MilkyWay CEO JayB Kim recently announced a successful funding round for the Celestia liquid staking protocol, raising $5 million. The funding round was co-led by Binance Labs and Polychain Capital, with participation from other investors including Hack VC, Crypto.com Capital, and LongHash Ventures. Binance Labs also expressed their support for MilkyWay as they aim to establish it as a prominent liquid staking protocol in the modular blockchain ecosystem.
The funding round, which began in December and concluded a month ago, involved a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) and token development. The valuation of MilkyWay was not disclosed.
Binance Labs, the venture capital and incubation arm of Binance, has been actively investing in staking and restaking initiatives. They have recently invested in projects such as Babylon, Renzo, Puffer Finance, and StakeStone. MilkyWay, launched in December, is the first Celestia liquid staking protocol and currently faces competition from Stride.
According to JayB Kim, the architectural design of MilkyWay sets it apart from Stride. While MilkyWay operates as a smart contract on Osmosis, Stride has its own Layer-1 blockchain. Kim believes that MilkyWay’s design is simpler and requires less operational and technical overhead.
Currently, MilkyWay focuses solely on liquid staking for the Celestia (TIA) token, while Stride supports liquid staking for multiple tokens including TIA, Cosmos Hub (ATOM), dYdX (DYDX), Injective (INJ), and Juno (JUNO). Stride has a total locked value of approximately $135 million, surpassing MilkyWay in terms of breadth.
The funds raised in this funding round will be used to further develop the MilkyWay protocol and attract liquid staking providers to the ecosystem. Kim expressed confidence in MilkyWay’s ability to strengthen its position in the industry and become a leading player in the liquid staking space.
Disclaimer: This article does not provide investment advice. Investors should be aware of the high volatility and risks associated with cryptocurrencies and conduct their own research.
