Symbiotic

Symbiotic is a permissionless restaking protocol where any ERC-20 (not just ETH) can be used as collateral to secure networks, with modular vaults and operator delegation.

Asset-agnostic and modular — networks choose collateral assets, operators, and slashing logic, unlike ETH-centric restaking.

- Vaults: On-chain containers that hold collateral (one collateral token per vault) and connect it to networks. Vaults handle accounting (deposits, withdrawals, epoch timing, penalized collateral), delegation (curator limits, stake distribution across networks and operators), and slashing (via a standard Slasher or a VetoSlasher module). They guarantee stake remains slashable for at least one epoch so networks can rely on predictable security commitments. - Operators: Validators or node infrastructure providers that opt into vaults and networks, run the required infrastructure for target networks, and are held accountable for violations through slashing. Operators can use configurable delegation topologies, from securing a single network to multi-network restaking. - Networks: Chains, rollups, or modular services that outsource economic security to Symbiotic operators. Networks integrate via a middleware/relay layer, define their own collateral assets, operator selection, rewards, and slashing conditions, and set maximum stake acceptance limits per vault. - Resolvers: Arbitration systems (smart contracts, multisigs, DAOs, or external arbitration services) that review slashing requests and can approve or veto them within a defined veto period when the VetoSlasher is used. - Curators: Participants who configure and manage vault risk parameters, allocation limits, accepted collateral, and delegation across networks and operators, effectively running the staking/collateral market on top of a vault. - Collateral: The assets committed into vaults to back obligations. Symbiotic is asset-agnostic and permissionless, accepting any ERC-20 token rather than being limited to ETH and ETH liquid staking derivatives.

- Symbiotic (no native token) (—) — Token, No native token

- Collateral: Because Symbiotic accepts any ERC-20 token as collateral, volatile or thinly-traded assets can undermine the value backing security guarantees, and rapid price drops can leave networks under-collateralized relative to the value they are protecting. - Smart Contract: Security depends on a modular stack of vault, delegation, slashing, rewards, relay, and network contracts. Bugs in these contracts, or in the network-defined middleware/slashing logic, could lead to loss of deposited collateral despite extensive audits. - Oracle: Slashing and stake accounting can depend on network-defined slash verifiers and off-chain data; a faulty or manipulated slash-verification/oracle input could trigger unjust slashing or fail to slash genuine faults. - Governance: Risk parameters, allocation limits, accepted collateral, and delegation are set by curators per vault; misconfiguration, malicious curation, or resolver/veto arbitration decisions can expose depositors to losses outside their control. - Systemic: Reusing the same collateral to secure many networks simultaneously creates correlated exposure: a large slashing event or cascading failure across shared collateral could propagate losses across multiple networks and vaults at once.

- Collateralized reinsurance / shared collateral pool: similar — Like a reinsurance or shared-collateral arrangement, capital providers post collateral that backs specific obligations for a defined term and cannot exit early, providing enforceable economic guarantees to counterparties.; differs — Terms, slashing, and payouts are enforced by immutable on-chain smart contracts and are permissionless and programmable, rather than intermediated by insurers, custodians, or legal contracts.