Loading organizations...
§ Private Profile · San Francisco, CA, USA
UnshETH is a technology company.
UnshETH operates as a decentralized finance protocol designed to enhance the decentralization of Ethereum validator staking. The platform introduces unshETH, an ERC-20 token representing a diversified basket of liquid staked Ethereum derivatives (LSDs), allowing users to earn staking yields and engage in various swaps. Its core technical innovation lies in the Validator Decentralization Automated Market Maker (vdAMM), which serves as a liquidity hub for LSDs and actively incentivizes a more distributed validator landscape within the Ethereum ecosystem.
The founding team launched UnshETH in 2023, driven by the critical insight that growing centralization in Ethereum staking posed risks to the network's long-term resilience and censorship resistance. They identified a need for a mechanism that could foster healthy competition among liquid staking protocols, thereby distributing staked capital across a broader range of validators rather than concentrating power in a few entities. This foundational principle underpins the protocol's design and incentivization structures.
UnshETH primarily serves individuals and decentralized applications looking to stake Ethereum, manage their liquid staking derivatives efficiently, and participate in yield generation while actively contributing to network decentralization. The company's vision is centered on achieving decentralization through incentivization, striving to build an Ethereum ecosystem that is fundamentally more robust, censorship-resistant, and broadly accessible to all participants. Its forward-looking mission involves continuously developing new mechanisms to secure the integrity and distributed nature of the network.
UnshETH has raised $3.0M across 1 funding round.
UnshETH has raised $3.0M in total across 1 funding round.
UnshETH is a decentralized DeFi protocol on Ethereum that enhances validator decentralization through liquid staking derivatives (LSDs), creating a marketplace where staking protocols like Lido, Rocket Pool, Coinbase, and Frax Ether compete for liquidity via incentive engineering.[1][4][5] It serves Ethereum stakers, DeFi users, developers, and institutional investors by allowing deposits of various LSDs into unshETH for staking yield, swap fees, USH governance token rewards, and innovative LSDfi primitives like validator decentralization mining—solving centralization risks in staking while maintaining liquidity and composability.[2][5] Founded in 2023 in San Francisco with 1-10 employees, it has raised $3.3 million from investors like Backend Capital and Soma Capital, showing early growth in the nascent LSDfi space.[1]
UnshETH Labs was founded in January 2023 by a team including core developer Altair, with the protocol launching in February 2023 to pioneer LSDfi primitives aimed at decentralizing Ethereum validators.[2][4] The idea emerged from Ethereum's staking centralization challenges post-Merge, where dominant LSDs risked creating single points of failure; UnshETH addressed this via "incentive engineering" to distribute capital evenly across protocols.[2][4] Early traction included a March 2023 announcement for Binance Smart Chain release and winning a $5,000 prize at ETHGlobal Waterloo 2023 for creative LSDfi integration, establishing it as a steward of the LSDfi ecosystem.[2][4]
UnshETH rides the post-Shanghai Ethereum staking boom and LSD proliferation trend, where liquid staking TVL has surged but validator concentration (e.g., Lido's dominance) threatens network security.[4][5] Its timing aligns with growing demand for decentralized, censorship-resistant staking amid regulatory scrutiny on centralized providers, leveraging market forces like DeFi composability and omnichain expansion (e.g., BSC integration).[2] By incentivizing competition across LSDs, it influences the ecosystem toward healthier validator sets, safer yields for millions, and LSDfi evolution—making staking more accessible to retail, institutions, and builders.[1][2][5]
UnshETH is poised to scale as LSD TVL grows, with governance-driven vdAMM adjustments and USH staking unlocking deeper liquidity; next steps likely include more chain expansions, bot integrations, and institutional onboarding.[2][4][5] Trends like Ethereum's Dencun upgrade and restaking will amplify its decentralization push, potentially evolving it into a core LSD infrastructure layer. As a 2023 pioneer challenging staking giants, UnshETH exemplifies how DeFi primitives can fortify Ethereum's resilience for millions of users.[1][4]
UnshETH has raised $3.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $3.0M Seed in August 2023.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 1, 2023 | $3M Seed | ICONIQ Growth, Soma Capital | Hartmann Capital, Ejaaz Alhamadeen, JAI Prasad, Kevin LI, Marty HU, Ross Lipson, 300dao, 922 Capital, Backend Capital, EFENT, Electric ANT, Epakon Capital, MH Ventures, The LAO | Announced |
UnshETH has raised $3.0M in total across 1 funding round.
UnshETH's investors include ICONIQ Growth, Soma Capital, Hartmann Capital, Ejaaz Alhamadeen, Jai Prasad, Kevin Li, Marty Hu, Ross Lipson, 300DAO, 922 Capital, Backend Capital, EFENT.