Layer-2 Restaking Project Karak Launches Mainnet

Karak, a layer-2 project aimed at simplifying restaking processes for everyday crypto users, has officially launched its mainnet on Ethereum.

Karak Launches Mainnet

In an announcement on the evening of April 8, the layer-2 restaking project Karak has officially deployed its mainnet on Ethereum.

Speaking with Blockworks, Karak's founder Raouf Ben-Har expressed the project's ambition to address fragmentation in staking security mechanisms, which is hindering the development of potential solutions in the industry, such as cross-chain bridges, oracles, and other critical infrastructures.

Therefore, Karak has created what they call a "common restaking layer" for all protocols and products in the crypto industry.

Karak's Team Stated:

“We want Karak to unlock a new era of development. Just like how AWS services allow developers to access and store data in the cloud, we want to do the same so they can build products on any blockchain network.”

Karak's solution shares similarities with EigenLayer, the pioneer in the restaking sector, which currently boasts a TVL of $13.8 billion. Both allow users to restake assets to be reused for security purposes for other solutions.

However, while EigenLayer only accepts restaking of ETH and Ethereum liquid staking tokens, Karak supports multi-asset restaking across multiple blockchains, offering greater accessibility and flexibility. Additionally, expanding to other assets helps Karak reduce dependency on ETH staking yields, which restaking projects are constantly using to attract users.

Restaking on Multiple Tokens

Following the mainnet launch, Karak now accepts restaking of various liquid staking tokens, liquid restaking tokens, and stablecoins on Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Karak's layer-2 K2. Users who restake through Karak will receive staking rewards, restaking rewards, restaking points, liquid restaking points, and Karak XP points. Karak’s TVL at the time of writing stands at over $60 million.

However, access to Karak is currently limited to a select number of investors with invitation codes.

Funding and Partnerships

In February 2024, Karak successfully raised $48 million at a valuation of $1 billion, with participation from major funds such as Lightspeed, Mubadala Capital, Nima Capital, Bain Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Pantera, Framework Ventures, and Digital Currency Group (DCG).

Karak’s partners include numerous emerging solutions in the Ethereum staking/restaking space, such as Swell Network, ether.fi, Renzo, Kelp DAO, and Puffer Finance.