Unstable Protocol Raises $2.5 Million to Revolutionize Liquid Staking Token Finance

Unstable Protocol Secures $2.5 Million in Seed Funding to Revolutionize Liquid Restaking Token Finance

San Francisco, California, March 27, 2024

Unstable Protocol, a trailblazing project in the emerging Liquid Restaking Token Finance (LRTfi) arena, has raised $2.5 million in a seed funding round. This infusion of capital will fuel Unstable's mission to establish the leverage layer for (re)staked Ether (ETH).

The funding round attracted significant interest from several prominent ETH-aligned venture capital funds, including Lattice, Laser Digital (Nomura Group), Blockchain Founders Fund, Assouline Ventures, Agnostic Fund, Artichoke Capital, Black Edge Capital, NewTribe Capital, and NxGen.

Unstable Protocol also garnered support from renowned angel investors, protocol executives, media partners, and key opinion leaders (KOLs), such as @dcfgod, @wsbmod, @AltcoinSherpa, @devchart, Trader Lenny, Wes Cowan (Juice Finance), Rahim Noorani (Satori Finance), Tony Jiang (Cognition AI), Adil Virani (blitz.gg), Collin Goltra (YGG), Peter Huo (Whampoa Digital), Andy (TheRollup), Tian Zeng, and BlockBuilders (MarketAcross).

Transforming the LRTfi Landscape

LRTfi, a burgeoning subsector of decentralized finance (DeFi), allows users to leverage liquid staking tokens for innovative yield strategies. Unstable Protocol plans to harness the raised capital to power its groundbreaking zkOracles and serve as the inaugural leverage layer for staked and restaked Ether.

The LRT market has experienced a remarkable surge in the past year, growing from zero to approximately $15 billion in three months. Unstable Protocol will leverage its position as an LRTfi-native lending protocol to offer users the capability to borrow against their (re)staked ETH and unlock its utility on Layer-2 blockchains.

Strategic Partnerships for Growth

Unstable Protocol's partnership with interoperability platform Axelar, whose executive team has already invested in Unstable, will enable the latter to unlock the utility of (re)staked ETH on Layer-2 blockchains.

"Unstable's pioneering use of zkOracles to enhance DeFi utility for the LST and LRT ETH market is the type of forward-thinking technology that will advance the entire ecosystem," said Mansoor Madhavji, Partner at Blockchain Founders Fund. "We anticipate the significant impact this will have on liquid staking and the broader DeFi landscape."

ZK-Powered Lending Protocol Engine

Unstable Protocol's lending protocol engine is powered by a zkSNARK-based validator and EigenLayer AVS balance proofs, which value collateral based on its underlying backing. This is facilitated through a crucial partnership with Succinct Labs, which recently secured $55 million in a funding round co-led by Paradigm.

"ZKPs provide DeFi with enhanced expressiveness and security," explained Uma Roy, Founder and CEO of Succinct Labs. "Unstable's deployment of ZK oracles to power their lending protocol engine exemplifies ZK's ability to establish a novel category: zkDeFi."

About Unstable Protocol

Unstable Protocol leverages zkOracles to augment DeFi utility within the LRTfi market. Backed by notable Web3 venture capital firms and angel investors, the protocol empowers users to borrow against their LST and LRT collateral and access the utility of their (re)staked ETH on Layer-2 chains. Unstable Protocol's lending protocol engine harnesses zkSNARK-based validators and EigenLayer AVS balance proofs. The Unstable Protocol testnet debuts today and can be accessed through its website.

Contact

Itai Elizur
[email protected]

Disclaimer

This sponsored press release is disseminated solely for informational purposes. It does not reflect the views or opinions of The Wall Street Journal and should not be construed as legal, tax, investment, or financial advice.