Solayer, a startup developing a product similar to EigenLayer on the Solana blockchain, initiated the opening of restaking deposits on Thursday afternoon.
During the invite-only deposit period, capped at $20 million, users could stake SOL directly on Solayer or deposit liquid staking products such as mSOL, bSOL, JITOSOL, and INF. With this private access launch, Solayer emerges as a contender in the race to establish a restaking ecosystem on Solana.
Few Solana restaking protocols have gone live, with Picasso being an exception, running its version of Solana restaking.
The enthusiasm surrounding the launch of these protocols was evident as Solayer reached its $20 million cap within just 45 minutes of opening withdrawals, confirmed by a member of the Solayer core team to Blockworks. The project has also attracted attention from investors, aiming to raise $8 million at an $80 million valuation led by Polychain, as reported by CoinDesk.
While details about the company remain scarce, Solayer disclosed that the protocol has been in development since the end of 2023. The first deposit period, dubbed “epoch 0,” will lock restaked assets in the protocol until “epoch 3.” A roadmap shared by Solayer indicates that a liquid restaking token called sSOL will launch in epoch 6.
Although the duration of each epoch was not specified, a Solayer team member confirmed sSOL as a Liquid Restaking Token (LRT).
Restaking involves utilizing staked tokens securing proof-of-stake blockchains to secure another layer of applications, essentially staking staked tokens a second time. This practice enhances network resilience and maximizes the utility of staked tokens, distributing security responsibilities across multiple layers.
Solana, secured by a combination of proof-of-stake and proof-of-history, is a prime candidate for restaking applications.
Originally pioneered on Ethereum by EigenLayer, which has amassed over $150 million in venture funding and secured over $14 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL), the concept has now found its way to Solana.
“In the coming year, we are excited about and hope to lead the movement of ‘scaling out’ of the Solana base chain,” Solayer expressed in a blog post.