i) Strategic Aims:
The stated goal of the Renzo protocol is to serve as a Liquid Restaking Token (LRT) and Strategy Manager for EigenLayer. It aims to simplify the complex process of restaking for end-users by abstracting away the management of Actively Validated Services (AVSs) and restaking rewards. The protocol’s core product, ezETH, is a liquid token that represents a user’s restaked position.
ii) Project History:
- Inception Date: The Renzo protocol beta mainnet went live in December 2023. The REZ token generation event (TGE) occurred on April 30, 2024.
- Operational Duration: The protocol has been operational for approximately 1 year and 7 months. The token has been live for approximately 1 year and 2 months.
- Progress Analysis: Given its operational duration, the project has established itself as a major player in the liquid restaking sector on EigenLayer, attracting significant Total Value Locked (TVL). The project has successfully launched its governance token and initiated its core service. However, the full scope of its strategy, including decentralized AVS selection and the complete utility of the REZ token, is still in development. The timeframe has been sufficient to demonstrate product-market fit but not yet the long-term sustainability or decentralization of its model.
iii) Tokenomics and Backers:
- Supply & Allocation:
- Total Supply: 10,000,000,000 REZ
- Initial Circulating Supply (at TGE): 1,150,000,000 REZ (11.5% of total supply)
- Initial Allocation:
- Investors: 31.56%
- Team: 20.00%
- Foundation: 13.44%
- Community (including airdrop): 32.00%
- Binance Launchpool: 2.50%
- Liquidity: 0.50%
- Inflation & Emissions:
- The REZ token has a fixed total supply of 10 billion and is not inflationary through block rewards. Future supply will enter circulation via the unlocking of vested tokens.
- Team and investor tokens are subject to a 1-year cliff followed by a 2-year linear vesting schedule. The initial 1-year cliff is not yet complete.
- The primary sources of future supply entering the market will be the vesting unlocks for the team, investors, and foundation, as well as distributions from the community and ecosystem fund.
- Known Backers:Maven11, Figment Capital, Binance Labs, SevenX Ventures, IOSG Ventures, OKX Ventures, Mantle.
iv) Value Accrual Analysis:
- Direct Token Utility: The primary and sole stated utility of the REZ token is for governance. Holders can vote on proposals related to the protocol’s operations, such as risk management frameworks, operator and AVS selection, and treasury management.
- Revenue to Holder Pathway:
- The Renzo protocol generates revenue by taking a fee on the restaking rewards earned by its users.
- Indirect Treasury Growth: As of the current design, protocol revenue accrues to the Renzo DAO treasury. There is no direct mechanism for distributing these fees to REZ token holders, nor is there a buyback and burn program. Value accrues to the token only indirectly, through the increased value of its governance power over a growing treasury. The DAO could, in the future, vote to implement a direct value accrual mechanism, but one does not presently exist.
Resources
| Resource | Link |
| Official Project Website | https://www.renzoprotocol.com/ |
| Governance Forum | https://snapshot.org/#/renzoprotocol.eth |
| Official X (Twitter) | https://x.com/RenzoProtocol |
| Primary Block Explorer (Etherscan) | https://etherscan.io/token/0x3b50805453023a92a856269ce62474079c7321d3 |
| CoinGecko | https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/renzo |
| CoinMarketCap | https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/renzo/ |
| DeFiLlama | https://defillama.com/protocol/renzo |
