By
Chimamanda U. Martha
May 14th, 2024
Ether.fi has now raised a total of $27 million in a previously unannounced funding round closed late last year and a series A led by Bullish Capital and CoinFund.
Ether.fi protocol, a native liquid restaking platform on the Ethereum network, has successfully closed a Series A funding round with $23 million from strategic investors. According to the announcement, the ether.fi series A funding round was led by Bullish Capital and CoinFund with key participation from OKX Ventures, Foresight Ventures, and Consensys, among others.
The company highlighted that it had raised another $4 million in a previously unannounced funding round that closed late last year. As a result, ether.fi has raised a total of $27 million from strategic investors in the past few months alone.
The notable demand for Ethereum (ETH) from both retail traders and institutional investors due to its reputable staking program has given ether.fi a decent business model in restaking. Moreover, the company’s Total Value Locked (TVL) has grown from around $30 million in October last year to about $1.77 billion as of this report.
“Ether.fi has seen remarkable growth, and we are thrilled to welcome the backing of leading crypto investors to support our continued expansion,” Mike Silagadze, CEO and co-founder of ether.fi, noted.
The company will now be in a position to compete with other liquid restaking protocols in the Ethereum ecosystem like Puffer Finance, Renzo protocol, Prime Staked ETH, and Eigenpie platform, among others.
The $27M is split between a previously unannounced SAFE closed late last year and a series A.
We’ve brought on some of the most incredible partners in the crypto world and we couldn’t be more excited to work with them.
— ether.fi (@ether_fi) February 28, 2024
Ether.Fi and Liquid Restaking Ecosystem
Since the Ethereum network transitioned from the proof-of-work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) via the merge event and the Shanghai upgrade, more than 30.8 million Ether has already been staked to secure the network. With the Ethereum ecosystem experiencing exponential growth due to heightened demand from institutional investors, the figure is expected to grow significantly in the coming quarters.
Moreover, the launch of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States has increased the chances of Ether-based spot ETFs. As a result, ether.fi has been preparing its platform for mass adoption of Ether restaking programs.
“As investors pivot towards Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem post-bitcoin ETF launch, ether.fi takes the lead as the only protocol to allow redemptions and not just speculative one-way deposits, showcasing our reliability and dedication to empowering users,” Silagadze added.
Silagadze further highlighted that the company is not focused on the bull market but on the future of decentralized finance through revolutionizing Ether’s restaking. Ether.fi is closely working with the EigenLayer ecosystem to help investors earn more passive income from their staked Ether assets and restated tokens.
For instance, Ether.Fi recently conducted a promotional campaign in collaboration with EigenLayer for the early adopters of the liquid restaking program.