Galaxy Looks to Expand Institutional Staking Infra with Alluvial Acquisition

Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital will take over the technical development of Liquid Collective after acquiring Alluvial Finance, the software firm that previously built and maintained the platform, according to a press release shared with The Defiant.

Liquid Collective is a liquid staking platform for institutions that want to stake Ethereum (ETH) or Solana (SOL) while keeping those assets usable for trading.

“Galaxy has always built the infrastructure institutions need to operate confidently onchain — from trading and custody to lending and staking. Becoming Liquid Collective’s Development Company is a natural extension of that mission,” said Michael Novogratz, founder and CEO of Galaxy, in the release.

Launched in 2023, Liquid Collective reached a record high in total value locked in August, hitting $1.75 billion, according to DefiLlama data. Liquidity has since eased, falling to about $1 billion at press time.

The protocol charges a set 10% service fee on staking rewards, which it distributes across other ecosystem participants, and to its treasury reserve. Liquid Collective generated its highest monthly revenue in October, collecting $380,492 from a total of $3.8 million in fees.

Plans to Add More Assets

With the Alluvial Finance acquisition, Galaxy now controls the code that powers Liquid Collective, and gains Alluvial’s staking tools designed for exchanges, custodians and asset managers. The New York-headquartered firm says it has also begun onboarding Alluvial’s team of on-chain engineers.

Beyond that, Galaxy also plans to expand Liquid Collective to support additional assets, though it hasn’t disclosed which ones or when they will be added. The protocol currently support liquid staking for Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL).

Despite the acquisition, Liquid Collective will remain under the oversight of The Liquid Foundation, a non-profit organization designed to ensure neutral governance, the press release clarifies.

As a broader sector, liquid staking grew this year, amid ETH’s rally and clarity from a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Corporation Finance, which boosted investor confidence. The sector reached an all-time high in terms of TVL in August, breaking over $86 billion. TVL has fallen with the broader market since the Oct. 10 crash, however, and currently sits just above $60.4 billion.