EigenLayer, a soon-to-launch Ethereum restaking protocol, has kicked off its latest funding round. According to two sources aware of the matter, who spoke with The Block, the Series A round hopes to raise $50 million. Furthermore, that whopping sum would provide EigenLayer with a much-needed cash injection to help scale up and grow beyond just being a proof of concept.
The Raised Money Can Provide EigenLayer With Sufficient Liquidity
The sources said the round looks set to give EigenLayer a $250 million post-money equity valuation and a $500 million token valuation or fully diluted valuation (FDV). FDV refers to the total value of a project, assuming all of its tokens are in circulation.
The fundraising process began before November’s collapse of the crypto exchange FTX and is expected to be finalized soon, according to three separate sources. EigenLayer didn’t respond to a request for comment.
EigenLayer was founded in 2021 by Sreeram Kannan, an assistant professor at the University of Washington, Seattle, where he runs the information theory lab focusing on information theory and its applications in communication networks, machine learning, and blockchain systems.
Eigen Layer Can Provide Great Advantage With Ethereum Restaking
Developed on Ethereum, EigenLayer enables users to restake their ETH and extend crypto security coverage to other Ethereum-based applications like rollups, bridges, and oracles. As per the pitch deck obtained by The Block, this technology allows stakers to opt-in with an agreement of additional slashing risk as a defense mechanism for Ethereum services.
Restaking shares some commonalities with liquid staking; however, unlike the latter, restaking allows investors to utilize their staked ether to reinforce other protocols. In contrast, liquid staking permits them to hold tokens instead of actual ether.
Not only can you receive lucrative passive rewards on your extended capital through a restaking contract, but you also gain the capability to reinvest said funds into multiple protocols simultaneously. According to ConsenSys’ blog post concerning EigenLayer, this offers additional reward prospects for ether stakers that would generally stay confined to one source of income.
EigenLayer’s total funding will amount to around $65 million upon completion of the Series A round. Additionally, Figment Capital is amongst a number of investors already backing EigenLayer with a previous injection of $14.4 million in the capital, as detailed by PitchBook data.
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