what's Relay Protocol?
Relay Protocol is a cross-chain payments infrastructure designed to enable fast, low-cost bridging and transactions across multiple blockchain networks. It connects users to a network of relayers—entities that execute onchain actions on behalf of users—allowing seamless transfers of assets like ETH, USDC, SOL, and others without the need for users to manage gas fees or wait for confirmations. By aggregating liquidity from DEXes and minimizing onchain operations, Relay achieves near-instant settlements (often under 3 seconds) and reduces costs by up to 80% compared to traditional bridges. The protocol operates in a permissionless manner, where any relayer can support new chains by maintaining balances and competing on speed and price. This creates an open marketplace that supports high-frequency, low-value actions essential for chain abstraction and multi-chain ecosystems. Features include wallet views for managing balances across EVM and SVM chains, instant swaps with trending token discovery, and integrations with platforms like OpenSea for NFT minting using cross-chain funds. Relay emphasizes trustlessness and capital efficiency, with upcoming developments like the fully open relayer system to further decentralize operations. Backed by Reservoir and funded through VC investments, it powers applications in DeFi, social networks, and payments, facilitating a unified experience across thousands of potential chains.
Relay Protocol launched Relay Chain and completed Series B funding.
Links
x.com/relayprotocolRepresentatives participated in Intents Day at ETHDenver on February 18, 2026, a full-day conference featuring panels and discussions on intents technology.
Facilitated $718.0 million in volume for Arbitrum routes on Jumper over the past year.
Raised $17M in Series B funding led by Archetype and USV, bringing total funding to over $40M.
Launched Relay Chain.
Pays triple the Aave rate on ETH deposits.
Featured in a curated list of regularly-used dApps on Sei Network, positioned among bridging and cross-chain swapping tools.
Became the #1 sender of transactions on Base chain.
Integrates for perpetual futures funding operations, waiving $10 minimum deposit. Routes swaps through fomolt CLI trading infrastructure, launched February 21, 2026, enabling AI agents to execute onchain trades with automatic gas payment in USDC on Base.
Relay Protocol adds functionality to send SOL between Solana and Base networks.
Relay Protocol API powers Earnmo, a new Venmo-based earning tool that converts PYUSD to USDC and enables deposits on ZKP2P at 2% premium, built with integration of ZKP2P Offramp SDK and Privy wallets.
Live bridge between Base and Solana networks launches, allowing Base assets to access Solana DeFi ecosystem and liquidity.
Provides on-ramping and auto-bridging for an AI influencer agent platform on Base via Pearl app store with Transak integration, and for Polystrat, an autonomous trading agent on Polymarket.
Integration with Privy launches, enabling users to bridge and swap assets directly inside Privy wallets with cross-chain funding capabilities added through minimal code implementation.
Founder Peter Watts responds to L2Beat scrutiny, stating the protocol will prioritize increasing decentralization under external pressure.
Provides bridging, trading, and swapping functionality to Hyperliquid on Zerion for MegaETH chain integration; recommended by BanklessHQ as a bridging service alongside Gas.zip and LI.FI Protocol.
Integration with TRON network announced, enabling direct swaps into USDT on TRON through app and API, with native TRX support planned for near future.
Protocol reports processing $9B+ in volume across 60M+ transactions serving 6M+ users over the past 18 months, with average transaction costs under $0.01 and 1-second fill times. The protocol sponsors Money Rails and participates at Devconnect on November 18.
Integration with KyberNetwork launches, enabling instant crosschain liquidity for swaps without bridging.
Integration with Printr Protocol confirmed, where Relay Protocol serves as the primary intent routing solution for the Bybit-backed chain-abstracted memecoin launchpad live across Solana, Base, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, Ethereum, Avalanche, and Mantle ahead of Printr's TGE.
Public criticism emerges calling the protocol's design "bad" and urging the Ethereum community to oppose such interoperability designs, with warning indicators suggesting a detailed critique thread.
Stablecoin farming program offers points toward ICO participation (USDai with KYC) or free token airdrop (sUSDAI without KYC), with stablecoins trading at $1.02 premium on Arbitrum due to capped supply.
Protocol expands cross-chain trading capabilities to include Solana network via Butter Network integration.
The protocol issued a security warning about EIP-7702 delegations that can expose wallets to potential fund loss and provided a tool for users to check active delegations.
New integration with Pearl App enables seamless fund transfers through the protocol.
Live cross-chain swaps operational between Ethereum L1, Base, and Worldcoin chains with quick execution times.
Experimenting with new design to reduce backend bridging complexity by 33% with gas savings.