Swellchain, the first restaking chain powered by Proof of Restake, is officially live, positioning itself as the hub for restaked assets. The launch marks the culmination of a highly successful pre-launch campaign, during which Swellchain attracted over $1 billion in deposited assets from leading restaking protocols, including Swell, Etherfi, and Renzo.
Swellchain joins the Superchain as an Optimistic rollup, built with the support of RedStone Oracles, AltLayer, Symbiotic, and Eigenlayer.
What is Swellchain?
Swellchain is a Restaked Rollup built on the OP Stack, and will be powered by the unique Proof of Restake mechanism.
Our goal with Swellchain is to build a rollup that is scaled and decentralized with infrastructure secured by restaking. By leveraging Ethereum’s security and settlement, Swellchain will be not only deeply aligned with Ethereum, but also uniquely positioned to overcome the key challenges faced by existing L2s, including scarce liquidity, centralization, and lack of native yield.
This vision will be made possible through Proof of Restake, a unique mechanism which uses Swell’s liquid restaked assets to secure both Eigenlayer AVS and Symbiotic Networks providing key infrastructure and services to the blockchain – driving value creation for restakers to new heights.
Today, we launch with two AVS: Ditto, providing secure automation through its Keeper network, and Hyperlane, providing interoperability. In addition to the AltLayer AVS, secured through EigenLayer, these form the first components of the Proof of Restake mechanism underlying the chain, with more set to deploy in the coming weeks as we build out our vision of Swellchain.
Supported by Etherfi, Renzo, Kelp, Eigenlayer, Symbiotic, RedStone and Ethena
Swellchain is part of the Superchain, a network of blockchains powered by Optimism’s OP Stack, all working together to scale Ethereum.
In addition to Optimism, Swellchain launches with the support of the largest players in the restaking ecosystem: Etherfi, Renzo, and Kelp, along with Ethena and restaking platforms EigenLayer and Symbiotic – all supported by RedStone price feeds.
“We’re pumped to welcome Swellchain to the Superchain. As a hub for restaked assets within our growing ecosystem, Swellchain enhances the utility and potential of restaked assets on Ethereum. We look forward to supporting the growth of Swell alongside other big brands on the OP Stack."
— Mark, DeFi Partnerships, Optimism
“We’ve been working with Swell since April 2023, witnessing their growth for over 20 months through ETH Liquid Staking, Liquid Restaking, Bitcoin Staking and now an L2 as the icing on the cake. We are proud to have them as our long-lasting client and to be able to support the Swellchain ecosystem as the primary Push & Pull oracle."
— Marcin Kazmierczak, Co-Founder & COO, RedStone
Ethena-first approach
Swellchain is the first chain to focus entirely on Ethena for its stablecoin strategy. Bridgeable via our bridging partner Stargate, Swellchain will launch with USDe and sUSDe.
Both assets will feature strongly in the ecosystem. USDe and sUSDe are the only dollar-denominated coins that will receive incentives from Swell during the bootstrapping period of the chain. Due to Ethena co-incentives via their Rewards program and also the inherent rewards provided by sUSDe, we think this presents a very compelling case for liquidity providers and other DeFi users on the network.
We invite Swellchain-native builders as well to leverage Ethena assets to their advantage. For one: Tempest, a protocol built to support Swell applications, will be integrating USDe and sUSDe liquidity vaults and will also be airdropping a portion of its token to sENA stakers.
Finally, Swell has committed to accumulate sUSDe protocol-owned liquidity with a majority of excess sequencer profits. This will benefit the Swell ecosystem by driving extra liquidity and DeFi utility and allowing the protocol to earn on its treasury, while also supporting Ethena as they continue to grow.
“We’re excited to continue to see the best DeFi teams build around Ethena to take advantage of the composable and DeFi-first properties of Ethena powered assets like USDe. We believe that introducing Ethena assets increases the efficacy of DeFi integrations and increases the economic surface through which developers can tap into for better tokenomics & protocol design. Swell’s focus on leveraging Ethena’s network effects, rewards, and partnerships is a unique approach that we hope other protocols and networks alike will take inspiration from moving forward.”
— Nick, Head of Strategy, Ethena Labs
Bridge to Swellchain
31,250,000 SWELL will be distributed to everyone who bridges and holds assets on Swellchain in the first two weeks.
Bridge before 2025 to get your share, and be ready to earn more SWELL and tokens from dApps for exploring Swellchain in the next Wave.
Bridge now: app.swellnetwork.io/swellchain/launch
About Swellchain
Swellchain is the first vertically-integrated Layer 2 restaked rollup, created by liquid restaking protocol Swell, which provides liquid staking and restaking primitives for DeFi.
Contact: Kieran Smith, CMO, [email protected]
About EigenLayer
EigenLayer is a decentralized restaking protocol that enhances the security and scalability of blockchain ecosystems by allowing Ethereum validators to extend their security guarantees to additional networks and services. By leveraging the existing Ethereum staking infrastructure, EigenLayer enables developers and decentralized applications to benefit from Ethereum’s robust security without the need to establish separate validator networks.
- Website: eigenlayer.xyz
- Twitter: @eigenlayer
About Symbiotic
Symbiotic is a generalized shared security system enabling decentralized networks to bootstrap powerful, fully sovereign ecosystems.
Swellchain will use Symbiotic restaking to secure its rollup security and sequencing, DeFi oracles, and cross-chain bridging as part of the Proof of Restake mechanism.
About RedStone
RedStone is the fastest-growing oracle in 2024, specializing in yield-bearing collateral for lending markets. Trusted by blue chip DeFi protocols including Swell, Morpho, Compound, Pendle, Venus, Lido, EtherFi, Ethena and 80+ other clients. RedStone provides a wide variety of in-demand assets such as LSTs, LRTs, Bitcoin LSTs and many others.