Restaking is a mechanism that allows already-staked assets (particularly staked ETH) to be “restaked” to simultaneously provide security to additional blockchain networks and protocols, earning extra yield in return. Pioneered by EigenLayer on Ethereum, restaking enables staked ETH holders to opt-in to validating additional “Activeally Validated Services” (AVSs) — new protocols that need decentralised security but don’t want to bootstrap their own validator set from scratch. In return for providing this additional security, restakers earn additional rewards from the AVSs they support.
How restaking works in practice: a user stakes ETH and receives stETH via Lido; they then deposit stETH into EigenLayer to restake; the restaked ETH is now securing Ethereum AND any AVSs the user opts into (such as data availability layers, oracle networks, or cross-chain bridges); in return, the user earns Ethereum staking rewards PLUS AVS rewards. The introduction of Liquid Restaking Tokens (LRTs) — such as eETH (ether.fi) and ezETH (Renzo) — extends composability further, allowing restaked positions to remain liquid and usable in DeFi. Restaking has grown to tens of billions in TVL and is considered one of Ethereum’s most important scaling and security innovations. Critics note the added complexity and potential for correlated slashing risks.
Example: A user restakes 5 ETH via EigenLayer, opting into 3 AVSs. Their capital now earns: ~4% ETH staking yield + 3–8% in AVS rewards + potential EigenLayer points/token airdrop — multiple income streams from the same staked capital.
Learn more: EigenLayer — Overview
