Monad's Liquid Staking Protocol set to receive $4M in seed funding, courtesy of Kintsu.
Kintsu's Shift to Monad: A New Era for Liquid Staking
Kintsu, a liquid staking protocol, is set to launch on the Monad network within a week of Monad's mainnet launch. This strategic move marks a significant shift for Kintsu, which was initially focused on the Aleph Zero blockchain.
The decision to shift focus to Monad is driven by the potential benefits that the Monad ecosystem offers for next-generation liquid staking. Kintsu aims to maximise staking rewards and DeFi usability by leveraging Monad's Proof-of-Stake consensus.
Kintsu's liquid staking platform on Monad allows users to deposit Monad's native token (MON) to receive Liquid Staking Tokens (sMON). These tokens represent ownership of staked MON, along with the yield generated by validators and MEV fees. The protocol automatically compounds rewards, increasing the value of sMON over time.
Moreover, Kintsu's governance on Monad is on-chain, permissionless, and based on a representative democracy DAO. This allows for control over staking weights and treasury management, fostering a community-governed validator registry and fully transparent governance.
The fundraising round for Kintsu was led by Castle Island Ventures, with participation from Brevan Howard Digital, CMT Digital, Spartan Group, Breed VC, CMS Holdings, and Animoca Ventures. Kintsu's shift to Monad signifies a strategic pivot to a network with promising DeFi and staking dynamics, aligning with Kintsu's goal to innovate liquid staking and increase yield through integrated DeFi utilities.
Additional context: Kintsu recently secured $4 million in seed funding, signalling strong market and investor confidence in its Monad-based liquid staking project. On the same day, another Monad-based liquid staking protocol, aPriori, announced a $10 million funding round. Notable angel investors in Kintsu include Alex Matthews and Ross Trachtman from Brevan Howard Digital, Marin Tvrdic from Lido, and Robinson Burkey from Wormhole Foundation.
This article is based on the most recent and authoritative data available as of late August 2025.
| Aspect | Kintsu on Monad | Reason for Switch from Aleph Zero | |----------------------|-------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------| | Protocol Status | Active, liquid staking operational on Monad | Strategic decision to capitalize on Monad’s ecosystem advantages, including staking, MEV rewards, and DeFi composability | | Key Features | sMON tokens represent staked MON + yield; DAO for validator governance; automated compounding of staking rewards | Greater alignment with Monad’s tech and community for innovation in liquid staking | | Governance | On-chain, permissionless registry and representative democracy DAO control over staking weights and treasury | Opportunity to build governance in a more open environment provided by Monad |
There is no direct public detail in the provided sources explaining the detailed rationale behind the Aleph Zero focus abandonment, but the renewed emphasis on Monad suggests a strategic pivot to a network with promising DeFi and staking dynamics, which aligns with Kintsu’s goal to innovate liquid staking and increase yield through integrated DeFi utilities.
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