TLDR:
– a16z invests $100 million in EigenLayer
– Venture capital funding for crypto-related firms rose 2.5% in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Article Summary:
Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has invested $100 million in EigenLayer, Ethereum’s largest restaking protocol by total value locked (TVL). The funding round was reported to be led solely by a16z, following a previous $50 million funding round led by Blockchain Capital in March. The increase in crypto venture investments is attributed to the launch of the first spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January.
The partnership between a16z and EigenLayer is expected to pave the way for new types of applications, enabling users to stake capital in order to gain rewards from services built on top of the protocol. EigenLayer, founded in 2021, allows validators and stakers to restake liquid-staking derivative tokens like Lido Staked Ether (ETH) and RocketPool’s rETH to secure and validate other networks, as well as earn yield in DeFi protocols.
EigenLayer is currently the third-largest protocol on Ethereum with a TVL of $7.91 billion. The protocol’s TVL has seen significant growth recently, rising over 347% in the past month. EigenLayer’s TVL started increasing after removing its staking cap temporarily, resulting in a significant increase in TVL during that period. Restaking protocols are the sixth-largest protocol category on DefiLlama, with EigenLayer accounting for 98% of the total TVL.
