StakeHound is to launch the first tokens that allow access to DeFi while earning staking rewards, unlocking USD20 billion in liquidity for the Ethereum and Radix ecosystems. Incubated by Radix, the first layer-one protocol for DeFi, StakeHound will provide a seamless liquidity bridge into the rapidly growing DeFi ecosystems on both ledgers.
Until now, cryptocurrency users had to choose between earning staking rewards by staking their tokens, or retaining token liquidity by not staking, allowing them to participate in things like DeFi and token trading. StakeHound solves this by creating stake-backed, instantly transferable, and DeFi-ready tokens. All major Proof-of-Stake cryptocurrencies will be supported, so that holders of those tokens can earn staking rewards while still having instant liquidity. StakeHound’s stake-backed tokens are issuable on both the Ethereum and Radix public ledger, allowing users to access and move between both DeFi communities seamlessly.
The advancement of DeFi has contributed to Ethereum’s significant network congestion and skyrocketing gas fees. Today’s blockchain protocols were not designed to meet the requirements of DeFi’s growth. Radix solves this with a layer-one protocol specifically built to serve DeFi by delivering massive scalability, low-cost secure transactions, sub five-second finality, and synchronous atomic composability across shards for DeFi dApps. However, StakeHound token users do not need to choose between accessing Ethereum or Radix with their tokens as StakeHound is cross-ledger by default.
Here’s how StakeHound works: users send their chosen Proof of Stake tokens, such as RADIX, XZC, XTZ, ATOM, ALGO, ADA or DOT, to one of StakeHound’s institutional-grade custodian partners. StakeHound then instantly generates and sends the user a one-to-one representation of their original token on their chosen DeFi ledger (Ethereum now, Radix once launched next year).
StakeHound stakes the tokens it receives, and distributes staking rewards directly to users as additional stake-backed tokens. Users will be able to take their stake-backed tokens and use them in all popular DeFi applications, including Uniswap, Aave, Curve, Synthetix, and more. StakeHound users can swap their representative tokens back for their original tokens at any time. Due to the nature of staking, this may have a time delay while un-staking is completed.
“Staking is a critical part of network security, but it currently creates illiquid positions,” says Albert Castellana, CEO of StakeHound. “On some networks, there are also large minimum stake requirements, putting it out of reach for many small holders. StakeHound removes both of these problems for the user, allowing anyone to support the security of the networks they care about, while giving them liquid access to the best DeFi products the market can offer. It allows even the smallest token holder to earn staking rewards.”
“StakeHound will unlock the type of liquidity that will drive the next phase of DeFi growth benefiting all DeFi users,” says Piers Ridyard, CEO of Radix. “We are excited to create seamless bridges between the Radix and Ethereum DeFi ecosystems, and we hope in time to reduce the burden of congestion Ethereum is currently suffering under, by providing faster and more scalable DeFi on Radix.”
StakeHound was incubated by the Radix team and is led by Radix’s Chief Product Officer Albert Castellana. StakeHound has already launched its Testnet and will introduce its first staking ledger, ZCoin (XZC) in mid-September, with more digital assets and DeFi partners to be announced in the coming months.
