As a researcher with a background in blockchain technology and decentralized finance (DeFi), I find the recent development in Renzo’s liquid restaking protocol particularly intriguing. Renzo’s announcement that it has raised $17 million in funding is a clear indication of the growing interest and potential in this new class of DeFi projects built on EigenLayer.


According to a press release obtained exclusively by CoinDesk on Tuesday, Renzo’s liquid restaking protocol announced they have successfully secured $17 million in funding during their recent investment round.

In the two-stage funding process, Galaxy Ventures spearheaded the initial investment, while Brevan Howard Digital Nova Fund headed up the subsequent round. The newly acquired resources are earmarked for enhancing our project’s staking capabilities, specifically by incorporating ERC-20 tokens.

Renzo is a part of the latest category of protocols established on EigenLayer, enabling users to deposit their Ether (ETH) tokens as collateral on the Ethereum blockchain. These tokens are subsequently utilized to ensure the security of extra networks, referred to as “actively validated services” or AVS, instead of just being passive stakers.
On EigenLayer, Renzo acts as an Automated Liquidity Provider (AVS), employing staked Ether (ETH) to produce returns. Subsequently, users are issued the ezETH token as compensation.

The latest trend in restaking is that users can now stake their ERC-20 tokens too, which are tokens based on the Ethereum blockchain. EigenLayer previously shared that they would start accepting their EIGEN token, which is an ERC-20, to secure its in-house AVS, EigenDA.

Competitor Symbiotic announced they would be accepting Ethena Labs’ $ENA and $USDe tokens in return. (These are ERC-20 tokens.)

In a recent interview conducted via Telegram, Lucas Kozinski, one of Renzo’s co-founders, shared his perspective on a growing trend. He mentioned that apart from DeFi on Ethereum, restaking is gradually gaining traction in the Bitcoin community and non-EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) chains as well.

“I have observed that EigenLayer has paved the way for native Ethereum (ETH) staking through its innovative approach. Now, this capability is extending to other assets like $EIGEN in the context of EigenDA. The application of ERC-20 tokens for staking is creating an opportunity for other liquid staking tokens, such as $ezETH, to follow suit.”
As an analyst, I’d rephrase it this way: Two months following the distribution of approximately 32% of its $REZ token supply through an airdrop, Renzo made a fundraising announcement.

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2024-06-18 15:24