What Puffer does

Puffer Finance is a Cayman Islands-domiciled Ethereum infrastructure company founded in 2022 that operates a liquid restaking protocol built on EigenLayer. Users deposit ETH into app.puffer.fi and receive pufETH, a liquid restaking token that accrues Ethereum staking rewards, EigenLayer restaking rewards, and Puffer's own restaking rewards while remaining transferable and usable across DeFi. The protocol's core differentiation is Secure-Signer, an open-source anti-slashing mechanism designed to protect validators from penalties and lower the capital and operational barriers to at-home validator operation. Beyond restaking, Puffer has expanded into a multi-product Ethereum infrastructure stack: the UniFi Based Rollup is an L2 offering instant L1 withdrawals and sub-second transaction finality via preconfirmations; Puffer Preconf is a preconfirmation service built on EigenLayer; and Puffer Institutional provides a regulated pathway through a strategic integration with Anchorage Digital, the first federally chartered crypto bank in the US.

Puffer's revenue model is usage-based, capturing value through protocol mechanisms tied to staking and restaking activity rather than explicit user-facing fees, with pricing not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market is primarily product-led self-serve for retail ETH stakers, supplemented by a community-led DAO governance motion and an enterprise field-sales channel via Anchorage Digital for institutional clients. The protocol attracted nearly $200M in deposits on its first day of launch, sits within an Ethereum restaking sector that has scaled to roughly $7.2B (March 2026), and is backed by investors including Brevan Howard Digital, Electric Capital, Lemniscap, Lightspeed Faction, Coinbase Ventures, Binance Labs, Franklin Templeton, ConsenSys, Kraken Ventures, and Bankless Ventures, with an Ethereum Foundation grant and EigenCloud grant further supporting ecosystem credibility.

Name

Puffer

Legal name

Puffer Foundation

Website

https://puffer.fi

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cayman Islands-based Ethereum infrastructure company founded in 2022 that operates a liquid restaking protocol on EigenLayer, enabling individual and institutional ETH holders to earn layered staking and restaking yield via pufETH, UniFi rollup, and preconfirmation services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

George Town

HQ country

Cayman Islands

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Liquid Restaking Protocol Fees: Protocol likely captures value through fees on staking and restaking rewards distributed to pufETH holders. Users stake ETH to receive pufETH tokens and earn Ethereum staking rewards, EigenLayer restaking rewards, and Puffer Finance's restaking rewards.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Puffer operates an Ethereum infrastructure protocol that lets users stake ETH and receive pufETH, a liquid restaking token that simultaneously accrues Ethereum validation rewards, EigenLayer restaking rewards, and Puffer's own restaking rewards. Beyond liquid restaking, Puffer ships a based rollup L2 called UniFi (instant L1 withdrawals and sub-second transactions via preconfirmations), a Puffer Preconf EigenLayer AVS service for sub-second confirmations, and an institutional product delivered through Anchorage Digital for regulated entities.

