EigenLayer’s Impact on ETH Staking Enhancement
EigenLayer’s remarkable growth in 2024 has been truly extraordinary.
The restaking process has witnessed an astonishing 11x surge in total value locked (TVL) since the start of the year, as per Crypto’s analysis of DeFiLlama data. This DeFi project, now ranking second in size, was not even among the top 10 at the beginning of 2024.
Restaking Concept Transforming Staking Landscape
Restaking, a popular trend in DeFi, involves utilizing staked ETH to enhance security for other applications, providing stakers with additional rewards on their holdings.
Besides staking ETH directly, users can also stake liquid derivatives of their staked assets (LSD) like those offered by Lido [LDO], Rocket Pool, and Coinbase.
According to a recent report by IntoTheBlock, approximately a quarter of all LSD has been restaked on EigenLayer, with 2.38% of ETH’s total supply being staked.
Surge in ETH Staking Driven by EigenLayer’s Hype
The enthusiasm surrounding EigenLayer appears to have had a positive impact on the wider ETH staking sector.
An analysis by CryptoCrypto using Staking Rewards’ data reveals that over 26% of all ETH in circulation is currently locked in the network’s deposit contract.
Interestingly, the growth trend has sharply risen in the past month, mirroring EigenLayer’s surge in TVL.
Rise of Native ETH Restaking Approaches
EigenLayer’s rapid expansion has led to the emergence of novel business models seeking to capitalize on the growing restaking trend.
For instance, Ether.fi introduced the concept of native restaking, involving staking ETH on the protocol, which is then automatically restaked on EigenLayer.
This method differs from the conventional restaking approach where users transfer already staked ETH to EigenLayer.