Swell Network, a protocol for liquid staking on Ethereum, has raised $3.75M in a seed round led by Framework Ventures, an investment adviser with significant experience in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, along with IOSG Ventures and Apollo Capital.
By enabling more efficient access to higher yields for stakers and lower entry barriers for node operators through an entirely permissionless and non-custodial design, Swell delivers an optimized and accessible option for liquid staking on Ethereum.
Utilizing a novel system of Swell Financial NFTs and liquid derivative tokens, called swETH, Swell Network will allow stakers to more efficiently and seamlessly earn higher risk-adjusted returns on their staked crypto. Stakers on Swell deposit ETH to the platform and in return, receive Swell financial NFTs, called swNFTs, which manage swETH at a 1:1 ratio to Ether. Stakers will also have the option to enter Swell Vaults which enables the network to manage the swNFTs and underlying swETH on behalf of stakers to generate additional yield across other DeFi protocols. This provides a step-change improvement in the Ethereum staking experience with stakers being able to simply stake their ETH in a simple set and forget manner without the complexity and nuance of the constantly evolving DeFi ecosystem.
“Ethereum’s shift to Proof-of-Stake presents a massive opportunity for stakers and node operators, but to achieve the benefits of next-generation Ethereum staking, the ecosystem needs a truly decentralized, permissionless, and non-custodial staking solution,” said Daniel Dizon, Co-Founder and CEO of Swell Network. “Across DeFi, many existing staking options are complex and time-consuming, requiring stakers to take multiple steps to generate additional yield on ETH, while node operators have significant financial hurdles to spin up validators. Swell solves these issues by streamlining the process for stakers to generate high yields and empowering node operators to more efficiently leverage their financial resources.”
Swell has pioneered the implementation of non-custodial user direct deposits for Ethereum which is enabled through an atomic transaction design. This first-to-market innovation enables full on-chain transparency over deposits, more flexibility and control over one’s assets, and importantly, the ability to participate in staking with as little as 1 ETH for both stakers and node operators.
“As one of the few DeFi protocols to be both permissionless and non-custodial, Swell Network truly adheres to the core principle of blockchain being an entirely decentralized and open system,” said Michael Anderson, Co-Founder of Framework Ventures. “Framework Ventures is focused on partnering with founders and technologies that are aligned with our vision of a decentralized future, and we’re thrilled to support Swell’s mission to develop a next generation Ethereum staking protocol.”
The raise also garnered support from Maven 11 and an impressive roster of angel investors including Mark Cuban, Kain Warwick and Jordan Momtazi, Founders of Synthetix, Fernando Martinelli, Co-Founder and CEO of Balancer, Ryan Sean Adams and David Hoffman, Hosts of Bankless, Loong Wang, Co-Founder of Ren Protocol, Suji Yan, Founder and CEO of Mask Network, and more. The funds from the round will be utilized to conduct multiple audits of the Swell platform ahead of the mainnet launch in April and to scale the internal engineering, business development, and marketing teams. To learn more, visit https://www.swellnetwork.io/ and join the Discord at https://discord.com/invite/SeMQbGbeqC.
About Swell Network
Founded in October of 2021 by Daniel Dizon and Lecky Lao, Swell Network is a leading decentralized, liquid, and non-custodial Ethereum staking protocol. Swell enables stakers to safely and securely earn higher yields from staking ETH in a manner that is fully transparent, non-custodial, and streamlined. This is made possible through a permissionless and decentralized network of distributed node operators who are able to leverage their financial resources and technical expertise. To learn more, visit https://www.swellnetwork.io/.
About Framework Ventures
Framework is a team of technologists, researchers and investors who buy assets of, who build for, and who participate in open crypto networks. At its core, Framework is a technology company, building products and services to support the open blockchain networks that they invest in. Through its registered investment adviser, Framework Ventures Management LLC (“Framework Ventures”), the firm has backed dozens of notable companies in the decentralized finance and Web3 space. To learn more visit: https://framework.ventures/.