In the crypto world, liquidity is everything. No matter how outstanding a DeFi project is, without sufficient liquidity, it remains stagnant and cannot realize its full value. However, as blockchain ecosystems continue to expand, fragmented liquidity across different chains has become the biggest bottleneck for industry growth.

StakeStone precisely addresses this pain point by positioning itself as the “UnionPay + Alipay” of the crypto world. It aims to build a cross-chain liquidity infrastructure that allows capital to move freely between blockchains, eliminating fragmentation, inefficiency, and internal competition over liquidity.

In essence, StakeStone is creating the financial foundation for the DeFi 3.0 era, freeing the industry from pointless liquidity battles and enabling seamless capital flow across chains.

Below is a simplified analysis of the project:

1. StakeStone’s Positioning: The Game-Changer in Cross-Chain Liquidity Infrastructure

1.1 Industry Pain Points & Solutions

Industry Pain Points:

Liquidity fragmentation, single-source yield, and inconsistent returns between new and old blockchains.

Currently, transferring funds across blockchains requires complex operations and high fees. Omnichain technology serves as a bridge to connect these isolated ecosystems, enabling seamless fund movement—allowing users to operate on any blockchain they choose.

From the perspective of cross-chain liquidity, the existing challenges include:

• Fragmented cross-chain liquidity (e.g., BTC struggles to participate in DeFi).
• Limited yield strategies (token incentives lack utility and are unsustainable).
• Difficulties in bootstrapping new blockchains.

Simply put, the main issues are:

1. Funds are “stuck” on a single chain and cannot move freely. For instance, Bitcoin can only stay on the Bitcoin chain, while ETH can only be used in DeFi on Ethereum.

2. New chains struggle to attract users, while old chains are overcrowded. For example, when a new blockchain launches, no one deposits funds, while established blockchains (like Ethereum) face capital overflow but offer low returns.

3. Sustainability of yields is weak. Many projects attract users with high token rewards, but once the incentives stop, the funds quickly leave.

StakeStone’s Solution: Three Core Products for Omnichain Liquidity Distribution

1. STONE (Yield-bearing ETH): Aggregates ETH liquidity across multiple chains and dynamically optimizes yield strategies.

2. SBTC/STONEBTC (Omnichain BTC & Yield-bearing BTC): Establishes a unified BTC liquidity pool, unlocking BTC’s DeFi potential.

3. LiquidityPad: Bridges capital flow between Ethereum and emerging blockchains, enabling bidirectional value capture.

1.2 StakeStone’s Unique Value Proposition

To illustrate the uniqueness of StakeStone’s solution, it can be compared to a combination of Alipay + UnionPay in the crypto world:

1.Alipay-level experience

• STONE: Similar to Alipay’s “Yu’ebao,” users can deposit ETH, earn interest automatically, and transfer funds across chains seamlessly.
• SBTC: Functions like a “digital gold credit card,” allowing BTC holders to earn yield and use BTC freely in DeFi.

2.UnionPay-Like Network:

• LiquidityPad connects liquidity pools across all chains, helping new chains attract capital and enabling efficient fund deployment from established chains.

For users, StakeStone simplifies asset management across multiple blockchains and maximizes returns with minimal effort.For the industry, it accelerates liquidity bootstrapping for new chains and eliminates wasteful liquidity wars, ensuring capital flows to where it’s most needed.

In essence, StakeStone’s cross-chain liquidity protocol does three key things:

• Builds liquidity pipelines to seamlessly connect asset pools across different chains.
• Creates liquidity pumps to direct capital toward the highest-yielding chains dynamically.
• Establishes a unified standard for asset movement across chains, making cross-chain capital flow effortless.

2. Dual-Token Model: One for Work, One for Rewards

StakeStone recently introduced a dual-token model (STO and veSTO), marking a shift from the traditional DeFi “casino model” to a more sustainable “partnership model.”

This dual-token model is particularly noteworthy because it reflects the project team’s intent to move DeFi away from a high-risk, speculative “casino” model and toward a more sustainable “partnership” model. This suggests a long-term strategic vision.

STO & veSTO: Two Tokens, Different Functions

1.STO: The Utility Token

Its main functions include governance voting, where holding STO allows users to vote on the project’s development direction (such as deciding which blockchain to prioritize). It is also used for rewards, as the project distributes STO to users who provide liquidity (for example, those who deposit ETH to earn interest). Additionally, the platform collects transaction fees, which are then distributed to STO holders.

Furthermore, a particularly noteworthy aspect of STO is that, despite being a governance token, it has a built-in deflationary mechanism. Other projects that wish to utilize StakeStone’s liquidity must first purchase and burn STO.

2.veSTO: Dividend Token

This token is primarily obtained by locking STO (similar to a fixed deposit) in exchange for veSTO. Holding veSTO automatically grants three key privileges: increased voting power, allowing holders to decide which liquidity pools receive STO rewards; higher earnings, as veSTO holders receive boosted yields when staking; and more opportunities to receive incentives, as other projects seeking to attract liquidity may distribute “bribes” to veSTO holders, such as direct ETH payouts.

Additionally, to prevent immediate liquidation after acquisition, veSTO has a 30-day unlock period to deter large holders from dumping their tokens.

Although this dual-token model may seem simple, its entire design directly addresses some of the industry’s most pressing issues.

1. In the past, users would typically buy tokens for short-term gains and immediately sell them, leading to continuous price declines. Now, with veSTO requiring locked staking, users are encouraged to shift from speculation to long-term participation, as earning more also means committing to a lock-up period, reducing short-term speculation.

