What is Puffer (PUFFER)?

Deep Dive

1. Restaking & Scalability Foundation

Puffer’s Liquid Restaking Protocol lets users stake ETH to earn rewards while contributing to Ethereum’s security and supporting external networks (AVSs). Unlike traditional staking, it issues pufETH – a liquid token representing restaked positions. This approach lowers validator entry barriers from 32 ETH to 1 ETH via Validator Tickets (Puffer Docs).

2. Based Rollup Architecture

The protocol’s UniFi stack introduces “based rollups” – appchains where Ethereum validators directly sequence transactions. This eliminates centralized sequencers, inherits Ethereum’s security, and enables sub-second preconfirmations via open-sourced TXD provers (Automata GitHub).

3. Progressive Decentralization

Puffer transitions governance to a DAO where vePUFFER holders vote on key decisions like gauge removals, treasury allocations, and protocol upgrades. Locking PUFFER tokens grants voting power, aligning incentives across restakers, node operators, and developers (June 2025 Governance Update).

Conclusion

Puffer positions itself as Ethereum’s infrastructure layer, combining trustless restaking with appchain scalability while progressively decentralizing control. With $120M TVL secured and major exchange integrations as of August 2025, its success hinges on maintaining validator participation rates and scaling rollup adoption. Can Puffer’s hybrid model become the default toolkit for Ethereum-aligned appchains?