The rise of Symbiotic has been rapid, positioning it as a major force in the restaking market as it could soon start to challenge EigenLayer.
Symbiotic has gained over $1 billion in its smart contract in less than a month since it started. According to DefiLlama, the total value locked (TVL) of the staking protocol has spiked in the last 24 hours, increasing from 92,000ETH to over 313,000ETH.
The rise of Symbiotic has been rapid, positioning it as a major force in the restaking market as it could soon start to challenge EigenLayer, the second-largest DeFi protocol after Lido with over $16.8 billion in TVL. Since the launch of Symbiotic, EigenLayer’s total value of assets locked has gone down by about 220,000 ETH and an additional 3% drop in the last 24 hours.
Symbiotic Hits Deposit Cap of $800 Million in Just 4 Days
The team behind the Symbiotic protocol revealed on their X page that they hit their limit deposit of 210,600 wrapped wstETH, which is around $800 million, in just four days. They further mentioned the plan to increase the number of assets that can be staked in the protocol.
After 4 hours, Symbiotic's 210,600 wstETH cap has been reached.
Other assets can still be staked, and caps will be increased over time.
More assets will be added as we continue the initial scaling of the protocol.— Symbiotic (@symbioticfi) July 3, 2024
Symbiotic’s rapid growth could attract EigenLayer farmers to switch to its ecosystem. Pavel Yashin, a researcher for P2P.org, opined that farmers might switch if they think they will get a better allocation or if using Symbiotic is more convenient for them. He further stated:
“Thus, Symbiotic can cannibalize the LST (stETH specifically) part of EigenLayer’s TVL.”
Symbiotic has positioned itself as a potential competitor to EigenLayer, as it allows deposit funds to support third-party protocols using a shared security model. The platform, which is still in its early stage, also aims to provide solutions to challenges surrounding network securities in allocating existing staking capital.
The restaking protocol allows various ERC-20 tokens in addition to ETH. It also has a customizable design that allows the combination of tokens as collateral that can be reinvested.
Symbiotic Partners with Leading DeFi Protocols to Fuel Rapid Growth
The growth of Symbiotic has gained the attention of the DeFi community. It has received the backing of investment firm Paradigm and Cyber Fund, which funded the protocol with $5.8 million. The staking platform has also received a potential edge over Eigenlayer, as Ethena, a protocol known for its unique approach to stablecoin through its synthetic dollar USDe, plans to use Symbiotic for its forthcoming blockchain rather than Eigenlayer.
Symbiotic has continued to partner with well-known DeFi protocols, like Lido, Mellow Finance, Swell Network, EtherFi, Renzo, and Pendle Finance. These partnerships suggest that Symbiotic is set to keep up its rapid growth and challenge the leading protocols in the crypto-staking market.
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