Enterprise capital agency Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) introduced a $100 million funding spherical in EigenLayer, Ethereum’s largest restaking protocol by whole worth locked (TVL).
The enterprise agency was reportedly the one investor within the funding spherical, in accordance with a Feb. 22 Bloomberg report. The EigenLayer protocol accomplished a $50 million funding spherical in March, led by Blockchain Capital.
Enterprise capital (VC) funding for crypto-related corporations rose 2.5% within the fourth quarter of 2023 to $1.9 billion, in accordance with a report from PitchBook. This represents the primary improve in VC crypto investments since March 2022. The rise in crypto enterprise investments might be attributed to the launch of the primary spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January, in accordance with PitchBook.
In accordance with Ali Yahya, common associate at Andreessen Horowitz, the partnership may pave the best way for brand spanking new kinds of functions. He informed Bloomberg:
“It is going to allow all types of latest sorts of functions to be constructed… Individuals will stake capital with a view to acquire rewards from new companies that get spun up on high of EigenLayer.”
Based in 2021, EigenLayer permits validators and stakers to restake liquid staking by-product tokens like Lido Staked ETH and RocketPool’s rETH to safe and validate different networks. These property will also be deployed in different decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols to earn further yield.
EigenLayer is presently the third-largest protocol on Ethereum, with a TVL of $7.91 billion. EigenLayer’s TVL rose 4.30% within the 24 hours main as much as 2:15 PM CET and over 347% previously month, in accordance with DefiLlama information.
EigenLayer’s TVL began rising on Feb. 5 after the protocol quickly eliminated its staking cap aiming to incentivize natural development, in accordance with an official announcement. Throughout this restaking window, EigenLayer’s TVL rose over 181% to $6.05 billion on Feb. 10 from simply $2.15 billion on Feb. 5. Whereas a brand new staking cap was utilized, the venture plans to completely take away this restrict sooner or later.
Restaking protocols are the sixth-largest protocol class on DefiLlama, with a complete TVL of $7.94 billion, of which EigenLayer accounts for 98%. Liquid staking protocol are within the first place, with a mixed TVL of $45.7 billion.
Associated: EigenLayer turns into 4th largest restaking protocol, nears $7 billion TVL
