The Swell Network is a decentralized and non-custodial Ethereum (ETH) staking protocol designed to enhance yield within the decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape. Users can earn passive income by staking ETH with Swell, receiving blockchain and restaked AVS rewards in exchange for yield-bearing liquid tokens (LST or LRT) usable in the DeFi ecosystem. Daniel Dizon is the CEO and founder of Swell. ^[1]

Overview

The Swell Network, a decentralized Ethereum (ETH) staking protocol, aims to enhance yield within the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector while offering users the flexibility to access their staked ETH. With a community-driven governance model, Swell empowers its users to shape the protocol’s future through voting on important decisions. It prioritizes security, conducting continuous audits, and offering bug bounties to ensure robust development. ^[1][2]

Swell simplifies the staking process, allowing users to stake ETH and receive swETH, an interest-bearing token, while retaining liquidity for other DeFi opportunities. The platform’s user-friendly interface facilitates easy participation in staking: users stake ETH directly through the platform, start earning rewards immediately, and can further maximize returns by depositing swETH into upcoming yield-optimized vaults. Additionally, the Swell DAO fosters community involvement, enabling users to contribute to the ecosystem’s development and governance through collaborative decision-making. ^[1][2]

Swell DAO

The Swell DAO was established to develop a liquid staking protocol that allows Ethereum (ETH) holders to earn yield from staking without locking up their capital. Swell aims to foster a more secure, decentralized, and transparent financial future that promotes economic freedom without discrimination or censorship. Swell focuses on advancing liquid staking as an important component of decentralized finance (DeFi), ensuring it is fully integrated with the Ethereum ecosystem and adaptable for composability. ^[1]

Swell Voyage

In May 2023, Swell Labs launched the Swell Voyage campaign, representing Swell’s progression from its inception to a mature state. The campaign consists of four chapters: Sunlight Zone, Twilight Zone, Midnight Zone, and Swell City, during which governance rights will be gradually decentralized and extended to early community participants. Users can gather pearls corresponding to portions of the $SWELL airdrop during the campaign. These pearls will grant holders governance tokens upon reaching the final chapter of the Voyage. Each Voyage chapter has different objectives, but participants can continue staking and providing liquidity throughout the journey to maximize pearl collection. As the journey progresses, individuals can contribute to developing a liquid staking token benefiting Swell Aquanauts, Swell’s Discord community, DeFi, and the broader Ethereum ecosystem. ^[3][4]

Swell Tokens

swETH Token

Swell Ether (swETH) is a liquid staking token (LST) on the Swell protocol, representing ETH staked on the Ethereum network. Chainlink Proof of Reserves validates the underlying ETH. swETH functions as a repricing token, increasing in value over time as staking rewards accumulate. ^[5]

rswETH

Launched January 29, 2024, rswETH, or Restaked Swell ETH, is an ERC-20 Liquid Restaking Token (LRT) designed to offer liquidity to users looking to “restake” their ETH in restaking protocols like EigenLayer without locking their restaked ETH. It functions as a repricing token, representing a user’s yield-bearing ETH utilized by validators to validate transactions on the Ethereum blockchain. ^[1][6][7]

SWELL Token

Swell Labs is preparing to introduce its native token, SWELL, which will initially serve two primary purposes: facilitating protocol governance through delegate voting and incentivizing protocol growth via liquidity mining, referrals, and potential airdrops. While the specifics of SWELL’s design and rollout are still being determined, further details will be provided once they are finalized. ^[1]

Partnerships

Bunni

In May 2023, Swell launched their swETH-ETH pool on Bunni, a project that tackles liquidity incentives in DeFi. As Swell was still new to the LST space, the opportunity existed to bootstrap liquidity without a governance token. The decision to collaborate with Bunni was influenced by factors such as its status as a newer protocol and the relatively lower valuation of veLIT. This strategic partnership allowed for a more prominent position to be maintained with emissions directed back, thereby enhancing liquidity without needing a governance token. ^[8]

Chainlink

On May 16, 2023, Swell integrated Chainlink Proof of Reserve (PoR) on Ethereum, ensuring that swETH tokens were fully backed by staked ETH on a 1:1 basis. The integration of Chainlink PoR offered a monitoring service for the ETH reserves backing swETH, providing users with reliable and timely updates. This initiative aimed to enhance user confidence and transparency regarding the full backing of Ethereum’s Beacon chain reserves. Users were able to access the Proof of Reserve feed for verification purposes. ^[9]

“Chainlink Proof of Reserve helps us provide our users with unmatched transparency into the reserves backing swETH. Users now have a one-stop destination for checking near real-time updates on swETH reserve balances, providing peace of mind that every token is backed 1:1 by staked ETH” -Daniel Dizon, Co-Founder and CEO of Swell Network.

In February 2024, Swell joined Chainlink’s BUILD program to leverage Chainlink’s oracle infrastructure, aiming to enhance security and reliability. As a member of BUILD, Swell Network gained access to various benefits, such as Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) for secure cross-chain transfers, Chainlink Proof of Reserve for validating cross-chain reserves, Automation for smart contract triggers, Price Feeds for accurate market data, Functions for off-chain data and custom compute, and early access to new Chainlink product releases. In return for these services, Swell Network committed to gradually making a portion of its native token supply available to Chainlink service providers, including stakers. This reciprocal arrangement facilitated mutual support between both communities. ^[10]

“We’re excited to join the Chainlink BUILD program as the Chainlink Network’s industry-standard services are essential to helping Swell support the adoption of liquid staking in DeFi. We look forward to continuing our collaboration together and we welcome the passionate Chainlink community into the Swell Network ecosystem.” -Daniel Dizon, Co-Founder and CEO of Swell Network.