Product overview

Puffer Finance operates as a multi-product Ethereum infrastructure platform offering four core products: Liquid Restaking (allowing ETH staking with pufETH tokens for EigenLayer restaking rewards), UniFi Based Rollup (an L2 scaling solution with instant withdrawals and sub-second transactions), Puffer Preconf (EigenLayer-based preconfirmation service), and Puffer Institutional (institutional-grade staking infrastructure). The ecosystem includes supporting products like vlPUFFER (governance token), pufETH (liquid restaking token), and UniFi Vaults. The platform is designed to reduce Ethereum centralization pressures and improve validator accessibility for both retail and institutional users.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Liquid Restaking (pufETH) Liquid restaking protocol that accepts ETH deposits and mints pufETH tokens, which earn Ethereum staking rewards plus EigenLayer and Puffer Finance restaking rewards while remaining transferable across DeFi. Built for individual ETH holders who want staking yield without locking up capital in a validator or sacrificing liquidity.
• UniFi Based Rollup Based rollup L2 to Ethereum that delivers sub-second transaction finality and instant L1 withdrawals via preconfirmations and real-time proving, with a built-in liveness guarantee and a dApp explorer for ecosystem apps. Targeted at Web3 developers and users who want Ethereum-equivalent security without traditional L2 withdrawal delays.
• Puffer Preconf Preconfirmation service operated as an EigenLayer AVS that issues sub-second transaction confirmations to based rollups, enhancing Ethereum scalability and supporting Puffer's own UniFi rollup plus external based rollups. Targeted at rollup operators and developers needing fast pre-finality.
• Puffer Institutional Institutional-grade Ethereum staking and liquid restaking offering distributed through Anchorage Digital's federally chartered custody platform, giving qualified institutions compliance-grade access to pufETH and layered staking/restaking yield. Targeted at regulated funds, asset managers, and corporate treasuries that need custody and compliance.
• UniFi Vaults Staking vaults on UniFi for unifiETH that restake deposited assets to secure Puffer Preconf, paying users additional yield on top of base staking rewards. Targeted at UniFi users wanting extra yield by securing Puffer's preconfirmation network.
• AP2 Protocol Delegated agent payment protocol running on the UniFi testnet that lets a delegated agent execute gasless recurring payments and automated price-triggered purchases on behalf of a user via signed transactions. Targeted at developers building subscription-style and programmatic payment flows on UniFi.
• vlPUFFER Vote-locked governance token that lets PUFFER holders lock their tokens to receive boosted rewards and amplified voting power (up to 24x) in Puffer DAO governance. Targeted at PUFFER token holders who want higher governance influence and yield.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly $200M in deposits attracted on first day of launch
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Anchorage DigitalcoreTechnology or Integration · 15 March 2026Strategic integration enabling Anchorage's institutional clients to stake Ethereum through their custody platform and automatically receive pufETH tokens. Clients earn layered yield rewards from standard validation and restaking activities while retaining full liquidity for transfers, trading, or deployment across compatible dApps. The partnership combines Puffer's liquid restaking mechanics with Anchorage's regulatory-grade infrastructure.
• Ethereum FoundationmajorOthersRecipient of Ethereum Foundation grant supporting development of Ethereum infrastructure and decentralization efforts.
• EigenLayercoreTechnology or IntegrationPuffer's liquid restaking and Puffer Preconf are built on EigenLayer. Puffer UniFi AVS was awarded a grant from EigenCloud to support development of its preconfirmation network.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• ether.fi: Leading Ethereum liquid restaking protocol with ~$5.6B TVL. Most direct competitor to Puffer in the LRT space, built on EigenLayer with similar eETH liquid restaking token mechanics.
• Kelp DAO: Liquid restaking protocol with ~$1B TVL on EigenLayer. Direct competitor offering restaked ETH derivative (rsETH) with similar yield-aggregation mechanics to pufETH.
• Renzo Protocol: Liquid restaking protocol with ~$217M TVL on EigenLayer. Direct competitor issuing ezETH, competing for the same EigenLayer restaking yield that Puffer aggregates into pufETH.
• Eigenpie: Liquid restaking protocol built on EigenLayer, originally incubated by Magpie. Issues eigenETH as LRT and competes directly with pufETH for restaking deposits.
• Stader Labs: Multi-chain liquid staking protocol offering ETHx as a liquid staking token on Ethereum. Overlaps with Puffer in liquid staking/restructuring for ETH, though broader across non-ETH chains.
• Mantle: Ethereum L2 with integrated liquid restaking via mETH. Combines rollup infrastructure with restaking yield, directly comparable to Puffer's combined UniFi rollup + pufETH stack.
• Symbiotic: Competing restaking primitive to EigenLayer. Although Puffer is built on EigenLayer, Symbiotic represents the alternative restaking ecosystem that competes for similar operator and AVS demand.
• Karak Network: Restaking protocol offering KARAK as a liquid restaking point. Competes in the same EigenLayer-adjacent shared security space and targets similar institutional and DeFi integrations as Puffer.

Emerging players

• AltLayer: Based rollup and RaaS provider with EigenLayer restaking integration. Comparable to Puffer's UniFi in offering based rollup infrastructure; partially overlapping as Puffer's advisor YaoQi is a co-founder of AltLayer.

Others

• Pendle Finance: Yield tokenization protocol that allows trading of future restaking yield. pufETH and Puffer's restaking rewards are increasingly traded on Pendle, making it a key DeFi venue/distribution channel rather than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Puffer_Finance
• GitHubgithub.com/PufferFinance
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCQ9/Puffer-Finance
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/puffer-finance

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors46 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Puffer