Withdrawing staked ETH and rewards involves exchanging your stETH or rETH for ETH directly with the Lido or Rocket Pool protocols. This may involve Lido or Rocket Pool shutting down a validator or preventing the activation of a new validator, to ensure that there is enough ETH to cover a withdrawal.
Staked ETH and rewards received on Lido and Rocket Pool are not currently withdrawable. Since withdrawals will only be possible after planned upgrades to Ethereum – and after Lido and Rocket Pool adjust accordingly – there is no guaranteed date by which withdrawals will be available.
A swap involves trading your stETH or rETH back for ETH, often via a third-party exchange, and does not typically involve shutting down a validator. Swaps are subject to fluctuating market prices, so you may want to consider waiting for withdrawals. To easily swap your liquid staking tokens through the MetaMask Staking interface, find the position you’d like to exit from, click the three dots on the right next to your position, and click “Swap”.
