Symbiotic Officially Launches New Rehypothecation Agreement Secures Investments from Paradigm and cyberFund

The Symbiotic re-staking agreement was officially launched on Tuesday, with the announcement of the completion of a $5.8 million seed round 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 protocol, EigenLayer. Similar to EigenLayer, Symbiotic aims to address common issues in blockchain development and network security by reallocating 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 re-staking collateral, and allowing for customized penalty and reward mechanisms. The launch of Symbiotic will coincide with its initiation and integration phases of re-staking collateral. The difference between Symbiotic and EigenLayer is that the protocol allows the use of various ERC-20 tokens, not 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 asset support for third-party protocols and node operator selection. Several projects in different stages of decentralization are exploring the use of Symbiotic’s re-staking native language. Notable integrations include Ethena, Chainbound’s Bolt, Hyperlane, Marlin’s Kalypso, Fairblock, Ojo, Rollkit, among others. Since its launch last year, EigenLayer, the first re-staking protocol on Ethereum, has seen significant capital inflows. Since early 2024, the total locked value of the protocol has grown from $1.4 billion to nearly $20 billion, accompanied by multiple integrations (also known as Active Verification Services). Source: Symbiotic Informed sources: Lido founder and Paradigm secretly investing in re-staking protocol Symbiotic, competing with EigenLayer.