What is Restaking?

Restaking is a mechanism that allows staked cryptocurrency — most commonly staked Ether (ETH) — to be simultaneously used to secure additional protocols and networks beyond the base blockchain, effectively recycling economic security across multiple systems. Pioneered by EigenLayer on Ethereum, restaking became one of the defining DeFi innovations of 2024.

In standard Ethereum staking, validators lock 32 ETH (or delegate smaller amounts through liquid staking protocols) to help secure the Ethereum network, earning staking rewards in return. Restaking extends this concept: the same staked ETH that secures Ethereum can also be ‘restaked’ to provide security for other protocols — called Actively Validated Services (AVS) — such as oracle networks, data availability layers, bridges, and rollup sequencers.

This creates a marketplace for decentralized trust. New protocols no longer need to bootstrap their own validator sets from scratch; they can rent security from Ethereum’s existing staker base. Stakers benefit from additional yield on top of their base Ethereum staking rewards.

EigenLayer, the protocol that introduced restaking, allows users to restake natively (pointing their validator’s withdrawal credentials to EigenLayer contracts) or to restake liquid staking tokens like stETH, rETH, or cbETH. The protocol launched on mainnet in 2024 and quickly attracted billions in deposits.

Liquid restaking tokens (LRTs) emerged as a derivative layer on top of restaking. Protocols like EtherFi, Puffer Finance, Kelp DAO, and Renzo issue liquid tokens representing restaked positions, enabling users to maintain liquidity and composability in DeFi while their assets are restaked.

Restaking does introduce additional risk. Restaked assets can be slashed (penalized) by both Ethereum and any AVS they secure, meaning a slashing event on one protocol could affect assets also securing another. This ‘cascading slashing’ risk is a key concern, and proper risk assessment of AVS quality is essential. Critics also debate whether restaking creates systemic leverage — reusing the same collateral across many protocols could amplify losses during market stress.

Last updated: April 2026