SLURP-61 | Launch Espresso Liquid Staking (stESP)

Summary

This proposal seeks DAO approval to deploy stake.link’s liquid staking infrastructure for Espresso’s ESP token the following weeks as ESP’s TGE went live last week. By launching stESP as one of the first liquid staking solutions for Espresso, stake.link can capture first-mover advantage in a high-quality infrastructure protocol while advancing our multi-asset liquid staking strategy.

Motivation & Rationale

Espresso launched its $ESP token as part of its transition to decentralized proof-of-stake consensus. The network serves as consensus infrastructure for major rollup chains, providing fast finality and interoperability for the multi-chain ecosystem.

ESP Token Details:

ERC-20 on Ethereum: 0x031de51f3e8016514bd0963d0b2ab825a591db9a

Initial supply: 3.59 billion ESP

Staking contract: 0x36ad45A4931d0E226010BE9A8477D400C8bB3d9C

Validator set: Dynamic top 100 by total stake

Strategic Opportunity Espresso is distributing 10% of total supply (359M ESP) via airdrop to 1M+ eligible addresses, with staking bonuses up to 420% for 2-year lock commitments. This could create staking demand at launch.

Strategic Alignment:

Extends our multi-asset LST platform beyond LINK & POL

Infrastructure protocol narrative aligns with stake.link positioning

Leverages proven stLINK/wstLINK DeFi architecture

First-mover advantage critical in LST markets

Revenue Potential: Following our standard model, stESP generates protocol fees from staking rewards, with a portion distributed to SDL stakers (reSDL holders) - similar to stLINK & stPOL.

Specification

stESP: Rebase token reflecting staking rewards (similar to stLINK) wstESP: Wrapped, non-rebase version for DeFi composability (similar to wstLINK)

Potential Timeline Deploy stESP/wstESP contracts

Enable stake.link staking interface

Deploy a market for ESP/stESP on Curve Ethereum

Start working on DeFi composability for wstESP

Enable wstESP bridging to Espresso chains or others via CCIP if there is demand

Protocol Benefits First-mover advantage in quality infrastructure protocol

Revenue diversification through new asset class

Cross-selling opportunities to Espresso ecosystem users

Governance Process:

Community Discussion: ~7 days

Formal Vote: Council Snapshot vote

Implementation: Deployment kickoff via stake.link’s website, marketing on social

Conclusion

Espresso represents a strategic opportunity to establish stake.link as the default liquid staking solution for high-quality infrastructure protocol. With 1M+ airdrop recipients, enhanced staking rewards, and major ecosystem partnerships, timing is critical to capture market share before competitors emerge.

This proposal advances stake.link’s multi-asset vision while leveraging our proven technical architecture and operational expertise in the liquid staking space.