2. Previously, project teams would aggressively distribute funds to attract users during launch phases, yet liquidity pools often remained underutilized. Now, veSTO holders determine where funds should flow, meaning the community has control over capital allocation.

3. In the past, project tokens were often subject to unlimited inflation, with some malicious teams freely increasing supply at will. Now, any project that wishes to access StakeStone’s liquidity must first purchase and burn STO, making STO scarcer as adoption grows.

From this token model, it is evident that the project aims to align user and team interests through a well-designed incentive structure. The longer users participate, the more they earn, while also having governance power over the ecosystem.

3. Valuation & Earning Potential: Points, Airdrops, and Ecosystem Benefits

3.1 Project Valuation Analysis

Looking at the valuation in the sector, leading projects in liquid staking protocols, such as EtherFi (FDV $820M) and Puffer (FDV $250M), generally fall within the $200M–$800M range. In contrast, StakeStone’s estimated valuation (FDV $500M–$1B) is higher than its peers. This premium valuation is supported by three core factors:

1.Scarcity Premium from Cross-Chain Positioning

StakeStone is not a traditional single-chain staking protocol, but the first to position itself as a cross-chain liquidity infrastructure protocol. Unlike vertically-focused projects like Renzo and Puffer, StakeStone covers three key areas: ETH staking, BTC yield-bearing assets, and cross-chain liquidity aggregation, making it comparable to LRT, BTC-Fi, and cross-chain bridges.

In horizontal comparison, LayerZero (a cross-chain interoperability protocol, valued at $3B) focuses on capital efficiency optimization, further enhancing StakeStone’s valuation prospects.

2.Fundamentals Driven by TVL Growth

As of now, StakeStone’s total staked assets (TVL) have surpassed $700M. High liquidity implies strong market recognition and typically leads to higher valuations.

Notably, due to its dual-token model, the protocol benefits from a significant multiplier effect on earnings: protocol fees and bribe revenues are directly linked to TVL, creating a “revenue growth-ecosystem expansion-TVL increase” flywheel.

3.Strategic Ecosystem Partnerships

Through its LiquidityPad product, StakeStone has formed deep partnerships with top-tier ecosystems such as Plume (with $10M funding) and Story Protocol, providing on-chain initial liquidity.

This “liquidity infrastructure supplier” role brings threefold benefits: transaction fees and bribe revenue shared by the partnered projects directly increase protocol income; for each new chain added, StakeStone captures the new users and assets from that chain.

In conclusion, StakeStone’s valuation logic extends beyond traditional sector comparisons. Its positioning as a cross-chain liquidity hub, strong TVL monetization capabilities, and the snowball effect from ecosystem expansion collectively support a $500M–$1B FDV.

3.2 Project Participation Earning Analysis

The project has specified the airdrop proportion, with the first phase of the full-chain carnival event (Wave 1) offering 3% of the total reward pool, and the Berachain Vault event offering 1.5% airdrop. Given that BTC’s proportion is relatively small, the potential earnings are calculated based on ETH staking volume as an average value.

1）Wave 1

Event duration: March 26, 2024 – February 28, 2025 (approximately 340 days)

Staking situation: First 3 days: 342,000, 275,000, and 259,000 ETH; then: ≈150,000 ETH

Points calculation: Points from the first 3 days: approximately 2,102,400 points; points for the remaining 337 days, average daily points ≈ 150,000 × 24 = 3,600,000, total points = 3,600,000 × 337 = 1,213,200,000

Total points for the first stage: 1,215,302,400

Point value:

• Minimum: $15M ÷ 1,215,302,400 ≈ $0.0123/point
• Maximum: $30M ÷ 1,215,302,400 ≈ $0.0247/point

2) Berachain Vault

Event duration: December 26, 2024 – February 28, 2025 (approximately 65 days)

Average staking amount: ≈ 150,000 ETH

Points calculation: Daily points: 150,000 × 24 = 3,600,000, total points = 3,600,000 × 65 = 234,000,000

Point value:

• Minimum: $7.5M ÷ 234,000,000 ≈ $0.032/point
• Maximum: $15M ÷ 234,000,000 ≈ $0.064/point

Based on the calculations, the value of the points in different stages ranges from $0.0123 to $0.064 per point, excluding any additional point multipliers. The actual value can be referenced based on the number of points accumulated, and other points, such as referral points and boosts, are not included in this calculation.

Given the use of average values and the inherent uncertainties in the data, these price estimates are for reference only. The official team might consider increasing the Wave 1 share, with final results to be confirmed.

4. Conclusion

StakeStone’s recent announcements of two significant updates—the snapshot and the dual-token model—further solidify its positioning as a central hub for cross-chain liquidity and optimize its tokenomics to ensure sustainability.

In the DeFi 3.0 era, cross-chain liquidity is the core narrative, and StakeStone’s strategy is forward-looking:

• Free Capital Flow: Breaking down ecosystem barriers to enable efficient cross-chain flow of BTC, ETH, and other blockchain assets.
• Upgraded Earning Models: Through the veSTO mechanism, aligning long-term user participation with protocol rewards, reducing short-term speculation.
• Industry-wide Efficiency: Ending the “mine-sell” model and guiding liquidity from competition to collaboration, improving capital utilization.

For the industry, the project offers a feasible path from liquidity infighting to value creation. In the liquidity-driven DeFi world, StakeStone is building the core financial infrastructure of the crypto industry.

If successful, this would not only be a victory for the protocol but also a significant step forward for the entire industry’s maturity.

Special Note: The various estimates in this article are based on publicly available information and reasonable assumptions and should not be construed as investment advice. Please make your own decisions and participate at your own discretion.

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