Solayer, a startup developing a product similar to EigenLayer on Solana, launched its restaking deposits on Thursday afternoon.
What is Solayer?
The exclusive deposit period, limited to $20 million, allowed users to restake SOL directly on Solayer or deposit liquid staking products like mSOL, bSOL, JITOSOL, and INF. With this private launch, Solayer enters the competition to establish a restaking ecosystem on the Solana blockchain.
Currently, only a few Solana restaking protocols are operational, with Picasso being a notable example.
Solayer Hits $20M Deposit Cap
In a testament to the excitement around these new protocols, Solayer reached its $20 million cap within 45 minutes of opening deposits, a core team member confirmed, as reported. And it's not just risk-takers getting involved; Solayer aims to raise $8 million at an $80 million valuation, led by Polychain, as reported.
Despite the buzz, little is known about Solayer. According to a blog post, the protocol has been in development since late 2023. The initial deposit phase, dubbed "epoch 0," will lock restaked assets until "epoch 3." A roadmap released on Wednesday indicated that a liquid restaking token, sSOL, will launch in epoch 6.
A team member did not specify the duration of each epoch but confirmed that sSOL would be a liquid restaking token (LRT).
Restaking involves using staked tokens, which secure proof-of-stake blockchains, to secure additional layers of applications, effectively staking the tokens twice. This enhances the security of the blockchain's base layer and utilizes idle staked assets, generating extra yield opportunities. By distributing security responsibilities across multiple layers, restaking boosts network resilience and maximizes the utility of staked tokens.
Solana, secured by a combination of proof-of-stake and proof-of-history, is well-suited for restaking.
The concept was first introduced on Ethereum by EigenLayer, which has raised over $150 million in venture funding and achieved over $14 billion in total value locked (TVL), according to DeFiLlama.
