HostWSTETH vs CBETH — price, size and safety, side by side
WSTETH (Ethereum) vs CBETH (Base) — every figure is the freshest dated measurement we hold for that token, never a live-feed guess. Prices stamped 2026-10-17 / 2026-10-16.
WSTETH vs CBETH — normalized performance, 2026-09-08 to 2026-10-16T21:15:32
| WSTETH | CBETH | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.02K | $2.79K |
| Market cap | $11.49B | $477.29M |
| 24h volume | $11.82M DEX | $3.30M DEX |
| Liquidity | $48.32M | $2.77M |
| FDV | $11.44B | $230.04M |
| Holders | 39,244 | 204,617 |
| Age (days) | 386 | 270 |
| Safety grade | B | B |
Where they differ
- WSTETH measures ~24× the market cap of CBETH
- WSTETH measures ~17× the liquidity of CBETH
- WSTETH measures ~3.6× the 24h volume of CBETH
- CBETH measures ~5.2× the holder count of WSTETH
What the data says
WSTETH
wstETH is stETH made legible to DeFi — the same claim on Lido-staked Ether, wrapped so the balance stops moving: where stETH re-bases your token count upward each day, wstETH holds a fixed count and lets the exchange rate against stETH do the appreciating. That is the shape lending markets, bridges and LPs need, which is why the contract at 0x7f39c581f595b53c5cb19bd0b3f8da6c935e2ca0 became the canonical collateral form — our October 9, 2026 snapshot reads $48.3 million of tracked pool liquidity on it.
The verdict therefore inherits stETH's, plus one wrapper-layer note. You hold a claim on staked ETH via Lido — subject to its validator set, Ethereum's exit queue, and stETH's own depeg memory (June 2022, when it traded visibly under par) — and the price shown for wstETH is stETH's price times a steadily growing conversion rate, so it will always quote above ETH while tracking correctly. Nothing about that is a defect; it is the mechanic to understand before reading the quote as a premium.
CBETH
cbETH is Coinbase Wrapped Staked ETH — a liquid staking receipt where Coinbase runs the validators, the wrapper accrues staking yield as a rising exchange rate against ETH, and the custodian is a public company. The contract 0x2ae3f1ec7f1f5012cfeab0185bfc7aa3cf0dec22 is the canonical Base deployment; our October 9, 2026 read shows $2.8 million of tracked pool liquidity, with its deepest venues on Base's native DEXes.
The honest framing: cbETH is centralized by design — a single regulated issuer who can, and legally must be able to, freeze the contract. That is a feature if you want a compliance-clean staking receipt and a bug if you measure decentralization. The other real note: cbETH's price is not ETH's price — it trades on its own wrapper rate, and secondary-market discounts have opened in stress before.
FAQ
Which is bigger, WSTETH or CBETH?
By tracked market cap: WSTETH (Ethereum) measures $11.49B and CBETH (Base) measures $477.29M — dated snapshots, not a live feed.
Which is safer, WSTETH or CBETH?
On the contract checks we publish: WSTETH (Ethereum) grades B and CBETH (Base) grades B. A grade is a structural check on the contract, not a promise about the asset.
How have WSTETH and CBETH performed over the shared window?
Between 2026-09-08 and 2026-10-16T21:15:32, the measured snapshots show WSTETH at −1.02% and CBETH at −3.56%.
The grade column is the one CMC's compare page cannot print — our grade is computed from the contract itself (mint/freeze authority, liquidity, holder concentration). Changes are measured over the shared window stated on the chart, 2026-09-08→2026-10-16T21:15:32; a token with fewer measured points measures a shorter span inside it.
Figures are dated on-chain snapshots, not a live feed. Safety grades are structural checks — not investment advice. Free · no signup · a HostDeFi product.