Swell Network (SWELL)

Swell network is a Ethereum liquid staking protocol with its own yield-bearing liquid tokens - swETH and rswETH. It allows users to passively earn APR from security Ethereum network and AVS restaking services, while still owning liquid funds. 

When a user stakes ETH on the Swell Network, they receive one of Swell’s liquid staking tokens, either Swell rswETH or swETH token. Originally, the price of those LSTs tokens is pegged to the value of Ethereum. However, over time, they  outperform Ethereum by the percentage of APR that Swell Network offers to users. This way users are able to passively earn APR from staking Ethereum, while still remaining ownership of their funds in the form of LSTs. 

On March 13th, 2024, the Swell liquid staking protocol announced the release of its Ethereum L2 network, built on Polygon CDK and powered by the “restaking rollup”. The new staking rollup is integrated by design with EigenLayer Actively Validated Services (AVS) and supports the rswETH token as a currency for paying gas fees within the Swell L2 network.

Along with the launch of its L2 network, the platform announced the release of its native SWELL token, which will be used for participating in DAO votings and incentivizing Ethereum staking initiatives within the Swell staking protocol and L2 network.

UPD: With the mainnet launch on May 23, 2024, the Swell L2 network is now fully operational. 

🤑 $SWELL token was launched and is now actively traded on several exchanges. The token is used for governance voting and incentivizing participation across the protocol and L2 network.

Swell has introduced a multi-phase airdrop program called Wavedrops:

• Wavedrop 1 distributed 10% of the total SWELL supply to early adopters.
• Wavedrop 2 rewarded active users, stakers, and contributors to the protocol.
• Wavedrop 3 is upcoming and will target swETH/rswETH holders, restakers, and community participants now that the mainnet is live.

In addition, Swell recently announced its integration with Symbiotic, expanding restaking capabilities beyond EigenLayer. With the upcoming release of the native token, Swell airdrop and mainnet launch of the its L2 network, the CoinLaunch decided to analyze the entire project and found some major pros and cons of the project:

Swell Network’s pros:

•  The highly demandable product that aligns with the quite popular “ethereum restaking” trends;
• First Ethereum L2 network built on the restaking rollup;
• Relatively big project’s community of over 141K users;
• The platform boasts over $1.9B worth of TVL;.
• Presence of the security audits from tier 1 and tier 2 companies;
• Strong PR, SEO, SMM, Growth as well as Influencer marketing performance;
• Above the average Marketing infrastructure score;
• Multiple Tier 1 partners supporting the project.

Swell Network’s cons:

• Lack of TOP tier funds supporting the project;
• High inflation rate (about 37% in first year);
• Although the team is well-educated and skilled, they lack experience in tier 1 and tier 2 web3 companies.