Restaking is a growing innovation in blockchain ecosystems that enhances security and efficiency. By enabling already-staked assets to be “reused,” restaking extends economic security beyond the base blockchain network, allowing new projects to establish trust in off-chain computations without requiring additional capital investment.
On Solana, Jito Restaking has pioneered this approach by creating a framework for Node Consensus Networks (NCNs), which coordinate operators to perform specialized tasks while leveraging the security of staked SOL. However, developing and deploying NCNs remains a complex challenge. Few teams are building platforms that allow NCN developers to launch projects quickly with built-in economic security, eliminating the need to develop their own security infrastructure.
We spoke with Gena Evstratov, who is developing Cambrian—a platform designed to simplify NCN and AVS development for Solana restaking protocols. Cambrian’s SDK dramatically reduces complexity, providing developers with a powerful toolkit for decentralized off-chain tasks and oracle-driven solutions.
TechBullion: Gena, you have quite a solid background in software architecture and development. What do you think is the most challenging for the development of blockchain and crypto-related platforms?
Gena Evstratov: I think it is that everything is based on maths in one way or another. In the web2 field, everything is pretty simple; you transfer JSONs or paint buttons, you know? Here in web3 there is a lot of math—like elliptic curves, field algebra, ZK stuff. It is much more complex and you can shoot yourself in the foot in a million more ways than in web2.
In your opinion, what are the main advantages of Solana compared to Ethereum?
Gena Evstratov: Well, apart from architecture and other tech internals, I can surely mention Solana’s superior tx speed and lower gas prices. For me, Solana feels more natural and easy to use.
Could you name a few core problems that developers face when building their own NCNs from scratch?
Gena Evstratov: The biggest problem, in my opinion, is that there are too many moving parts, and it is not easy to set them in motion in just the right way, especially if you are new to this kind of thing. Lack of proper documentation is the other thing—and the whole thing being a frontier of web3 is also on the table here.
Tell us how Cambrian might help developers to build easily and without painful deployments.
Gena Evstratov: Well, first of all we provide “camb” CLI utility to manage everything in one place—creation, management and deployment of all actors used in the system. Believe me, only this is a real game changer. But on top of that we also provide some high level programming abstractions which allow developers to forget about writing boilerplate and glue code in order to focus on business logic they really need.
Why did you choose to build in restaking?
Gena Evstratov: So, first of all, restaking currently is hugely underestimated. It was, and still is, one of the bleeding edges of crypto tech—and I like building something new that is very much on the frontier. The area remains new, and so building in it is literally shaping the future of crypto. This is very exciting, as exciting as it gets in the tech world.
What’s on Cambrian’s roadmap for the next year? Are there any new features or capabilities you’re particularly excited about developing?
Gena Evstratov: Pluggable consensus and reward strategies are the most notable things I suppose, but not the only ones. We will probably build some even more higher level abstractions so developers will be able to set up their projects in no time.
If you could instantly change one thing about the current Restaking landscape, what would it be?
Gena Evstratov: I wish there were more NCNs. Without new protocols using restaking protocols there will be no progress in the field. I put a lot of faith in the growing hype about dAGI and all related things, because their tasks are a perfect match for restaking security.
Do you restake yourself? If so, with what tokens, and how do you choose the protocols and pools in which to stake?
Gena Evstratov: I do indeed. I have quite an amount of jitoSOL. It’s called dogfooding—when a team uses its own products. I never had any doubts if I should stake. I build in this domain, and that means I definitely should!
This conversation with Gena Evstratov highlights how Solana’s evolving restaking infrastructure is driving innovation by lowering barriers for developers. By simplifying the creation of Node Consensus Networks, Cambrian is not just reducing technical friction—it’s enabling a wave of experimentation that could unlock breakthrough applications. As restaking gains traction, platforms like Cambrian may become essential building blocks for the next generation of decentralized networks.
