON liquid staking pool. tsTON is accepted across the DeFi ecosystem. 1 TON minimum, instant entry.
→
Whales Pool: classic nominator, no LST
Whales Pool is two classical nominator pools run by the TON Whales team, no LST token. Funds delegate directly to validators, rewards accrue as TON balance growth on your wallet.
Why Whales Pool is a defensible choice:
- No additional smart-contract risk on top of base staking. Stake → validator → reward. Full stop.
- Longest operating history among TON nominator pools (since 2021).
- Rewards recognised at payout — much simpler accounting.
- Transparent validator set, known operator team.
Downsides:
- No LST → stake is unusable in DeFi (no collateral lending, no DEX trading).
- Exit only through the epoch queue, 18–36 hours. In a crisis you cannot sell stake fast.
- 50 TON minimum on pool No.1 (historically), pool No.2 takes 1 TON.
- No independent smart-contract audit published; security review is more of an internal exercise.
iWhales Pool is not Tonstakers
These are related but distinct products from the same team. Whales Pool is the classic nominator. Tonstakers is liquid staking on top of similar infrastructure. Pick deliberately, on UX and tax grounds.
bemo: compliance-leaning middle ground
bemo is the second largest LST on TON by TVL, but small in absolute terms (~$4M). Positioning: “institutional” pool with a security/compliance lean. stTON is the receipt token.
Strengths:
- CertiK audit with public report.
- Instant-buffer for queue-less exit (while the buffer holds).
- UI is dry and banking-grade — no gamification or marketing pop-ups.
- Supported on STON.fi, DeDust, EVAA, the main wallets.
Weaknesses:
- TVL is 50× smaller than Tonstakers → less pool depth, fewer validators.
- DeFi integrations slimmer than tsTON.
- Same rebase tax complications as Tonstakers.
Slashing and validators
Slashing on TON is a penalty for validator misbehavior (missed blocks, double-signing proof). In practice slashing is rare — 1–3% of validator stake when it does happen, and only for proven faults.
| Protocol | Slashing approach |
|---|---|
| Tonstakers | Team selects validators; insurance fund covers part of slashing losses |
| Whales Pool | Operator team runs validators directly; longest historical uptime |
| bemo | Similar to Tonstakers but fewer validators due to smaller TVL |
If you have $1000 in bemo and slashing eats 2% of one of 5 validators with equal allocation, you lose $4 (0.4%). Not catastrophic, but not zero.
Decision tree
Long HODL, hands off, simple taxes → Whales Pool. Rewards land as TON, accounting is clean, no smart-contract layer above base staking.
Active DeFi user (LP, lending, leverage) → Tonstakers. tsTON is accepted everywhere; you can compose strategies.
Want to diversify across two-three pools to avoid single-team dependency → 50% Tonstakers + 30% bemo + 20% Hipo (or + Whales Pool). Costs ~0.1–0.3% effective APY, hedges against a single-protocol smart-contract bug.
Sub-50 TON and want to start → bemo or Tonstakers (Whales Pool No.1 won’t accept the deposit).
Smart-contract risk: explicit
!Liquid staking adds a contract layer
Whales Pool exposes you only to validator-level risks: slashing, downtime, operator misbehavior. Tonstakers and bemo add the LST smart contract on top: bugs in mint/burn logic, exchange-rate manipulation, oracle issues. Audits reduce probability but do not eliminate it. Spread risk if size warrants it.
Practical recommendations
- Before your first stake, run a test cycle: 5–10 TON, full stake → unstake. Confirm rewards accrue and exit works.
- Keep a 0.5–1 TON gas buffer in the wallet. Without it transactions fail.
- LST tokens (tsTON, stTON) need the same custody care as any jetton — compromise of your seed loses them. Cold storage via Ledger is possible — see the Ledger guide.
- Do not trust marketing APYs on landing pages. Check effective APY on DeFiLlama: Tonstakers, bemo.
- When exiting tsTON through DEX, compare prices on STON.fi and DeDust — sometimes the spread is 0.3–0.7%.
- For stakes above $10K, consider a multisig wallet — see the multisig guide.
Pre-stake checklist
- Decided on LST vs classic model.
- Wallet is on the W5 contract version (older versions may not handle tsTON cleanly).
- Seed phrase stored safely, not on the device.
- Tax reporting plan in place for your jurisdiction.
- Stake split across 2–3 protocols if size is meaningful.
- Address bookmarked in tonviewer.com to track accruals on-chain.
Sources
- DeFiLlama: Tonstakers, bemo, Hipo
- tonscan.org — validator data and slashing events
- Tonstakers, Whales Pool, bemo — official sites (open via cloak).
