By San Francisco, CA – September 16, 2025 – Puffer Finance, a pioneering liquid restaking protocol, continues its strong momentum within the Ethereum staking sector as it surpasses $165 million in total value locked (TVL) and completes the successful distribution of its native token, $PUFFER. Nearly one year after the project’s token generation event (TGE) and subsequent launch in October 2024, Puffer Finance has emerged as one of the top ten liquid staking protocols in the ecosystem, backed by a formidable lineup of investors and a compelling institutional-focused roadmap.
Built as an anti-slashing, permissionless liquid staking solution, Puffer Finance enables users to stake Ethereum and receive PufETH in return—earning not only ETH staking rewards but also additional points through EigenLayer and its proprietary Puffer Points system. With an estimated APR of over 30% through combined yield sources, the platform offers compelling incentives for both individual and institutional stakers. The project’s innovative model leverages Ethereum restaking mechanisms, enhancing yield potential while maintaining security and composability across DeFi.
Since its inception in early 2024, Puffer Finance has completed multiple funding rounds totaling over $24 million, including a $5.5 million seed round and a $18 million Series A round. These rounds were led by prominent investors such as Brevan Howard, Electric Capital, Jump Crypto, and YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs). The backing from tier-1 venture firms and Web3 ecosystem leaders has provided Puffer with strategic capital and industry alignment to execute on its multi-layered roadmap.
The first airdrop season for the $PUFFER token was completed earlier this year, distributing 75 million tokens to early participants, contributors, and restakers. The token, which launched at a price of $0.50, currently trades at approximately $0.20, reflecting a 0.41x ROI from its initial listing. Despite market volatility, Puffer’s token remains integral to its governance and rewards ecosystem, supporting activities such as staking, validator incentives, and community quests.
Puffer Finance’s roadmap extends beyond traditional staking. The protocol is actively developing UniFi, a high-speed, Ethereum-aligned Layer 2 rollup that enables instant Layer 1 withdrawals and sub-second transaction confirmations. Complementing this is the UniFi AVS (Actively Validated Services), a preconfirmation layer built on EigenLayer designed to improve transaction reliability and throughput. These features aim to address some of Ethereum’s most pressing scalability challenges while reinforcing the security guarantees of the base layer.
To further empower restakers, Puffer Finance has introduced Fast Path Rewards (FPR)—a novel funding mechanism that supports permissionless validators. This approach democratizes staking participation and aligns with Ethereum’s decentralization ethos. The protocol also integrates with a robust referral and quest system, allowing users to farm additional Puffer and EigenLayer points through structured engagement activities and gamified incentives.
With a pre-valuation of $250 million and a strong institutional adoption curve, Puffer’s technology stack has already attracted over $13.6 billion in ETH staked across its ecosystem. The team, comprising researchers, engineers, and DeFi thought leaders, maintains a strong public presence through frequent blog updates, community forums, and educational content. Core contributors and advisors include prominent names from Ethereum Research, Coinbase, Polygon, Mechanism Capital, and Curve.
Now entering its second season of point farming, Puffer Finance continues to reward its loyal user base through platform engagement and ETH staking participation. Users can visit the official site to check eligibility for Season 1 claims and begin farming in Season 2. This ongoing engagement loop not only strengthens retention but sets the stage for future token utility expansion.
As the Ethereum ecosystem moves toward greater modularity and staking decentralization, Puffer Finance is poised to lead the charge with its dual-pronged approach of liquid restaking and Layer 2 scaling. With $165 million TVL and a rapidly growing community, Puffer is well on its way to redefining how capital, security, and throughput converge in the next era of Web3 infrastructure.
About Puffer Finance
Puffer Finance is a decentralized, permissionless liquid restaking protocol built on Ethereum. It enables users to stake ETH, earn rewards, and participate in innovative point farming systems while contributing to Ethereum’s security and scalability. With a growing suite of products including UniFi Rollup and UniFi AVS, Puffer aims to deliver institutional-grade infrastructure that accelerates Ethereum’s evolution. Backed by tier-1 investors and powered by open-source innovation, Puffer Finance is building the foundation for next-gen liquid staking and rollup architecture.
