Symbiotic, a new restaking protocol, has launched and secured $5.8 million in seed funding from prominent investors Paradigm and cyber.Fund, indicating robust support for its goal of providing a permissionless, modular framework for customizing restaking implementations.

Previously, Crypto Briefing revealed that Lido co-founders Konstantin Lomashuk and Vasiliy Shapovalov, along with Paradigm, were covertly backing Symbiotic. Unlike its competitor EigenLayer, Symbiotic offers a different security model by allowing the use of various ERC-20 tokens, not just ETH and its derivatives like Lido’s stETH.

Symbiotic's mission is to enhance decentralized network security and incentivize infrastructure operators to follow protocol rules. It introduces a neutral coordination layer that leverages existing ecosystem security, facilitating a streamlined decentralization process for projects at various development stages.

A key feature of Symbiotic is its highly flexible and modular design, allowing networks to customize collateral assets, asset ratios, node operator selection, rewards, and slashing mechanisms. This flexibility enables networks to tailor their security setups to meet specific needs and goals.

The protocol prioritizes risk minimization by using non-upgradeable core contracts on Ethereum, reducing external governance risks and single points of failure. Its minimal yet adaptable contract design also lowers execution layer risks, enhancing platform security.

Symbiotic's capital efficiency is bolstered by its permissionless, multi-asset, and network-agnostic design, enabling the restaking of collateral from various sources. This design offers scalable, cost-effective security solutions and an evolving cross-network reputation system for operators, improving capital efficiency and trust within the ecosystem.

Several notable projects are already exploring Symbiotic’s restaking capabilities, including Ethena, Chainbound’s Bolt, Hyperlane, Marlin’s Kalypso, Fairblock, Ojo, and Rollkit. These collaborations cover diverse areas such as cross-chain asset transfers and zero-knowledge proof marketplaces, highlighting the protocol’s versatility.

Symbiotic describes itself as a shared security protocol that acts as a coordination layer, allowing network builders to customize their restaking implementations in a permissionless way.

As Symbiotic enters its bootstrapping phase and integrates restaked collateral, its shared security model could significantly impact the decentralized finance sector. With its focus on flexibility, risk minimization, and capital efficiency, Symbiotic aims to become a foundational element of the decentralized economy, enhancing security and fostering an inclusive, collaborative ecosystem.