Ethereum promises a brighter future, built on a network which promotes freedom, openness, and decentralization.
Though it has come a long way towards achieving this vision, the transition to proof of stake has brought with it challenges and concerns about centralization: almost half of all the staked ETH is controlled by just three staking providers, as per data from Obol, and 31% is staked is through a single provider. This suggests that the staking industry is vulnerable to winner-take-most effects, and could ultimately present an unacceptable centralization risk for Ethereum.
Swell's mission is to simplify liquid staking to make it accessible to everyone, aid in the creation of a healthy staking market that is not dominated by any single provider, and ultimately help preserve the core properties of decentralization and censorship resistance that make Ethereum so powerful.
We set on foot on this mission with the following core values in mind:
Simplicity
The need for 32 ETH and technical know-how for running a validator can put independent solo staking out of reach for most individuals.
Liquid staking protocols make staking much easier, but like the rest of DeFi they often suffer from over-complexity and poor user experience. This might be ok for seasoned degens, but it works against Ethereum's vision of being an open network that anyone can help support.
Swell aims to make liquid staking as simple and easy as possible, enabling anyone to earn rewards by helping support the Ethereum blockchain and making DeFi as accessible as possible to all stakers.
Innovation
The arc of crypto innovation is long, but it bends towards protocols that are permissionless, decentralized, and collaborative.
We believe that trustless and decentralized staking protocols are truer to the ethos of Ethereum, and help secure the blockchain in the best possible way. Swell is moving towards this by embracing innovations such as distributed validator tech (DVT) that aid decentralization, and actively working with the full DeFi ecosystem to build the best possible liquid staking experience
Community
We believe that the Ethereum liquid staking industry should not belong to any one team or company, but be shaped by an open community of invested members with skin in the game.
This cultural and social bonding creates a robust foundation for a community that is aligned with the wider Ethereum ecosystem.
Security
Security is one of the biggest challenges of DeFi, and we don't believe in shying away from it: There is always an inherent risk that Swell’s smart contracts could contain a bug or a vulnerability, or that validators could misbehave, either intentionally or unintentionally, leading to mass correlated slashing events.
Swell takes a security-first approach to protocol development, scheduling rolling smart contract audits and bug bounty programs, and delegating staking to reputable and professional node operators.
Join the Swell Community
If our vision of liquid staking resonates with you, then follow us on Twitter and consider joining the Aquanauts, our friendly Swell Discord community.
