LONDON, June 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Geode Finance, a novel white label liquid staking solution for DAOs, announced a $3M investment in a seed funding round led by Multicoin Capital, a leading digital asset investment firm headquartered in Austin, Texas. The round of financing also includes market maker and ecosystem partner GSR, blockchain investment fund C² Ventures, yield optimization protocol Yield Yak, and blockchain infrastructure provider Eden Network. Geode will initially deploy on Avalanche Network, before expanding to Ethereum 2.0 and other popular proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains to facilitate the growth of the multichain economy.
“Geode is building trustless white-label staking pools and derivatives products that provide granular control over delegation mechanics within proof-of-stake networks. The prospect of fully sovereign staking solutions is massively appealing for DAO treasuries, institutional capital allocators, and individual actors that lie across the risk spectrum,” said Shayon Sengupta, Investment Associate, Multicoin Capital.
With this strategic investment from Multicoin Capital and supporting investors, Geode Finance aims to revolutionize staking by providing DAOs with a customizable and easy to deploy liquid staking solution. Geode will also comprehensively support DAOs and protocols that integrate with Geode to launch their own liquid staking product and associated yield-bearing token.
"Partnering with Geode was a natural fit for GSR as we look to support the growth of DAOs and their communities," said Benoit Bosc, Global Head of Product, GSR. "Geode's mission to address the gaps in DAO infrastructure through its liquid staking solution aligns perfectly with GSR's mission to drive growth and innovation in the space."
"We're excited to invest in and partner with Geode Finance, as they have the potential to create a composable multichain DAO economy. Geode’s novel liquid staking protocol will contribute to more successful DAOs and a more vibrant Web3 ecosystem,” said Ciara Sun, Founder and Managing Partner of C² Ventures.
DAOs are currently limited in their ability to diversify and earn yield on their treasuries – which are worth over $10B in aggregate – or to offer their participating members with meaningful reward incentives. Most do not end up leveraging the full potential of PoS networks, where everyone has the ability to get rewarded for their participation. The current options for DAOs include centralized solutions with non-negligible third-party risks and high management fees, or spending valuable time and developer resources to create their own staking solution.
“In a proof-of-stake world, why shouldn’t all base assets generate yield? This is what has been driving our team to create streamlined solutions for everyone to take full advantage of yield generating possibilities. By providing our white label staking solution to DAOs without fees we instantly become a very compelling proposition, allowing any DAO to benefit by improving DAO economies and product offerings at large,” said Simon Furlong, Co-Founder and COO of Geode Finance.
"We're thrilled to be seed investors in Geode Finance. This partnership is a perfect fit for Yield Yak given we’re extremely excited about the potential of liquid staking and unlocking new yield potential for regular DeFi users. With a secure and user-friendly solution, we believe Geode’s novel liquid staking protocol will be a significant contributor to the future Web3 Ecosystems,” said Dylan Coady, Head of Communications at Yield Yak.
Only about 65% of all AVAX in circulation is staked to validate the network, which means that approximately $6.5B worth of AVAX tokens are sitting idle in DAO treasuries and elsewhere, not earning any yield. At a conservative staking reward rate of 7%, this $6.5B worth of idle AVAX could be generating nearly $450M worth of AVAX rewards annually. Additionally, of the ~55% of AVAX supply that is currently staked, the majority is staked directly to validator nodes which provides only a single layer of returns via staking rewards.
Geode addresses this gap in DAO infrastructure and tooling by offering a liquid staking solution that aligns with the values of decentralization and DeFi composability, while striving to provide the highest possible yields on Avalanche Network. This feat is accomplished in part through a strategic partnership with Eden Network. Eden runs its own validators to support Geode’s operations, while stacking multiple layers of yield through validation, subnet validation, and additional yield-boosting strategies, thereby increasing the amount of yield passed on to DAOs and their users that integrate this innovative solution.
"From our first conversations with Geode, it was evident that our views of a multichain future were strongly aligned, and we were very impressed with their fresh approach to liquid staking. We are delighted to partner with them and provide meaningful yield to DAOs and DeFi users alike," said Caleb Sheridan, Eden Network Core Developer.
Despite the growing popularity of centralized B2C liquid staking solutions, there are few – if any – B2B2C liquid staking products tailor-made for DAOs. By combining several layers of staking and validator rewards, with a high degree of customizability and security, Geode Finance provides the ultimate infrastructure solution to support the growth of the multichain DAO economy. Importantly, Geode offers their services to DAOs at no cost.
To learn more about integrating Geode Finance to take secure, decentralized ownership over your DAO’s very own liquid staking solution, visit Geode’s website or Discord and contact Simon (Oranges) in the Operations department.
About Geode Finance
Geode Finance is a first of its kind white label liquid staking solution, tailor-made for DAOs. With Geode’s customizable liquid staking products, DAOs and their members are empowered with vastly improved yields, new revenue generation opportunities, and capital efficiency across the DeFi landscape on Proof-of-Stake blockchains. Geode Finance aims to bring yield generation and liquidity to base assets on all Proof-of-Stake blockchains, in a secure and composable manner.
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About Multicoin Capital
Multicoin Capital is a thesis-driven investment firm that invests in cryptocurrencies, tokens, and blockchain companies. Crypto networks and companies will create trillions of dollars of value over the next decade. But investing in tokens is fundamentally different than investing in companies. New tools, heuristics, and security measures are needed to responsibly invest in this ecosystem. We leverage our deep understanding of blockchain technology and crypto markets to deliver exceptional returns. For more information, visit: https://multicoin.capital.
