Asymmetry Finance is a new protocol that aims to solve the centralization problem of the liquid staking market on Ethereum. Liquid staking is a process that allows users to stake their ETH and receive a tokenized representation of their stake, which can be used in other decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.
This way, users can earn rewards from staking while maintaining liquidity and flexibility. However, the current liquid staking market is dominated by a few large players, such as Lido Finance and Rocket Pool, which control over 30% and 10% of the market share respectively. These platforms rely on a limited number of node operators to run the staking nodes, which creates a single point of failure and a risk of regulation. Moreover, these platforms charge fees for their services, which reduces the returns for the users.
Asymmetry Offers New Alternative
Asymmetry Finance proposes a different approach to liquid staking, which is based on a decentralized asset basket of multiple liquid staking tokens (LSTs). The protocol allows users to stake their ETH and receive safETH, a token that represents a share of the basket.
The basket consists of various LSTs from different platforms, such as Lido’s stETH, Anker’s aETH, and StakeWise’s swETH. By diversifying the exposure to different LSTs, Asymmetry Finance aims to reduce the risk and increase the returns for the users.
The protocol also claims to offer a fee-free and user-friendly experience for the users. Users can stake and unstack their ETH with one click, without having to deal with complex interfaces or gas fees. The protocol also leverages smart contracts and oracles to rebalance the basket automatically and ensure optimal performance.
Asymmetry Finance has recently raised $3 million in a seed funding round led by Ecco Capital, with participation from Republic Capital, GMJP, and Ankr. The protocol also launched its safETH token on May 15th, 2023, and plans to use the funds to develop its platform, hire more talent, and onboard more users and institutions.
By offering a decentralized and diversified solution for liquid staking, Asymmetry Finance hopes to attract more users who want to stake their ETH without sacrificing liquidity or returns.
