The Venture Codex

Participated · Equity · Mar 2023

Ether.fi operates a liquid restaking protocol that lets users restake staked ether on EigenLayer and receive eETH, a liquid token that preserves staking exposure while enabling DeFi use. The protocol supports redemptions rather than only speculative deposits, which the company says differentiates it in the restaking market. Ether.fi reports a total value locked of $1.66 billion, highlighting significant user adoption of its restaking service. Led by CEO Mike Silagadze, the team aims to expand native restaking rewards and broaden access to decentralized finance opportunities. The company was founded in 2021 and is based in George Town, Cayman Islands. Total capital raised to date is $28.3 million, indicating early-stage funding traction alongside strong protocol TVL. ether.fi is a Cayman Islands-based liquid staking protocol focused on decentralization and non-custodial staking. The protocol enables stakers to retain control of their private keys while delegating validator operations to node operators. Led by Founder & CEO Mike Silagadze, ether.fi positions its product as a building block for web3 infrastructure. The company raised USD$5.3M and plans to use the funds to increase hiring across the next six months and to build partnerships with custodians, centralized exchanges, crypto wallets, and hardware wallet apps. To support validator operations at launch, ether.fi will partner with node operators Kiln, Finoa, DSRV, and Allnodes, while Obol will serve as its official Distributed Validator Technology (DVT) partner. The protocol emphasizes decentralized, multi-operator validation as a core use case for DVT.