Valantis Acquires StakedHYPE: Impact on Liquid Staking

Valantis, a modular decentralized exchange (DEX) protocol, has announced its acquisition of StakedHYPE, the second-largest liquid staking platform on the Hyperliquid’s HyperEVM blockchain. While the financial details of the deal remain undisclosed, Valantis indicated that StakedHYPE’s operations, development, and scaling will now fall under Valantis Labs. As part of this acquisition, Addison Spiegel, the founder of Thunderhead (the company behind StakedHYPE), will join Valantis as an advisor. StakedHYPE holds a significant position in the Hyperliquid ecosystem, boasting over $200 million in total value locked (TVL). Initially aimed at helping developers create decentralized exchanges, Valantis has pivoted to building products on its own infrastructure, as noted by co-founder and CTO Ed Carvalho. Recently, Valantis launched an LST-specific DEX for StakedHYPE (stHYPE) and Kinetiq Staked HYPE (kHYPE), which are noted as the two largest liquidity pools on HyperEVM, collectively achieving around $70 million in TVL and more than $500 million in trading volume. Carvalho asserted that this acquisition fosters vertical integration, enabling Valantis to enhance market infrastructure for liquid staking tokens (LSTs). "Valantis started gaining traction as an LST-specific DEX, providing optimal pricing and liquidity for these assets," Carvalho stated. "Integrating an LST protocol with a DEX will yield the most efficient trading environment." Carvalho hinted at future developments for StakedHYPE, including expanding beyond Hyperliquid staking emissions and offering market maker fee discounts through the upcoming HIP-3 initiative. Valantis aspires to further enhance stHYPE's permissions, deepen its integration with both its DEX and HyperCore (the perps exchange of Hyperliquid), ultimately transforming stHYPE into a liquidity network supporting the broader Hyperliquid ecosystem. Backed by notable investors like Kraken Ventures and Figment Capital, Valantis raised $7.5 million last year at a valuation of $40 million. Conversely, Thunderhead (the StakedHYPE team) has maintained profitability without external funding and consists of a six-member team, which will not be joining Valantis post-acquisition. The deal is now finalized, following a series of formal talks that started weeks prior to the conclusion. Carvalho refrained from discussing specific transaction structure details, including whether the deal involved cash, tokens, or equity, owing to contractual obligations that restrict divulging their financial advisors’ identities. Stay informed about the latest in crypto funding and M&A through my bi-monthly newsletter, The Funding. Sign up now! Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet delivering news and analysis. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor in The Block, which continues to operate autonomously to provide unbiased, impactful information on the crypto industry. All rights reserved.