ether.fi Completes USD 5.3 Million Funding Round Co-led by NIV and Chapter One, Launches Liquid Staking Platform

Node Capital, Arrington Capital, Maelstrom, Version One Ventures, and Purpose Investments also back staking protocol to address issues of centralized staking markets.

LONDON, March 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ether.fi, a liquid staking protocol designed with decentralization at its core, announced today that it has completed a USD$5.3m funding round co-led by investors North Island Ventures (NIV,) Chapter One, and Node Capital, with participation from Arrington Capital, Maelstrom, Version One Ventures and Purpose Investments.

ether.fi addresses existing ETH staking issues around centralization and composability. As a decentralized non-custodial staking solution, ether.fi allows stakers to retain control of their keys while delegating validator operations to a node operator.

ether.fi brings a new platform approach to the staking market. Minting an NFT representation of every validator generated through its protocol, to allow for the storage of validator metadata, ether.fi intends to unlock new use cases and long-term value creation for developers building on staking infrastructure.

Enabling trustless node operation and a services layer on which others can build, ether.fi's solution serves as a building block for Web3 infrastructure. Ethereum stakers depositing a minimum of 32 ETH will hold the NFT, which represents the economic interest in the validator. Once the NFT liquidity pool and the protocol treasury management contracts are implemented and launched, ether.fi will enable fractionalization via the launch of its eETH Liquid Staking Derivative token, for liquidity pool individual stakers with more than 0.1 ETH. Additionally, stakers and node operators will benefit from ether.fi's decentralized protocol by providing them with economic exposure to revenue derived from services built on the staking infrastructure.

Commenting on the launch, Mike Silagadze, Founder & CEO said, "ether.fi was established as a direct remedy to common issues facing Liquid Staking Derivatives (LSDs) surrounding custody and risk. Thanks to our investors, we are excited to be launching the ether.fi platform as the LSD market enters a pivotal phase. The staking market serves as a gateway to a $10 billion ecosystem of blockchain products and services. Offering a new way to earn yield on crypto assets, the LSD market has increased significantly in recent months. The upcoming Ethereum Shanghai Upgrade is expected to further accelerate the market by enabling ETH staking withdrawals that can be used across DeFi, without giving up the staking yield." 

Travis Scher, Managing Partner at NIV said: "We believe that Ethereum's transition to proof-of-stake is a generational technological milestone, enabling the network to support applications and experiences that could not previously exist. ether.fi is building foundational, decentralized infrastructure to push Ethereum forward, and we're thrilled to support its world class founding team in pursuit of their big vision."

Jack Lipstone, Investment Partner at Chapter One added, "ether.fi's decentralized approach to ETH staking could not be arriving at a better time while all eyes are on regulatory actions against centralized entities. At its core, Ethereum block validation will reach its potential through the full-stack approach that ether.fi is building towards that includes transparent staking and a node services layer. We are so beyond excited to support ether.fi and grow alongside the founding team because we see this community bringing a lot of value to the overall Ethereum ecosystem."

To support ether.fi's validator operations at launch, the protocol will be partnering with leading node operators Kiln, Finoa, DSRV, and Allnodes. Responsible for fostering the adoption of multi-operator validation as a use case for Distributed Validator Technology (DVT), Obol will serve as ether.fi's official DVT partner.

Launching on 4th March 2023 at ETHDenver, the world's largest Web3 #BUIDLathon for Ethereum and other blockchain protocol enthusiasts, designers and developers, ether.fi aims to have 100,000 ETH staked by mid-2023.

The latest funding round will support ether.fi as it looks to increase its hiring across the next six months, and to build out partnerships with a variety of channels that will feed into the protocol, including custodians, centralized exchanges, crypto wallets, and hardware wallet apps.

About ether.fi

ether.fi is a liquid staking protocol that allows stakers to retain control of their keys while delegating validator operations to a node operator. Formed under a shared vision of what DeFi should be, ether.fi offers stakers a decentralized, non-custodial staking solution that can serve as a building block for web3 infrastructure.