Paradigm-backed Symbiotic unveils restaking protocol

Restaking protocol Symbiotic officially launched yesterday and announced it raised $5.8 million in funding from Paradigm and cyber.Fund to further its development.

The protocol enables user deposits to secure third-party networks using a shared security model in competition with Ethereum’s first restaking protocol EigenLayer.

Similar to EigenLayer, Symbiotic seeks to address common issues in blockchain development and network security by reallocating existing staking capital and infrastructure.

Depositors in Symbiotic will accrue rewards for contributing to the security of third-party networks. The protocol boasts a flexible and configurable modular design that supports any mix of tokens as restaked collateral and allows customizable slashing and reward mechanisms.

The launch of Symbiotic coincides with the start of its bootstrapping phase and the integration of restaked collateral. Mellow, the first liquid restaking platform for Symbiotic, was also rolled out.

Symbiotic differentiates itself from EigenLayer by allowing the use of various ERC-20 tokens, not limited to ETH and specific derivatives, which could potentially increase protocol inflows.

Initially focusing on staked ETH (stETH), Symbiotic will be adaptable to a variety of protocols, offering third-party protocols control over aspects such as asset support and node operator selection.

"Symbiotic's modular design is highly flexible. It supports any mix of tokens as restaked collateral. Slashing and reward logic is fully configurable," the project stated.

Several projects at various stages of decentralization are exploring the use of Symbiotic’s restaking primitives. Notable integrations include Ethena, Chainbound’s Bolt, Hyperlane, Marlin’s Kalypso, Fairblock, Ojo, Rollkit and others — the project noted.