Symbiotic Security on Router Chain: Pre-Deposit Campaign Now Live!

4 min readJan 28, 2025

Router Protocol is thrilled to announce its latest leap forward in boosting Router Chain’s security. We are establishing Router Chain as a Symbiotic security network to bolster the chain’s resilience.

While some components of this new system are still undergoing rigorous audits, we’re kicking things off with a pre-deposit campaign that’s now live on Ethereum. Users can participate in this campaign using ETH and ETH-based assets like wstETH, rETH, cbETH, among others. We’ll soon add support for BTC-based assets like wBTC, LBTC, and tBTC, as well as other assets accepted by Symbiotic including but not limited to sUSDe, SWELL, ETHFI.

Pre-deposit now:
https://app.symbiotic.fi/network/0xcf128E88E11507aBAd12a7624A34E3d22F731AbC

This is your chance to get in early and be part of the Router Chain community.

Router Chain as a Symbiotic Network

Mesh Security Module

On the Router Chain, we’ve developed a mesh security module that breaks traditional staking barriers. With this system, users can stake on the Router Chain using a wide range of assets, not just ROUTE tokens. This flexibility ensures that anyone, regardless of the tokens they hold, can participate in securing the network while earning rewards. This development is a prerequisite to enable Symbiotic restaking for the Router chain.

Working

Users can restake their funds with a vault partner like EtherFi or Renzo, who delegate the funds stored in their vault to registered operators running a Router Chain node. Once the communication between the vault, the registered operator, and the Router Network contract is complete, the state on the Router Network contract is synced with the Router Gateway contract. This syncing occurs once per epoch, where the epoch duration is configurable to N number of blocks. Since the syncing is trustless, it can be triggered by anyone. When the Gateway contract receives the updated state, it forwards the staking request to the Mesh Security Module, which mints an equivalent amount of ROUTE tokens against the deposit. For example, if ETH is valued at $3,000 and ROUTE at $0.04, a deposit of 1 ETH will result in 75,000 ROUTE tokens being minted and staked on the user’s behalf. When the vault chooses to undelegate funds from the Router contract (via Symbiotic), the 75,000 ROUTE tokens are burned, and the original 1 ETH is returned along with the ROUTE rewards earned during the staking period.

This system is designed to ensure fairness through a dynamic burn-and-mint mechanism. Since token prices can fluctuate, the ROUTE minted or burned adjusts accordingly, thanks to a custom price oracle that monitors real-time values. This innovation ensures that the system remains transparent, balanced, and aligned with market conditions.

Why Symbiotic?

Becoming a Symbiotic-powered network is an important milestone for the Router Chain. By leveraging Symbiotic security, we can significantly enhance our network’s security while keeping costs in check. Since Symbiotic restakers earn yield from multiple networks, we are able to offer them a slightly lower APR compared to native Router Chain validators. This strategic difference allows us to reduce inflation while simultaneously boosting security.

Another key advantage of Symbiotic is its versatility. It enables staking with a wide variety of assets, including BTC, ETH, sUSDe, and more. This flexibility not only opens the doors for a broader user base but also strengthens the network with a diverse pool of participants.

Upcoming Plans

Our mesh security module is currently undergoing an audit to ensure that it meets the highest standards of security and functionality. While we finalize this audit, we’ve opened pre-deposits on the Router Chain for Symbiotic. Once everything is cleared, we will launch the full system, enabling users to experience the complete benefits of this groundbreaking security model. We are also working on integrating BTC oracle and other token oracles to enable deposits into the Router Chain via various tokens.

Join the Pre-Deposit Campaign Today!

This is your chance to be part of the Router Chain’s next big milestone. By participating in the pre-deposit campaign, you not only contribute to the network’s growth but also position yourself to reap rewards in the near future. Whether you’re holding ETH, BTC, or other supported assets, staking has never been more accessible.