Binance Labs announced that it has invested in Renzo, the EigenLayer-based Ethereum liquid restaking protocol. Last month, Binance Labs also invested in Puffer Finance, which has rapidly grown to become the second largest repurchase protocol. Meanwhile, according to experts, Renzo has the potential to be airdropped due to the current points system.
Binance Labs. invested in Renzo
Binance Labs, the $10 billion venture capital and incubation arm of crypto exchange Binance, has invested an undisclosed amount in Renzo, an EigenLayer-based Ethereum liquid restaking protocol. Binance Labs’ investment in Renzo comes shortly after the startup raised $3.2 million in a seed funding round last month at a $25 million valuation. Lucas Kozinski, one of the founders of Renzo, said that Binance Labs’ investment has the same structure as the seed round. In other words, he stated that it is token guaranteed equity at a ratio of 1:1.
Renzo is Binance Labs’ second investment in the Ethereum restaking space. cryptokoin.comAs you follow from , Binance invested in Puffer Finance last month. Puffer Finance has grown rapidly since its launch on February 1, becoming the second largest liquid restaking protocol. According to PDeFiLlama, Puffer has over $1 billion in funds locked on its platform. Renzo, on the other hand, has over $375 million locked in its protocol. Thus, it follows Puffer as the fourth largest restaking protocol.
Crypto’s new hot spot: Liquid restaking protocols
Ethereum liquid restaking is one of the hottest areas in crypto right now, with billions of dollars flowing into the vertical. This trend started last June with the entry of EigenLayer, which introduced a restaking system to Ethereum. DeFiLlama shows that EigenLayer currently has a total valuation of $7.8 billion. EigenLayer-based protocols, including Renzo and Puffer, have collectively raised over $3.5 billion in assets.
According to Binance co-founder and Binance Labs head Yi He, liquid restaking protocols play a crucial role in unlocking liquidity and maximizing capital efficiency. He also notes that these projects abstract technical complexities for users.
Local ETH restaking on BNB Chain
Lucas Kozinski said that with fresh capital from Binance Labs, Renzo plans to launch native ETH restaking on BNB Chain through its recent partnership with cross-chain protocol Connext. This means BNB Chain users can directly repurchase ETH for Renzo’s liquid restaking token ezETH without bridging and earn rewards in EigenLayer points and Renzo’s ezpoints. The points are similar to regular loyalty points, such as airline miles. It’s also designed to encourage participation without being directly fungible or valuable. According to some experts, this point system indicates the project’s potential for an airdrop.
Kozinski said Renzo also currently accepts wBETH deposits for restaking. He also added that the protocol aims to create new restaking integrations for BNB Chain users. According to Kozinski, Renzo accepts wBETH as well as Lido’s liquid staking token stETH. Renzo is currently live in a main-net beta. The public main-net launch is expected to take place after the Phase 3 launch of EigenLayer. Renzo’s other investors include Figment Capital, SevenX Ventures, IOSG Ventures and OKX Ventures.
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