Solana-based restaking protocol Solayer opened its doors to deposits on Thursday. Epoch 0 was capped at $20 million, and in less than an hour, it hit the ceiling. Genesis depositing was available only to users with invites.
Epoch 0 included a native SOL restake pool and other liquid staking product pools where users could deposit mSOL, bSOL, JITOSOL, and INF. Restaked assets will be locked in the pool for now. Only after epoch 3 winds up and before stage 2 is launched, will all assets become fully withdrawable.
According to Solayer’s multistage points program, early users will have an upper hand when compared to other late joiners. Stage one users can deposit for 3x the points. The later rounds will have caps on the TVL and the points multiplier will also slash down.
Going forward, a liquid staking token - sSOL - will also be launched in epoch 6. Solayer is a relatively new project, with developments kicking off only since the end of last year. Reports have pointed out that the project is looking to raise $8 million at an $80 million valuation in a seed round. By chipping in $4 million, Polychain Capital will be leading the fundraise. In fact, one of Solana’s founders, Anatoly Yakovenko, is also said to be backing the company.
The project is following the footsteps of EigenLayer. In fact, people have already started deeming Solayer to be the Solana’s EigenLayer.
Other Emerging Restaking Players on Solana
As far as restaking mechanics are concerned, the staked tokens that secure PoS blockchains are used to secure another layer of applications. More or less, it is like you’re staking a set of staked tokens two times. Doing so helps put the idle staked tokens to use. This, yet again, opens up yield opportunities for users.
The restaking race doesn’t seem to just be another fad. It is seeing additional players hop on swiftly. Jito - a Solana infrastructure project - is believed to be building a re-staking service that’s not yet been officially announced. Cambrian is another project that is following EigenLayer’s model and is in the midst of sealing a $2.5 million fundraise. Its testnet is expected to open up in a few weeks. Alongside, Picasso - one of the first live restaking projects on Solana - has also been stealing the limelight of late. One of its executives recently affirmed that when compared to Cambrian and Solayer, Picasso is around 1-1.5 years ahead.
