The Symbiotic re-staking agreement was officially launched on Tuesday (11th), with the announcement that it has completed a $5.8 million seed round of financing led by venture capital firms Paradigm and cyber.Fund.
Symbiotic allows users to deposit funds through a shared security model to ensure the security of third-party networks, competing with Ethereum’s first re-staking agreement, EigenLayer.
Similar to EigenLayer, Symbiotic seeks to address common issues in blockchain development and network security by redistributing existing staking capital and infrastructure. Depositors in Symbiotic will be rewarded for contributing to the security of third-party networks. The protocol features a flexible and configurable modular design, supporting any token combination as staking collateral, and allowing for customized punishment and reward mechanisms.
The launch of Symbiotic will coincide with its guidance initiation phase and the integration phase of staking collateral.
The difference between Symbiotic and EigenLayer is that the protocol allows for the use of various ERC-20 tokens, not limited to just Ether (ETH) and specific derivatives, potentially increasing the protocol’s capital inflows.
Symbiotic initially focuses on staking Ether (stETH) and will adapt to various protocols, providing control over aspects such as asset support for third-party protocols and node operator selection. Symbiotic notes that several projects in different decentralized stages are exploring the use of Symbiotic’s re-staking primitives. Notable integrations include Ethena, Chainbound’s Bolt, Hyperlane, Marlin’s Kalypso, Fairblock, Ojo, Rollkit, and others.
Since its launch last year, EigenLayer, the first re-staking protocol on Ethereum, has seen a significant influx of funds. Since early 2024, the total value locked in the protocol has grown from $1.4 billion to nearly $20 billion, accompanied by various integrations (also known as Active Verification Services).
Related report: “Insiders: Lido founder and Paradigm secretly invest in re-staking agreement Symbiotic, competing with EigenLayer”
