Symbiotic Architectural Difference: Curated Vaults
Unlike other restaking infrastructures, Symbiotic's architecture introduces a more flexible approach to shared security. Normally, restakers are only able to delegate economic security to a predetermined group of validation services supported by underlying node operators. Symbiotic breaks this limitation by enabling restakers to personalise their exposure by choosing particular services. This flexibility significantly increases the range of possible combinations for validation service exposure.
At the core of Symbiotic’s ecosystem are Restaking Curators, who carefully pick which node operators and validation services restakers are exposed to. Beyond selection, curators also leverage on-chain monitoring tools to bolster security, implementing custom mechanisms such as hooks for automated risk mitigation and protection against slashing events.
In order to participate in Symbiotic restaking, users create vaults and optionally mint receipt tokens (Liquid Restaking Tokens). This opens up an environment that can be both permissioned or permissionless, showcasing once again the flexibility of Symbiotic architecture and vault mechanics.
Symbiotic Vaults Overview
Symbiotic vaults are flexible tools that can be deployed in two different ways:
- Immutable, pre-configured vaults with fixed parameters.
- Curator-managed vaults, where the curator can modify settings as needed.
Their key functions include:
- Validation Service & Operator Selection: Curators carefully consider which services and operators restakers will be exposed to. This ensures optimal performance and risk management by verifying that only reliable entities are included.
- Customized Allocation: Restaking curators can also specify the amount of economic security allocated to each validation service, enabling customised exposure and diversification.
- Slashing Risk Mitigation: To actively reduce slashing risks, curators are able to incorporate on-chain monitoring tools and set up custom hooks. Such systems aid in identifying and addressing any risks, giving restakers extra security by mitigating losses brought on by malicious or subpar validator behaviour.
A critical role of vaults is handling slashing conditions. They must verify, execute, and manage slashing requests to ensure proper enforcement of penalties when required.
Symbiotic Vault’s Overview (Source)
The Curators Working With Symbiotic
At InceptionLRT, we recognize the importance of curators in the Symbiotic ecosystem. To optimize security and capital efficiency, we developed the industry’s first multi-curated vault, allowing our delegators’ assets to be dynamically distributed among top Symbiotic Vaults.
Below is an infographic illustrating the market share distribution of restaked assets on Symbiotic, categorized by curator.
Symbiotic Curators Marketshare (Source)
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MEV Capital: A digital asset management firm focused on market-neutral DeFi strategies, including liquidity provision, arbitrage, and on-chain liquidations. MEV Capital manages over $350 million in assets across multiple blockchains, providing risk-adjusted yields in DeFi.
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Chorus One: A top institutional staking provider supporting over 60 Proof-of-Stake networks, including Ethereum, Solana, and Cosmos. They offer secure staking, liquid staking, and custom validator solutions.
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Steakhouse Financial: A DeFi advisory firm specializing in Real-World Assets (RWA) and stablecoins. They provide financial strategy, asset-liability management, and advisory services to DAOs like MakerDAO and LidoDAO.
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Renzo Protocol: A liquid restaking platform on Ethereum that optimizes yields while securing Actively Validated Services (AVSs).
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K3 Labs: A Web3 infrastructure provider combining Kubernetes with decentralized services. They specialize in validator operations and proof-of-execution reporting.
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Quasar Finance: A Cosmos-based DeFi protocol offering interchain vaults for optimized staking and liquidity management.
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InfStones: A blockchain infrastructure provider offering node management, staking, and API support across 80+ blockchains. Clients include Binance, Lido, and Chainlink.
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Luganodes: A Swiss institutional-grade staking service provider with a focus on security and uptime (99.99%). Supports 30+ PoS networks and complies with strict security standards.
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RockX: A Singapore-based institutional staking platform with over $2 billion in assets staked. Provides liquid staking, data APIs, and Ethereum restaking via EigenLayer.
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P2P: A major staking provider supporting 30+ PoS networks, including Ethereum, Polkadot, and Solana. Known for high uptime and governance participation.
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Ether.fi: A liquid restaking protocol that enables ETH restaking.
Symbiotic’s vault creation process is permissionless, allowing anyone to create a vault. However, delegators should consider that the curators mentioned above are well-established institutions with years of asset management experience, making them among the most reliable options for securing assets.
Another key consideration when depositing into a Symbiotic vault is whether it offers Liquid Restaking Tokens (LRTs) in exchange. While the deposit process may be similar across vaults, those issuing LRTs provide additional benefits by maintaining liquidity for restaked assets. This enables users to integrate their LRTs into other DeFi protocols, further enhancing yield opportunities.
InceptionLRT Multi-Curated Vault
The InceptionLRT wstETH vault is the first of its kind, pioneering the concept of multi-curated vaults in the industry. This vault dynamically rebalances restaked ETH across a network of Symbiotic curators, delegating to node operators and securing multiple services.
Additionally, the vault supports instant deposits and withdrawals via the FlashUnstake module, offering users flexibility and ease of access.
Furthermore, with the release of our ING token and veModel, users will be able to vote on vault allocations, putting control directly in their hands.
You can start restaking today—put your ETH to work in Symbiotic by depositing wstETH into the InceptionLRT Vault!
