The Rise of Restaking Economies.
What EigenLayer Started and Where It’s Going?
Crypto’s core problem has always been the same: secure systems that are expensive, hard to scale, and difficult to trust.
Every protocol, such as rollup, bridge, oracle, or appchain, faces the same question: who secures it, and how do we trust them?
Until recently, projects either:
- Built their own validator set (slow, costly, complex), or
- Relied on centralized solutions (a trust tradeoff).
Both are inefficient.
Then, EigenLayer introduced restaking.
What Is Restaking?
Restaking is a method of using staked ETH or liquid staking tokens (LSTs) like stETH or rETH to secure additional networks on top of Ethereum.
Here’s how it works:
- You’ve already staked your ETH with Ethereum validators.
- Normally, that ETH only earns consensus rewards and can't be used elsewhere.
- With restaking, you opt-in to use your staked ETH to also secure other services.
- In return, you get extra rewards from those protocols, essentially earning yield on top of your yield.
This is done via protocols like EigenLayer, which acts as a coordination hub between stakers (or "restakers"), validators, and Actively Validated Services (AVSs), external systems that need security.
Introducing EigenLayer
Launched in 2023, EigenLayer introduced the first practical implementation of restaking on Ethereum.
It lets you:
- Restake your ETH or LSDs by delegating to operators who run AVSs.
- Operators validate these services under specific slashing conditions.
- If the AVS detects malicious behavior or downtime, the operator's ETH can be slashed.
The key concept was AVSs, or Actively Validated Services. These can be:
- Decentralized oracles
- Data availability layers
- MPC (multi-party computation) networks
- Bridges
- Sequencers for rollups
These are critical pieces of infrastructure that benefit from Ethereum-grade security, but without needing to build their trust layer from scratch.
As of July 2025, EigenLayer secures over $18B in restaked assets, with dozens of AVSs either live or in testing.
Why Restaking Matters
1. Security-as-a-Service
EigenLayer transforms Ethereum's trust model into a marketplace. Instead of building new trust networks, emerging protocols can rent Ethereum’s security. Operators provide the infrastructure, AVSs pay for reliable validation, and stakers earn rewards, all under Ethereum’s umbrella.
2. Capital Efficiency
Restaking allows the same ETH to be used for multiple layers of security. Rather than locking up new capital, protocols and users can reuse existing staking positions, creating higher yield density per unit of capital.
3. Bootstrapping Infrastructure
Restaking gives new protocols an instant security base. Appchains, oracles, and bridges can launch with robust validator backing from day one, improving decentralization and drastically reducing time-to-market.
EigenLayer opened the door, but new protocols are now extending the model further.
1. Symbiotic – Modular, Permissionless Restaking
- Built for composability and openness.
- Supports any asset, not just ETH.
- AVSs can onboard permissionlessly.
- Validators can opt into specific services with tailored slashing terms.
Symbiotic introduces flexibility that allows developers to design custom trust environments while still benefiting from shared economic guarantees.
2. Karak – Multichain Restaking
- Extends restaking beyond Ethereum to chains like Solana and Avalanche.
- Offers “universal validation” for multiple ecosystems.
- Facilitates a future where validators secure cross-chain AVSs simultaneously.
Karak positions restaking as a multichain primitive, tapping into the broader validation economy across ecosystems.
Liquid Restaking: Unlocking DeFi Composability
If staking is inherently illiquid and restaking adds complexity, the next logical step is to make it liquid and composable, enter Liquid Restaking Tokens (LRTs).
LRTs wrap restaked ETH into liquid assets that can be used across DeFi, while still accruing staking + AVS rewards.
Examples:
Renzo (ezETH)
- Liquid restaking with auto-delegation to operators.
- ezETH reflects aggregated staking + AVS yields.
- Composable across lending, LPing, and more.
EtherFi (eETH)
- Fully decentralized, non-custodial staking protocol.
- Integrates with EigenLayer and other restaking layers.
- eETH earns both Ethereum and EigenLayer yields.
LRTs introduce a yield-maximized, liquid capital layer to Ethereum, making restaked assets accessible for a wide range of financial use cases.
The Risks of Restaking
With innovation comes new risks. Restaking creates interdependencies across systems, and failure in one area can impact the entire chain.
1. Correlated Slashing
If multiple AVSs share the same validator set, failure in one could trigger slashing across all, resulting in cascading losses for restakers.
2. Incentive Misalignment
Validators must follow multiple, sometimes conflicting, slashing rules. Poorly defined terms increase the risk of accidental slashing or validator disengagement.
3. Over-Leveraged Security
Restaking amplifies yield, but also stretches Ethereum’s security budget. If too many AVSs depend on the same capital base, both Ethereum and the AVSs could become more fragile.
4. Centralization Risks
EigenLayer still limits AVS onboarding and operator access. LRTs often aggregate assets under a few large players. These dynamics risk reintroducing central points of failure, undermining decentralization.
Governance, Regulation, and Game Theory
Governance Complexity
Restaking protocols are governed by a mix of stakeholders: stakers, operators, AVSs, slashing committees, and governance bodies. Aligning incentives across these parties is a non-trivial coordination challenge.
Regulatory Uncertainty
Restaking creates yield-bearing derivatives that may resemble financial instruments. Potential regulatory concerns include:
- Disclosure requirements
- Custodial risks
- Investor protections
As regulators intensify scrutiny, restaking protocols must prepare for evolving compliance expectations.
Game Theory at Scale
Restaking encourages positive-sum behavior, but also introduces new attack surfaces:
- Malicious AVS design
- Operator bribery
- Governance capture
Incentives must be carefully designed to preserve security while maximizing participation.
What’s Next?
Restaking is becoming a default trust primitive for modular crypto. Expect:
- AVSs are plugged into shared validator marketplaces.
- LRTs as native collateral in DeFi.
- Cross-chain staking economies.
- Institutional adoption of AVS-backed yields.
But for this to scale, transparency, tooling, and coordination must improve.
Conclusion
EigenLayer didn’t just launch a protocol; it launched a new way to think about security, yield, and economic coordination.
By transforming Ethereum’s staking layer into a programmable trust layer, restaking turns static capital into a dynamic security infrastructure.
As new protocols emerge, new AVSs go live, and cross-chain trust markets take shape, restaking could become the bedrock of next-gen crypto.
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