Binance Labs Invests in Solayer

Binance Labs, the $10 billion venture capital and incubation arm of the crypto exchange Binance, has invested an undisclosed sum in Solayer, a Solana restaking protocol.

Binance Labs’ investment in Solayer comes as the firm continues to bet big on the crypto staking and restaking verticals. In recent months, Binance Labs has invested in various staking projects across ecosystems, including Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Berachain. These include Ethereum liquid restaking protocols Puffer Finance and Renzo, Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon, and Berachain liquid staking protocol Infrared.

What is Solayer?

Solayer is a Solana restaking protocol, similar to the pioneering Ethereum restaking protocol EigenLayer. Restaking allows users to earn additional rewards by locking up their staked assets again in different protocols, known as actively validated services (AVSs), to maximize their earnings.

For native Solana (SOL) restaking, Solayer first converts SOL to an intermediary form called sSOL-raw, which is the liquid staking token (LST) issued by the stake pool manager, according to its website. The sSOL-raw is then converted to sSOL after another interaction with the Solayer restaking pool manager, per the site.

Within a few weeks of its launch, Solayer has risen to become the 13th largest protocol on Solana with over $150 million in total value locked (TVL), according to DeFiLlama. Solayer currently has over 79,000 depositors, per its website.

With fresh capital from Binance Labs, Solayer plans to scale its team and onboard new protocols into the ecosystem.

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